I'm Officially Done Climbing Mountians in Thailand Part 10: Krabi Provence --driving to Kho Lanta with a stop at Wat Tham Sua(Tiger Wat Cave)


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October 12th 2012
Published: October 17th 2012
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This blog contains 77 photos. To view all of them scroll down and turn the pages. I will be adding more pictures and some cool videos soon so stop back!

After 2 nights in Phuket, it was time for my big drive to Kho Lanta. I got a super early start, so I could visit Tiger Wat Cave before it got too hot. Sri Panwa sent me off with a lovely boxed breakfast for the road. It was much easier navigating Phuket Town in the dawn hours than it was in the early afternoon, thus I enjoyed the scenery much more. I thought it was really cool to see the monks out with their bowls collecting morning food alms. Photo-op after photo-op presented itself, but I had no way to stop and take one. This was true of much of my car trip. The drive was long and thankfully most of it was gloriously scenic. Krabi provence with it's karst formations is like no place I have ever been. It was hard to keep my mind on the road with so much to look at.

I had one stop planned on my way to Kho Lanta and that was Wat Tham Sua aka Tiger Wat Cave. If I could visit only one Wat in Thailand, this would be the one. I stumbled across it in my trip research and instantly knew I had to see it. Wat Tham Sua is built into a maze of caves at the base of a mountain.The wat recieved it's name because a monk by the name of Jumnean Seelasettho found the caves in the 60's and felt they would be a good place for meditations. Evidently he found them occupied by wild tigers and this is the reason for the name. I don't know what he worked out with the tigers so he and his cohorts could meditate. Supposedly there are still tiger paw prints in one of the caves. I saw other small Wats in Krabi with tiger statuary and am curious as to their relation to Seelasettho, who is a bit of a superstar monk.Tiger Wat Cave was been considered sacred even before construction of the Wat as evidenced by Buddhist archeological finds there.

Interestingly, there are pictures of entrails, dead bodies, a skeleton, varied bones and other gore within the main cave. Seelasettho placed these there to remind monks of of the impermanence of the body --cool! From this cave you can enter other bizarre little caves with tiger shrines and other oddities.

Outside, there are two sets of stairs. The main set leads up the mountain to a complex with a giant Buddha and an insane view. There are 1237 steps...yes 1237 (now you know why I wanted to get there early.) I was determined to climb these stairs and with a purse filled with water I set off to the top. Even in the morning hours the heat and humidity were intense. Out of respect to the temple I was well covered --making matters worse. There were other climbers and it was interesting how we formed little climbing groups. We would rest together and give each other encouragement. My group consisted of some young Aussies and a Thai girl. We made our way up the steps resting from time to time. Stupas line either side of the steep steps and every so often there was a little alter with statuary.In an act of cruelty, every few steps were marked with a number just so you know how far you hadn't climbed. By the time we neared the top we were down to one guy, the Thai girl and me. The 20 somethings were dropping like flies and that made old me feel pretty good. Once at the top we met a burley tattooed Aussie guy with 2 Thai chicks in scandelous hot pants --they were funny. The girls wanted to hang with me, "you're a strong woman, you make it all the way to the top!"

The top of the mountain was spectacular. The views of the ocean and the karsts were just insane. It was a very moving place to be, especially after the commitment to getting there. The cold water they stash up there tasted wonderful. Oddly there were a bunch of 'seen better days' dogs lounging around at the top. I spent a while up there soaking up the view before decending the stairs. Going down was infinitely better than the way up. I noted with interest on my way down that the monks have rigged a dolly system to bring rice to the top of the mountain. I stopped at a little platform just before the stairs ended and thought about the rest of my trip. I realised at that moment that I was officially done climbing mountains in Thailand.

My next exploration of Wat Tham Sua was the area around a pagoda dedicated to Kuan Im --the Bodhisattva of compassion. A large statue of her stood in the pagoda which played awesome cheeseball music. As I further inspected the area I began to realise there were monkeys everywhere. They were running around the grounds and a bunch were playing in and about the pagoda. I tried to video them swinging inside the building, but it was too dark to turn out.

I hated to leave Tiger Wat Cave, but I needed to press onto Kho Lanta. I left Wat Tham Sua with the feeling that I really did something special.

The remainder of my drive to Kho Lanta was scenic, but uneventful --unless you count dodging hijab wearing ladies on motos as eventful. After a couple of hours I made it to the ferries. There are two car ferries needed to reach Kho Lanta. I knew I was going to like the trip when I got into line behind a big ol'ox. Food stands with Muslim BBQ line either side of the ferry line --oh joy! After parking my car on the first ferry, I went up to a seating area to enjoy the ride and eat some BBQ. I felt like an attraction as everybody was coyly checking me out. I guess most tourists don't drive to Kho Lanta. I was sitting right by a gaggle of giggly Muslim teen girls and they were as fascinated by me as I them. They were shy of my camera which was sad because they were gorgeous. I did manage to snap some stealthy pictures with them in it.

Two boat trips later I was on Kho Lanta and on my way to Time for Lime.....

One of the 737363636383 monkeys that rule this Wat



Stunning view shot in HD(hopefully you can view it without too much artifact)



View of giant Buddha



Monkey running around Kuan Im pagoda



Main cave



Mountain views



More pagoda and moremonkeys




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town entrancetown entrance
town entrance

Many towns have very elaborate arches at their entrance. I managed to catch this one, but sadly missed some really spectacular ones because there was no way to stop and snap.


Weird tiger themed Wat Weird tiger themed Wat
Weird tiger themed Wat

Near Wat Tham Sua. I tried to shoot it as I drove by.....note one of the elephants has a blue hat on..?






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