Ahhhhhhhhhh, F^^*@!g Big Tigers!!!

So the Tiger Temple is where the head monk of Thailand lives with his pet Tigers.
We got a taxi truck woth about 5 others, to this Temple, in the middle of nowhere about 30 minutes from Kanchanaburi. We entered, paid a fee of 300 baht, and walked in to the grounds in a bit of a hurry. As the Tigers are only kept out to exercise in the "Pit" for 3 hours or so. We had only 25 minutes thil they left again.
Luckily we made it, and were ushered down into this quarry, made specifically for the Tigers to interact with there keepers, each other and the public.
Approaching the pit, there was no sounds of screaming, or Tigers roaring, it was a peaceful place, and as we went down the slope, we turned and saw about 16 Tigers, cubs an' all sat resting in the sun. People in blue T-shirts at one end, with the tigers, and the front of the pit full of tourists looking, filming, stroking the Tigers. Mental.
Amy and I went down and was walked in turn around the semi enclosure, where the Tigers were kept on chains only big enough to stop a hedgehog escaping, approaching each one from behind, as to not scare them, told we could stroke them and a photo was taken doing so. The keepers took the photos, and we went to the next.
It was really cool, but not as mystical as we'd hoped. The story of the Tiger Temple goes as Amy will now explain.

It all started when an small tiger cub was brought to the monastery in the laste 90's, her mother had been killed by poacher's and she had been left to fend for herself. She became friends with the monks, who respect all creatures as sentient beings and soon the news spread and the local people and police started to bring other injured and orphaned cubs to the monks. It is said that mother tigers have even brought their babies to the monks when they knew danger was near. The poaching problem in Thailand seems to be getting worse, even though many may think of it as an outdated practice in our modern world. Other abandoned animals were also brought to the sanctuary such a wild pigs, buffalo and ponies.
The reason that the monastery tries to attract as many people as possible to get the chance to have their picture taken with the tigers is to raise for money for their big project, building 'Tiger Island'. This is a 12 acre island surrounded by a moat, where the tigers will live in their own jungle habitat and the cubs will be able to learn to hunt for themselves, rather than become too domesticated by a lot of human contact. Visitors will no longer be able to stroke the tigers but instead view them in their natural surroundings. So we gave them lots of donations and I am hoping to volunteer there for a week or so before we leave Thailand as they take on helpers and you get to stay at the monastery.
And this is why we wanted to go and see for ourselves. We believe it is a real worthwhile project, not greed endorsed like so many other such charities. And the Tigers are not on drugs like so many people think.