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I sadly departed Ko Lanta and headed back to mainland Krabi.
Krabi is a cute little town with a river running through it. There is a great night market where they serve all kinds of Thai food from little carts. The food is great and very authentic and it’s really cheap as well. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad and I also managed to get really sick. I don’t even have tonsils so I don’t know how I managed to get a sore throat and fever. I thought (only for a paranoid second) that maybe I had malaria, in spite of the $100 worth of malaria pills untouched in my pack. But, it was just a passing illness. The nice thing about Thailand (well, one of the nice things) is that the pharmacies all sell medicine that we would have to get a prescription for in the US. Most of the pharmacists speak English as well. So it was easy for me to get some anti-biotics and fix myself up.
After I started to feel better, I booked a tour to see some of the local nature sights. The first stop was a beautiful hot spring. This hot spring
Along the Krabi river walk
The black clouds covered the city and threatened rain all afternoon originates from a warm stream in the lowland forest of Khao Nor Juji which is supposedly Thailand's last piece of virgin and fertile forest. The water is supposed to have healing qualities. It was about 40 degrees Celsius (you do the math) and felt wonderful. Just like a hot tub, but surrounded by the most beautiful rocks, trees, a little river below where the springs flowed into. It was so nice and relaxing. The only thing that would have made it better was to have a nice cold cocktail while in the spring. After all, sitting in a hot tub in the middle of a steamy, rainforest-like jungle can get hot!
The next stop was another national park. This one included "Emerald Pool". The water flows from the top of a bunch of rocks, kind of like a tame waterfall, and collects into this naturally occurring pool. The water was crystal clear and refreshingly cool. The swimming was great and the pool was surrounded by beautiful plants. You could walk around the pool and I tried to climb up the rocks to see the water source, but it went on and on. I finally got to a heavily forested
area where I couldn’t go any further and the water still came from further on.
The last stop on the tour was the Tiger Cave Temple. From the internet:
Wat Tham Seua (Tiger Cave Temple) is a small temple built inside a long shallow limestone cave, surrounded by natural forest. The temple, one of the south's most famous meditation centres, takes its name from a stone formation nearby which resembles a tiger's claw. Today, about 250 monks and nuns live in the temple compound. Two staircases wind up the limestone cliffs. The first one leads with 1,237 steps to the top of the mountain offering a superb 360-degree view and is definitely worth a try. Pillars on the staircase indicate how many steps you have already climbed and a monkey family lives around the stairs. Reaching the top will reward you with an incredible view and there is a huge sitting Buddha, a golden pagoda and a few other small constructions. The second one (only 130 steps!) leads into a valley where the monks live in simple huts. Riddled with cave systems, the whole area has revealed many archeological findings including stone tools, pottery shards, and unfired clay Krabi River
Beautiful but cloudy holy images, dating from prehistoric times. The temple also runs a meditation centre.
So, yes I did climb the 1,237 steps and it was rough. Some of the steps only gave you about 4 inches to step on but they were about 12 inches high, so it was like stepping up really high to balance the top of your foot on a small protrusion. After about 35 minutes and many stops along the way, I finally made it to the top. It was a beautiful sunny day and the view was completely worth it. There were two temples at the top. One of which had a huge statue of Buddha. Stunning!
Unfortunately, I was not able to enter the actual cave because the monks were preparing for a celebration- for the birthday of the mother of the head monk. But I was so exhausted after the climb, I hardly minded.
After the tour, we headed back to Krabi and I prepared for my next adventure.
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