Meeting the tigers

It started a bit bad as I went on an organized trip from Bangkok to the Bridge of Kwai, the waterfall in the national park, and of course the Tiger temple. I was quite sleepy and hangover to begin with, and don't really like beeing herded around like a sheep.  As a true backpacker i never go on organized trips ,of course, but this was the exception as I was going in that direction anyway...and since I was out drinking all night and knew I could go directly from the pub to the minivan leaving from Khao San road...

So first we came to a cemetary....was'nt too exciting, shockingly!
Then we saw the Bridge of Kwai and the associated museum.  I have'nt seen the movie or heard much about it so did'nt really have a relationship with this place.

What i enjoyed was seeing the nature and the village around the river, as i had only been staying in dirty bangkok the last week, where the only wildlife is the multitudes of rats and cockroaches

The waterfalls in the national park was quite nice, at least i did'nt have to tag along with the group.A lot of thai kids having fun in the natural pools, and about 100 russian tourists in speedo's...niiiiice !

The highlight of the trip was obviously the tiger temple. This is a place where the monks have been living with, and raising tigers from birth. This makes them quite used to humans, and more or less tame and docile....to the extent a tiger can be tame...
Today this place is devoid of monks, and more or less a tourist attraction where fat americans, pale brits.

..and me.....can go to get a picture taken with a big nasty tiger!
I got to pet the big tigers, as well as spending some hours with the cubs. I really enjoyed just watching the 6 weeks old tigers playing around.  But in the end i did'nt quite approve of this place and the way things are done. The tigers are pushed around constantly by the keepers, without any respect whatsoever, to get them into nice positions that the tourists can take pictures from. And also i think the feed is less then optimal as i saw the young tigers staggering walk and apathetic expressions. As i talked to the keepers they told me they were feeding them chicken....hardly the original tiger diet...
What this park needs is an entusiastic young vet who volunteres for some time to implement some changes! a vet like me! .....that'll be me future plan then....