Tiger Kingdom & Snakes

Tuesday, Chai our Tuk Tuk driver, picked us up and took us to his sister's taxi as he wasn't able to tour us around.  His sister, Nong, spoke very good English and was very friendly so we were able to find out a lot of information and she also wanted to find out things about us.  We had some good conversations with her.
Nong took us to the Tiger Kingdom where we were able to get into the tiger cage and pet the tiger.  What beautiful animals they are.  The tigers we petted were 21 months old and 170 kilos.  They really enjoyed having their belly scratched as they rolled over and stretched out for more.  We were able to see all sizes of tigers from babies to large.  The young tigers were very playful and the older tigers laid in the sun or relaxed in the shade.  This place was well kept and the tigers were in good shape.
Next stop was at a snake enclosure to see the King Cobra.  As soon as we walked into this place we wondered how well they looked after things.  The place was dirty and the cages were small and not all that clean.  We looked around and saw all the different snakes.  We watched a King snake eat a smaller rat but still quite big for the snake.  Then there was a short show with the different snakes.  They went around with the cobra so that you could touch it.  I got brave and did touch it.  Fred got even braver and went down onto the floor to have a boa placed on his shoulders.  That wasn't for me.
Nong, our taxi driver, then drove us to the Night Bazaar, we were there in the afternoon.  This market  spreads across several blocks.  There were fresh cut flowers, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, handicrafts, clothes, hand-woven fabrics galore.  Very good buys were denim blue jeans for 250 b which is $7.50 and the blue cotton farmer's shirt for 150 b which is $4.50.  Couldn't believe those prices.  We spent a few hours wondering around then made our way back to our hotel.