While some monkeys were outdoors, a chain around their waists only allowed them to slide a short distance from a small house to a small platform.
A Cream Colored Giant Squirrel
The butterfly garden... although we only saw two butterflies (although there were a suspiciously large amount of birds and spiders... things that might, say, EAT butterflies). Here are some turtles though.
The giant slug is (fortunately) fake ... The cassowary is real.
Black swans
We returned to our songtheaw who dropped us back in town. We grabbed some food then caught another songtheaw out to the Sanctuary of Truth. A horse and carriage brought us over to the dolphin show that was already in progress in the lagoon next door.
Unlike in many other places we've experienced here and in Cambodia, the people were extremely helpful and friendly here. They even guided us to some seats.
Two Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (the female had the pinker snout) worked with a trainer to perform a variety of tricks. These dolphins are born grey but become pink as they get older.
Afterwards, we could buy a small bucket of fish to feed them. But since everyone was doing it, the dolphins quickly became full and just let the fish sit in their mouths without swallowing.
So one of the guys led us across a bridge and around to back pond. He splashed the water's surface until eventually something surfaced. It was porpoise! So we fed it instead.... and it was hungry!
We then hurried over to catch start of the temple tour. We had to wear hardhats since it was still under construction. The Sanctuary of Truth was started in 1981by Lek Viriyaphan, with another 15 - 20 years expected to complete it. Apparently this is his third big project.
The building is only made from wood (including all pins and joints) and contains Buddhist and Hindu sculptures. It's 330 feet wide and over 340 feet tall.
The workshop
A guide led us through the different wings of the building. It was in various stages of construction. Each of the different statues and animals had a meaning.
The green color is a coat on the wood to protect it.
In the center, was a large wooden stupa. Unlike most stupas which contain relics, this one was empty.
