Neither of us slept a lot last night. Not sure if that's because our body clocks are still knackered, or because we were so excited. We were up at 6am & dropped most of our washing at the front desk by 7am as we waited for our bus to pick us up. At 7.30am we were crammed into our transport & off through the packed traffic of Bangkok. It took a few hours to be out of the city limits & into the countryside. We swapped minibuses about 10am for our first stop at an elephant sanctuary. Jac got changed into bathers before we were led down to the river. There was a couple of elephants waiting so we dropped our gear & waded into the river. I helped Jac gracefully climb on & she positioned herself just behind the beasts head. Just as gracefully I clambered on behind her & we prepared for the next part. Next thing we were instantly saturated as the elephant started sucking up water & spraying it all over us. What an amazing experience to be on the back of such an exotic creature being given a bath. Next it was time for rodeo. We were told to hold on, Jac to the ears & me to, well air really, as our pachyderm twisted her head side to side. Of course we didn't last more than a couple of twists before we were thrown into the lovely warm waters. We spent the next 20 minutes repeating the cycle. You just couldn't wipe the smiles from our faces. We waited a little bit for the next few to have their turns before heading up to have a little trek on their backs. This lasted for an hour as our ride went up & down steps & into the water with our driver perched on the elephants head. After a while he took our camera & climbed off to take plenty of photos. Shortly after he told me to sit in his position just behind her head. I couldn't refuse as it's probably going to be the only time I go close to driving an elephant. After 45 mins or so we returned to the camp & our elephant experience was over, but will never be forgotten. We boarded the bus to be taken for lunch, but that wasn't the last of our adventures. A 40 minute drive & we arrived at Tiger Temple. Of course this was all about a different type of beautiful creature. All the girls had to be in modest clothing so they changed & we were taken in. There was a choice for 2 extra activities for extra money & Jac & I decided that this may be our only chance to ever experience something like this, so we signed up. We tried to get into tiger cub feeding but it was booked out so we had to go the second option. But this wasn't for another 45 minutes so we headed down to the canyon where all the big tigers were kept. Here we got to be first in line where they lead you amongst 20 of the big tigers who where chained but generally just asleep in the warmth of the sun. Jac was first & taken by the hand to be led to various tigers where she could sit behind them & give them a pat. A staff member had our camera & took plenty of photos. I could see Jac beaming wherever she was. I was next as I was led by the hand to sit behind these regal cats. To stroke a tiger is something that I never thought would happen in my life. They're big & warm with course hair, & they feel like power. Just to touch them is one of the greatest experiences of our lives. Once my turn was over we headed back to where our experience was going to start 20 minutes later. So how do you fill in that sort of time in a tiger park in Thailand? Oh I don't know. How about lying down & cuddling up to a 6 month old tiger. Body to body with our heads on his shoulder. Then instructed to wrap our arms completely around him & snuggle up close. How's that for a time filler? We just cuddled a tiger. A tiger!! Never in our wildest dreams. Following this we found a deer that wanted some love too so we sat beside her and she proceeded to rub against us & lick Jac. Maybe not the best think to be smelling like a deer before interacting with tigers we thought. But nothing we could do because the time had come for our paid experience. We entered a tigers enclosure, 6 females a year or 2 old, no chains anywhere. They were roaming free. We were directed to put our backs to a wall in a shallow water pond. We were given sticks with bags & balloons tied to them which we used to make the tigers chase like big p**** cats. Unfortunately they were only half interested although I did get a couple chasing mine & jumping out of the water. They were a little more interested in play fighting with each other, a mere foot or two in front of us. It is pretty surreal to have big cats like that so close messing around. You really do understand their power. It's funny though as they have the same mannerisms as house cats in the way they behave. After a while we left the enclosure & waited as one of the big males was brought to where we were. Here we helped to give him a bath as they hosed him down & we each took turns lathering him up with soap. Once he looked spotless it was then time to get some grub into him. We were given chicken to hand feed to him. He was so delicate taking it from our hands, so amazingly gentle. We just hand fed a fully grown male tiger and we still have all our fingers. Surreal, that is all I can say. From there it was time to see the other animals. We saw a beautiful little Asiatic bear who was so playful as well as the fattest bear you could ever see. Jac patted a baby water buffalo. Still unsteady on his feet & probably only a few days old. Finally it was over but we had done more than we could of hoped when we booked the tour last night. Today was the things that dreams are made of. An utterly out of this world experience. We left the park but only drove for 30 minutes before we had to change vans again. This stop though was where the famous bridge over the river Kwai was built & Jac & I wandered over taking photos as we waited for the next bus. We went from one side to the other & then returned in time for our cramped crazy bus trip back to Bangkok. But that doesn't matter after how we had just spent our day. We returned at 7.15pm & are just getting ready to head out for our last night in Bangkok. We'll have a feed & a wander down Kaosan before heading to Georges bar to say goodbye to the amazing people we've met. Not sure how the night will turn out. But the day has been surreal, almost like a dream. That these things just happened is very hard to get our heads around. And still we can't stop smiling & the buzz is still present in us both. No doubt for many days.