The Fate of Tiger Temple in Thailand

Photo: Tourists watching chained tigers in the Tiger Temple in Thailand, photo taken in June 2004

The picture shows an area inside the Tiger Temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno) located in the Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand.

Established as a Buddhist forest temple and wildlife sanctuary in 1994, it had about 150 tigers, other animals and birds as of January 2016. The star attraction of the sanctuary was the Tiger Island, spread over five hectares and completed in 2011 at a cost of over US$ 2.5 million. It had 28 tiger enclosures and was a huge hit with local tourists and backpackers.

The whole complex presented a romantic picture, monks living with tigers and other wild animals in perfect harmony. You too could have been part of such a mystical harmony, getting photographed with tigers or even taking a selfie with the magnificent feline friends.

But for a price; reportedly, the entrance fee per head ranged from US$17 to US$140, earning millions of dollars for the temple management.

Over the years, the temple had been accused of illegal breeding and controversial commercial activities. A number of NGOs and conservation and animal rights groups contacted the Thai authorities urging them to take action against the temple.

The NGOs alleged clandestine exports to a tiger farm in Laos, among many other allegations, and asked the authorities to conduct genetical tests to determine the subspecies and pedigree of the big cats.

Breeding tigers for commercial use is restricted by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to which Thailand is a signatory, and the unlicensed breeding violates Thai laws too.

The authorities had been persuading the monks to stop all illegal activities. They also wanted the monks to stop exposing tourists to hazardous contact with tigers. The NGOs had already pointed out that there are up to 60 reported incidents annually of captive tigers attacking tourists and/or attendants.

On May 30, 2016, more than 500 officers consisting of wildlife officials, police and vets raided the temple complex. They seized 137 living tigers, 40 frozen cub corpses, a dead bear, a large number of body parts of other animals preserved in freezers and horns of various animals. Some of the dead cubs were found preserved in formaldehyde. They also found protected birds such as hornbills that were being reared without license.

The police also stopped the abbot's secretary trying to flee with tiger skins, over 1000 amulets containing pieces of tiger skin, and other contraband items. They also seized trucks loaded with protected Siamese rosewood.

Some packed carcasses of cubs in containers had labels in English implicating they were for local sale or international trade.

The subspecies of the tigers in this unscientifically maintained sanctuary is not clearly known. However, it is believed that they are mostly Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti), along with subspecies such as Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) and some hybrids resulting from cross breeding. One animal was identified as a Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris).

With the help of animal welfare charities, the tigers were rehabilitated by the authorities.

Laser Show at Lumbini Park, Hyderabad, India

Public Domain Photo: Lumbini Park Laser Show auditorium, showing the history of Hyderabad

Lumbini Park in Hyderabad, India

Public Domain Photo: Lumbini Park in Hyderabad, India, with visitors in day time

Public Domain Photo: Hyderabad’s Lumbini Park entrance gate

Christmas Tree at Syntagma Square, Athens

Public Domain Photo: Syntagma Square in central Athens at night with a huge illuminated Christmas Tree, 21 December 2005.

Syntagma Square, located in central Athens, Greece, is named after the Constitution that King Otto was forced to grant the people after a popular and military uprising on September 3, 1843.

Syntagma Square, a site of political demonstrations, is quite near Syntagma station of the Athens Metro, with the Greek Parliament across Amalias Avenue. It is a hub for many forms of public transportation with a stop for the Athens Tram and buses or trolley-buses plying to several locations in Athens. Travel between Syntagma Square and the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport is available via special airport buses and metro lines. Free wireless Internet access at high speeds is offered by the Municipality of Athens at the Square.

Syntagma Square is also located near many of Athens' most famous neighborhoods and tourist attractions such as Plaka, Monastiraki, Psiri, Kolonaki, and sites of ancient Athens including the Acropolis, the Theater of Dionysus, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Philopappos Monument on the Hill of the Nymphs, the Areopagus, the Ancient Agora of Athens, the Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora, the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, the Arch of Hadrian, the Pnyx, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Lycabettus Hill, and historic churches dating from the Middle Ages.

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Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand

Public Domain Photo: Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand. Dimensions and size: 1746×1176 pixels, 121 KB

Klong Phrao Beach is in Ko Chang Island (or Koh Chang), the second largest island of Thailand located on the east coast, 310 km away from Bangkok, near the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a mountainous island known for several waterfalls, coral reefs and rainforests. Ko Chang, surrounded by 51 other islands, has become a popular tourist destination in the last decade. About 85% of the island is part of the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park. Besides its seafood, Ko Chang has plenty of spas comprising of various forms of massage, aromatherapy, herbal scrub, and reflexology. Koh Chang nightlife and bar scene have become popular tourist attractions.

There are plenty of white sandy beaches dotted with hotels and resorts. The island is also home to a wide range of wildlife, including a variety snakes, deer, stump-tailed macaque, the small Indian civet, the Javan mongoose, and over 60 birds species. The island and its vicinity are great places for snorkeling, kayaking/ canoeing, diving, jungle hiking, mountain biking, and elephant trekking. Hat Kai Bae, a sloping and long stretch of beach connecting with Klong Phrao Beach, is suitable for swimming.

The Winchester Mystery House

PD Photos: Winchester House which was under construction, nonstop, round-the-clock, from 1884 until the death of the owner Sarah Winchester on September 5, 1922.

The Winchester Mystery House, located at 525 South Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California, was under continuous construction for 38 years, and it is reported to be haunted. It was the residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester.

The Queen Anne Style Victorian mansion was built without any master building plan. Winchester thought the house was haunted by the ghosts of individuals killed by Winchester rifles.

After the deaths of her daughter and later her husband, Sarah Winchester consulted a medium (psychic) who told her that she must build a house and never cease building it; otherwise the spirits that killed her family members would kill her too. So, she began the construction of the mystery house full of twists, turns, and dead ends, so that the spirits would get lost and never be able to find her.

The Winchester Mystery House has about 160 rooms - 40 bedrooms, two ballrooms, 47 fireplaces, 10,000 window panes, 17 chimneys, two basements and three elevators. Initially built on an estate of 162 acres (650,000 sq meters), now the property is only 4.5 acres (24,000 sq meters). The house has gold and silver chandeliers and hand inlaid parquet floors and trim. There are doors and stairways that lead nowhere.

The number 13 and spider web motifs reappear around the house. An expensive imported chandelier with 12 candle-holders was altered to accommodate 13 candles, wall clothes hooks are in multiples of 13, and a spider web-patterned stained glass window contains 13 colored stones, and sink drain covers have 13 holes in each. The house's current groundskeepers have created a topiary tree shaped like the number 13. On every Friday the 13th, the large bell on the property is rung 13 times at 1 P.M. (13:00) in tribute to Sarah Winchester.

The Winchester Mystery House has a floating foundation that is believed to have saved it from total collapse in both the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 (the gravest natural disaster in California's history that killed about 3,000 people) and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (that killed 63 people, injured 3,757, flattened buildings and left thousands of people homeless).

The Winchester Mystery House is popular tourist destination, especially for people believing in haunted houses, bad luck due to number 13 and Friday the 13th. Several arranged tours of the house are available, including flashlight tours at night on dates around Halloween and each Friday the 13th.

Pattaya Floating Market, Thailand

Pattaya Floating Market located to the south of Pattaya, Thailand

Thailand’s Pattaya Floating Market, located to the south of Pattaya on Sukhumvit Road, developed on the site of the Lake View Restaurant, is claimed to be the largest floating market in the Eastern Region. Covering an area of over 100,000 squire meters, the constructions are made of fine teak wood.

In fact, the name 'Floating Market' is a misnomer, because most of the shopping malls are found on platforms constructed on stilts over the lake, though there are floating boats selling delicacies. Still, a visit to the floating market is worth your time and money, if you are visiting Pattaya, and if you miss it, you may regret it when you hear about the market later from others.

The Floating Market aims at capturing the old ways of authentic Thai life. All Thai food delicacies and other Thai art and craft items from all regions of Thailand are sold in the market. Its area is divided into four sections representing the four regions of Thailand: North, Central, North Eastern and Southern.

Apart from shopping for rare Thai souvenirs and relishing authentic Thai food to your hearts content, there are other entertaining activities, such as boating, dance shows and other interesting aspects of Thailand’s culture.

Ko Tapu, James Bond Island, Thailand

PD Photos: Ko Tapu islet, 40 meters west of Khao Phing Kan (James Bond Island), a part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park, on the west coast of Thailand, in the Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea.

Ko Tapu is a limestone rock formation (an islet), which is about 20 meters (66 feet) tall with the diameter increasing from about 4 meters (13 feet) at water level to about 8 meters (26 feet) at the top. It lies about 40 meters (130 feet) to the west from the northern part of Khao Phing Kan, popularly known as James Bond Island, which is actually a two-island pair located on the west coast of Thailand, in the Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea. The island is a part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park.

In the Permian period, the entire area was a barrier reef, which ruptured due to tectonic plate movements, dispersing the broken reefs over the area flooded by the rising sea. Strong winds, waves, water currents and tides gradually eroded them partially, and the remaining portions formed islands, sometimes forming peculiar shapes, such as Ko Tapu. Erosion by tides is clearly visible at the bottom of Ko Tapu.

In Thai language Ko Tapu means ‘nail’ or ‘spike’ island (named after its shape). The island was selected as a location for the 1974 James Bond movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’, starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland in key roles. The island was filmed as the hideout for Bond's antagonist, Francisco Scaramanga (the titular ‘Man with the Golden Gun’, played by Christopher Lee).

After the movie was released, Khao Phing Kan Island, and sometimes Ko Tapu, became popularly known as James Bond Island, and it rapidly became a very popular international tourist destination in Thailand. Now the original name of the island is rarely used even by local Thai people.

Since 1998, it is forbidden for tourist boats to approach Ko Tapu, to stop further erosion of the limestone due to waves on and near the islet that might eventually result in its collapse.

The cave of Orpheus' oracle in Lesbos and other stories

PD Image: The cave of Orpheus' oracle in Antissa, Lesbos, Greece

Orpheus has a special importance in Greek mythology, with the inspiration for Orphic cults, literature, poetry and drama of ancient Greece and Rome and Western classical music.

According to one myth, in the later part of his life, Orpheus disdained the worship of all gods except the sun, whom he called Apollo. One day he went to the oracle of Dionysus at Mount Pangaion to salute the sun at dawn, but was rent to pieces by Thracian Maenads for not honoring his previous patron (Dionysus) and buried him in Pieria.

Ovid’s account of his death gives it a bizarre twist: the Ciconian women, Dionysus' followers, killed him, when they were spurned by Orpheus, who had hated women after the death of his wife Eurydice, who died of a snake bite, after which he had taken only boys as his lovers. First the women threw sticks and stones at him, but his music was so powerful and beautiful that even the stones and sticks refused to hit him. However, finally, the enraged women tore him to pieces. In an Albrecht Dürer drawing a ribbon high in a tree is lettered ‘Orfeus der erst puseran’ (‘Orpheus, the first sodomite’); an interpretation of the passage in Ovid where Orpheus is said to have been ‘the first of the Thracian people to transfer his love to young boys.’

His severed head and lyre, still singing mournful songs, floated down the Hebrus River (Maritsa or Evros) to the Mediterranean Sea, and the winds and waves carried them on to the shores of Lesbos island (now in Greece), where the inhabitants buried his head and a shrine was built for him near Antissa. There his oracle prophesied, until it was silenced by Apollo.

Lesbos, the Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea, is the third largest Greek island and the largest of the numerous Greek islands scattered in the Aegean, and separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait.

Interestingly, one meaning of the word lesbian is derived from the poems of Sappho, who was born in Lesbos and who wrote with emotional content towards other women. It is due to this that Lesbos and especially the town of Eresos, Sappho’s birthplace, are a hot destination for lesbian tourists/ LGBT tourism. But, the deeply conservative Greek Orthodox population of the island disapproves of it strongly. In 2008 the Lesbian islanders lost a court battle against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece. The Lesbian islanders had requested a legal injunction to bar homosexual groups from using the word ‘lesbian’ in their names, because the petitioners’ claim it violates their human rights as it is ‘insulting’, and the usage of the word ‘lesbian’ to refer to certain sexual preferences of women disgraces the people of Lesbos island.

Milford Sound, New Zealand

Photo: Milford Sound, one of New Zealand's most famous tourist destinations

Milford Sound is a fjord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island, within Fiordland National Park and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.

In May 2008, Milford Sound was named the top destination in the world, determined based on the opinions of TripAdvisor's six million members, the world's largest online travel community, ahead of Cayo Largo in Cuba, Rhodes in Greece, and California's Lake Tahoe. Milford Sound topped the list of 100 global destinations.

Quimper, the French town of ancient Roman vintage

Photo: The Odet River in the centre of Quimper, France

Quimper (Kemper) is a commune and the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department in Brittany in northwest France. The name Quimper is derived from the Breton word 'kemper' meaning ‘confluence’ because the city was built on the confluence of the Steir, Odet and Jet rivers. It is 486 km (302 miles) west-southwest of Paris.

Quimper is the ancient capital of La Cornouaille, Brittany’s most traditional region and the town was originally settled during Roman times. The town has a rustic look with footbridges spanning the rivers that flow through it.

Near the Episcopal palace, which now holds the Musée départemental Breton, there are the ruins of the town's 15th century walls. Also nearby is the Musée des Beaux-Arts that houses a sizeable collection of 14th to 21st century paintings.

Quimper is well-known for Quimper faïence pottery, made here since 1690. The town’s eating establishments have some of the best crêpes and cider in Brittany. The town has also been famous for copper and bronze work, food items, galvanized ironware, hosiery, leather, paper and woolen goods.

Generally French festivals are held in summer, but Quimper has a Winter Festival, ‘Les Hivernautes’. In summer, you can also find concerts on street corners, with pipers and accordion players.

The main tourist attractions include the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint-Corentin, the Church of Locmaria, several other historical churches, the old town centre with mediaeval fortifications and houses, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cornouaille Festival featuring traditional dance in the last week of July, Faience museum, and the Statue of Gradlon.

Public transport in Quimper is provided by QUB. Quimper is the terminus of the TGV high-speed train line from Paris, which passes through Le Mans, Rennes and Vannes, and the regional train network is served by the TER Bretagne. Quimper-Cornouaille Airport has flights to Paris.

Cape Town City Centre, view from Lion’s Head

City centre of Cape Town, view from the nearby mountain Lion’s Head, in South Africa (15 January 2009)

Cape Town, the second most populous city in South Africa, is the provincial capital and the legislative capital of South Africa. Cape Town is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is Africa's most popular destination for tourism.

Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was developed by the Dutch East India Company as a supply station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's, the first European settler, arrived on 6 April 1652 and established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. It is one of the best multicultural cities in the world and a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa.