Today is the day when Ian took on the tigers, yes he got in the pen and stroked the man eating kitties and I have plenty of pictures to prove it whilst I sat a safe distance away from becoming LUNCH! We had an early start before heading north with Tut Tut our guide for the day, to the hotest parts of Thailand with no pool or sea for comfort. Our first stop was the floating market reached by long boat, I was once again accomapined by David Atenborough Junior (Ian) who spotted elephants and other wildlife on our boat trip (I didn't see any of these creatures so have been classified as "with limited sight"by my new husband. The floating market was a sight to see, worthwhile trip and after being captured to have tiger balm put all over my face and neck (my escape price was 100Baht for 10 postacrds) I was now sweating and begging for air con - Ian laughed and didn't stop for most of our journey to the Teak factory. Here we saw works of art chiselled by hand from the teak wood imported from Burma, these were fabulous although most were enormous and won't fit in our home our temptation to buy was quickly twarted by our lack of credit card (thank budha - hey you have to adapt in the wild). Following two more hours heading north and west we hit the mountain after passing rice fields, salt lakes being cultivated by hand and fields being hand farmed by the thai in all kids of crops from pineapples to sugar cane and beet. We finally arrived at our target destination the River Kwai, we visited the cemetary which was really touching and well cared for, very hot (we tried to example here was not a good place for the honeymoon couple to smile having their picture taken). We went on to the nearby village to the museum made in the shape of one of the POW huts where they lived, it was educational thought provoking and I would recommend anyone to visit. Outside we came across a procession for a local boy who would today become a man after three months training as a monk and meeting other Thai criterial was off to the WAT for the official ceremony followed by just about everyone in the village, other trainee monks and certainly anyone who wanted to oin the party afterwards! We had a Thai lunch on the River, cooled with some very welcome orange fanta (sugar is a must to keep those energy levels up on a day like today). On to the infamous bridge made of steel connecting the railway lines of over 400km's between Thailand into Burma that cost over 100,000 lives in WWII - bombed in the niddle section and restored it was an engineering feat. After a few pictures, we were melting in the sun and it was time for something a little more light hearted and Ian's higlight of our trip off to Tiger Temple! Do not wear orange, yellow, purple or pink, cover your shoulders do not wear sunglasses or have objects around you when going near the Tigers - much as I admire these beasts from the comfort of the Discovery ChannelI had no intention of getting anywhere near them unless they were newlyborn, drugged and had all nails and teeth removed! Ian without hesitation was storking their bellies, backsides and having his photo taken like a pro - only after he duped me into going in first (don't ask but I can tell you it is true they can smell fear). Ian loved it and it was well worth the visit, bringing an end to our long and fanastic adventure day.