This show of affection between Mikey and sister Saja was only after Saja bit Mikey in retaliation for biting her tail. There were three trainers in the cage with me, even at that when Saja jumped up to get Mikey I was a bit nervous. I was amazed at how quickly she moved.









Their play, as you can imagine, is very rough. Saja and Mikey got a slight discipline from the trainer at the right. They trim their nails but not their teeth so there are scars from the play. At 13 months they weigh about 300-350 lbs. at sexual maturity of three years the males go about 550-600 and the females 500-550. It was an amazing experience for me and most rewarding.

This little guys name is Mikey. He and his brothers and sister are 13 months old and just magnificent animals. All the tigers here are hand raised and used to people. I as well as other visitors contribute to the raising by scatching their bellies, as you can see he hates the attention.




You can approach a tiger from the rear and not have much chance of them thinking you want to play. I can't imagine play with one of these brutes, one swipe of their paw and it could easily break your neck. Mikey liked to be upstage most of the time anyway so who was I to argue.

The train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was a bit longer than it was supposed to be. The train was obviously running on Thai time and was two hours late so all tolled I was riding for 18 hours. I got on the sleeper with a lower berth so I was able to get some sleep. On the whole the ride was more scenic than the jungle train in Malaysia.

Now for the exciting part of Chiang Mai. I visited a tiger farm. That is a six week old tiger cub in my lap. There are three of them from the same litter. There are 28 tigers in all and the majority come from some very prolific parents. Tigers can have 2 litters a year and the gestation period is about 4 months. That's a lot of tigers since they can have as many as 5 or 6 in a litter.

Kuala Lumpur, the capitol of Malaysia, was just another big city but did have a very interesting area where there was an Islamic art museum, a large green area and several small parks for animals, butterflies and the largest open air bird sanctuary in the world. I have two handduls of Lorikeets and they weren't leaving until all the seed was consumed. There were at least 150 of these in this open area.

There were several of these scarlet curlews in the park. Like the whote ones in Florida just a bit flashier. I have several pictures of birds I have never seen up close nor in any books. The park was at least 20 acres and almost entirely enclosed with nylon mesh. The vast majority of the birds were dree to fly about. The park was, for me, the highlight of Kuala Lumpur.

I'm not sure you would get very far with this rickshaw driver he is very intent on his siesta. Some of these rickshaws were so elaborately decorated that it was difficult to tell if it was actually a rickshaw or a floral display on wheels. They also had very loud steroes and air horns on these very odd transports. Most of the rickshaws elsewherethe driver sat in front on these they sit next to the main seat.

The mosquitoe control brigade were very efficient in Melacca. First a truck went through the streets and then these guys. They fogged everything, sewers, open buildings, in windows, cars if it was open they fogged it. The fog took quite some time to clear and there was no escape. I was told it was harmless to breath but I find that hard to believe. There were no mosquitoes, nor dogs or cats(just kidding), but there were no mosquitoes.

A mointor lizard was looking dor dinner in the river in Malacca. He is between 4 an 5 feet long. He couldn't hvae cared less if I was there, he just meandered around the sea wall dor quite some time before going down river. They told me it was unusual to see such a lagre one in the river they are usually much smaller.

How would you like to carry these "coins" in your pocket. They are made of tin , the larger ones are about 6" in diameter the smaller are 2". They were legal tender in the 13th century for the extensive trading done in Melacca, Malaysia. There are others like alligators, birds and fish. The size determined the value and were used throughout Southeast Asia.

I met a couple from Belgium, that are my age, on the train and as it would happen they were going to the same places I was, so we hung out together until they left for home, he took this pic for me. At this point I was about 100 feet off the jungle floor. I look a bit rough around the edges, but it is very hot and I was drowning in my own sweat and apparently I was carrying a couple of unwanted hitchikers. When I got off the canopy walk is when I found the leeches under my socks. They just left a couple of small red marks but nothing permanent, so I'm told.

A view from Taman Negara Rainforest of the floating restaurants. All the rivers are that muddy color. This river yesterday was crossable on foot, with water to your waist, but after a heavy rain last night the current is raging and is only crossable by boat. In February of 1971 the water was above where I am standing.

The cost of food and drink triples when you cross the river as well as accomodations.

The views from the Jungle Train were amazing. I couldn't get all the shots I wanted because your vision from the train is limited and by the time you realize that it was a good shot you've passed it. These are limestone outcroppings that are full of holes in which birds nest and were flying everywhere. The trees are very tenacious, in that they are growing on such sheer rock face and very little, if any soil.

The Jungle Train from Wakaf Bharu to Jerantut was an enjoyable trip. There was only third class seating so we stopped at all the stations on the way. Some of the most remote areas of Malaysia are on this route. The train is the only way that some of the vilagers have for transportation. The trip took about 10 hours for around 250km, directly through the Taman Negara National Forest.

The approach to the Prehentian Islands was more impressive than the island. I was expecting something more, I guess, I was not impressed. The water was like the Keys or the Bahamas. The crowd was all college age and I felt very out of place. All there was to do was sit on the beach or go diving. I spent one night and left the next morning. I don't think I'll go to any more islands, we, in Florida, have some of the best in our back yard.

Entering Malaysia was very easy, a couple of pasport checks and they issued a free 60 day tourist visa. Unfortunately I didn't know that the town I neede to be in, Kota Bharu was 50km away and an additional 10km to Wakaf Bharu for the Jungle train. Traveling by train and/or bus is cheap the local bus to Kota Bharu was 6 ringgit about $1.75.

The three southern provinces of Thailand is where the problems were a couple of years ago. They wanted to become independent of Thailand. The provinces were put under martial law at that time and remain so now. The military is everywhere, this is the view out my hostel window. The guns have the clips in place including the one in the turret on the Humvee.

The boreder town of Songai Toloc was abit grungy but interesting in its own way. These are Songtheaws, (Song-tows; as in tower) They are a cheap mode of transportation in the tows because they can carry 6 to 8 people at a time and you just tell the driver where you want to get off. They are tiny, kind of like aclown car at the circus.