National Science Museum

The words National, Science, and Museum are not 3 words that I would ever think would go together in Thailand. To my surprise the combination, and the actual museum(s), turned out to be quite impressive. On a day when the neighborhood's power was out for routine maintenance before rainy season we headed North for a visit to The National Science Museum.

The museum has 6 levels. We decided to head to the top and work our way down. The top floor was of course Traditional Thai Technology. 

Heading down floor by floor we explored Science and Technology in Daily lives, S and T in Thailand, Basic Science and Energy, History of Discovery, S and T inventions, Science land exhibition, and finally the Electricity exhibit on the first floor.

After we touched absolutely everything on all 6 floors of the National Science Museum, we headed across the street to the Natural History Museum and then next door to the Information Technology Museum to touch everything there.

The best part about all of the museums were the awesome playgrounds. Each activity had some connection to science. The pendulum swing was the best.

Of course it adds to the fun to go with great friends!

Kanchanaburi - Part 3

We left the Tiger Temple at around 3pm-ish continuing our trek east. Time was slipping away fast and it was Sunday, with school starting back the next day so we didn't have much more planned. And we still had a 2-3 hour drive back home. We made it back to Kanchanaburi around 3:30 and spent some time checking out the Bridge on the River Kwai. This was exciting, especially for Andy.

The bridge that we visited is not the original bridge from 1944. That bridge was bombed and rebuilt a few times during World War II. A few sections of the actual bridge are located in a nearby museum. We will visit that next time too. You can read more about it here, or here.

We explored the span of the bridge and a little beyond the banks. Andy kept putting his ear to the tracks so he would be able to tell when the train was coming. 

 

 

 

Since we didn't really eat lunch and we had a long drive ahead of us we decided to go ahead and eat dinner, even though it was only about 4pm. We walked over to the Bridge restaurant and had a great view while we enjoyed our yummy Thai food. I ended up purchasing 2 of the glasses that we used as souvenirs, and for only 60baht each (about $2) I think it was a great deal.

 

While we were enjoying our lunch the best thing ever happened, the train crossed the bridge! 

Andy loved it!

 

Bellies full and 5baht popsicles in hand we headed home. We made it around 7pm, just in time for baths and bed on a school night. Can't wait to head back to explore Kanchanaburi more.

Kanchanaburi - Part 2

Day 2 of our Kanchanaburi trip was fun. After breakfast at the resort and a short trip to the steamy Lawa Cave we headed to the Tiger Temple.

This is a local Wat that houses Indo-Chinese Tigers, along with other animals, and gives visitor a chance to interact with said tigers. We arrived early so that we would have a chance to sign up to play with the baby tiger cubs. We ended up having to wait 2 hours until opening and didn't get to see the cubs as we didn't have enough cash.

Next time! (seems to be the theme of this trip, no?)

Here's how it went:

Herding the cattle down the street, through the parking lot.

Not too convincing First Aid cabinet

Love the way he is sitting. Watching CNN.

 Once the gates opened at 12 we headed in to meet the Cats. We got the chance to take pictures with any of the tigers we wanted, all except the big guy that was pacing constantly. They didn't let anyone near him.

 

 

 

 

Not too many people there.

 

 

 

 

 

Playing in the dirt, bored with the tigers.

 

 

 

 

 

Checking out the other animals.

When everyone had their fill of pictures we were all given the chance to walk the tigers down into the canyon. Visitors were staged into groups of about 20 and then each member of the group got to hold the leash and get their picture taken. This was awesome. We were one of the last groups though as they wanted the kids to go with a particularly calm tiger.

 

This tiger was huge!

Once all of the tigers arrived in the canyon, more opportunities for pictures were available. We were able to get several group shots with the tigers heads in our laps. Ellie was the first one to volunteer to put a tiger head in her lap. Danny was not interested in this at all. He did not want to be in there with the tigers and rarely looked at the camera. 

Trying to get him into position.

 Ellie got spooked when the tiger shook off a fly.

 

 

 

 When we had our fill of the tigers we headed towards the exit and checked out the other animals along the way. You would never be able to walk up to some of these animals like this in the US.

Pig crossing.

 

Water Buffalo

 

 

Until next time Wat Pa Luang Bua Yanasampano.

On to Part 3...