Our excellent tour guide Mr. Wat drives us straight to the gloomy but necessary
JEATH War Museum that reproduces the huts the prisoners of war lived in while working to build the 415 kilometer railroad to Myanmar (Burma).
We had a great lunch off the beaten track thanks to our guide. Instead of the throng at the buffet, he escorted us off to a lovely open air restaurant, were alone in the place since it was one PM, but the food was excellent and a bargain at 440 Baht for five ($15).
I am not including the pictures of myself with the tigers on principle; since I was not impressed with the crude "zoo passing for a temple and animal sanctuary". The temple and meditation section looked entirely unused and the tigers were chained at the bottom of a gravel pit with escalating add-on pricing for pictures with your friends (500 B), or viewing the tigers "while active" at 2:30 PM (1000 B). While I don't begrudge them for saving the tigers and fundraising, I can't recommend this thinly veiled zoo. Tiger lovers may not enjoy the visit; regardless the cubs were really cute. The water buffaloes were not so cute, but impressive. The Asian bears, despite their 10 m. cage, seemed a bit neurotic. Some have reported great experiences by paying for the full 7500 Baht ($250) package for a more intimate view of the site.
