10-23: For those of you who've followed our journey with some regularity, you'll not be surprised that we often rate our experiences solely on the extremity of the 'dumb ass white boys' look we get from the shocked and appalled locals who receive our 'requests.' When we asked to go into the cage with the 8 year old orangutan, Jam, we got a decent glare from the keeper before he let us in. Let's say 7 out of 10.

But the look I got from from the man at the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute Snake Farm when I insisted I go in the cage with the 14 foot King Cobra..that one tipped the scales. At first his face scrunched up like he'd just took a big bite of lemon. Next his eyes grew big and a grin lurched across his face - forcing out a few chuckles ..polite laughter for the moderately funny joke he thought I'd just made. With a soft, but serious, look I repeated my request. He leaned back on the railing we were standing next to and went to some place deep inside his head. He stood with eyes glazed, staring at the dust speckles sparkling in the sun. I waited as his brain churned away. The head of the zoo happened by and broke the trance with a greeting to the snake handler. I posed my question to the head honcho. He immediately shot a 'what IS this dumb ass white boy on about' look to the handler, who simply shrugged and nodded. "Very good tip" I said, and added "No problem - he hold snake head, I hold back for photo - no problem!" The two men talked for a while in Thai and I kept a big friendly smile pasted on my face. Finally the head honcho turned and said "OK 100 Baht." "Deal!" I shot back immediately. 100 Baht is about US$2.50 - money well spent considering most people never get to see a live King Cobra, let alone hold one.

We wandered over to the big pen where the snake lived. The metal mesh was thick, and the huge padlock on the door intimidating. This was the king, and I started to get butterflies. Clank, clank, SLAM - the keeper slid off the lock and threw open the door. He disappeared inside. "Come, come" echoed in the cage. I stepped up and inside. He lifted a large square lid and underneath..there it was. The keeper stabbed immediately at its neck, taking it by surprise. He began pulling it out of it's burrow, and I thought the snake would never end. It was thicker than I expected, as thick as my calf, and now it was right next to me..with it's huge flat head hissing like a punctured tire. Jay stood in the doorway with the video camera filming. I reached up and wrapped my hand around its body. My fingers reached only half way around the huge beast. The keeper pointed to its neck. "Here" he ordered. I moved my hand to just under it's head and gripped. And then he let go. The fool let go! Left me standing with a 14 foot King Cobra in my right hand, and I'm left handed! It was heavy..I struggled just to hold it up. It squirmed and jerked and my will lasted about 5 seconds before I yelled "take it, take it" at the keeper. He grabbed it with both hands and I just about started hyper ventilating. I looked at Jay who was dutifully filming away. Fine, I thought..I can play this game. I reached up and took a new grip. I picked up the rest of it with my left hand and nodded at the keeper. He let go again and stepped back. The snake again struggled, but I held on tight..this time for about 4 seconds before a big 'PLLOOOFFFF' made me yell. The keeper immediately jumped in and grabbed it again with both hands. "What was that??"...the keeper looked me over and let out a little 'ooh.' I looked down..I was covered in crap. The snake had unloaded on me. A huge smile bloomed in me and I could hear jay laughing. Another badge of honor..this time awarded by a the king of all snakes.



Unfortunately, the camera battery had died on my still camera before the cobra incident - so you'll just have to wait till the video comes out. We did manage a few shots of the snake parade and a little python wrasslin' that Jay and I did.

On our first day here, we visited the huge Chatukchat market and I couldn't resist taking a few snaps of the pet section. More soon!

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