Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Tiger Temple




A very famous attraction in the area - a monastery where for some years the residing monks have been preserving tigers (and also eventually breeding them); the tigers are born there thus not feeling threatened by humans and therefore are acting sort of pet-like. I did some reading about the place - some people claim that the tigers are drugged, sedated and so on. Other's say the complete opposite, so, as always with subjects that are easy victims for conspiracy theories, there is nothing to do than go there yourself and make your own opinion. Now after having been there, I would say the tigers are just fine and acting as any night animal would during the top heat hours of the day. Also, it's not such a bad idea that the tigers were relaxed and dozing off now and then :) The 'tigers-are-sedated theory' - I got the impression thats just bunch of crap. The people working there - I doubt any of them could live with themselves if that really would be true; not the right vibe there for mistreatment to be taking place. Also, sedating would require perfect timing since I saw all the tigers walking back to their cages... plus, the incurred cost? No, no - I don't think thats happening.
Not a scary experience (though you had to sign a liability disclaimer before entering, hehe), I'd say. Kinda cool, since this probably was the first and last time I will ever touch a tiger.

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