Wat Thom Sua or Tiger Camp Cave Temple

Sunday morning and our second day in Krabi town. Today our destination is Wat Thom Sau or commonly referred to as Tiger Camp Cave Temple, approximately 6 km from the town. We opted to take the local Song Thaw (poor mans taxi) which passes along the main road at regular intervals. Cheap cheap.
My goal for this site was to climb the 1272 steps to the top. I challenged myself to go non stop in as short a time as possible. Marie decided climbing that many steps,for her, just was not in the stars! Lol.
Not knowing what to expect I thought it best to wear runners, instead of sandals, and my gym gear. Looking up at the several sets of railed stairs zigzagging up the side of the mountain, disappearing into some trees, I thought this isn't going to be so tough. At 9:45 with a water bottle in hand I started my ascent. Climbing the first steps, the ones I could see from the base, was the equivalent of taking the stairs to 8th floor in a high rise. Each step varies in height and the steepness of each set varies from somewhere in the range of 35 degrees to 80 degrees, with the steeper steps being almost a foot in height.
Okay, now I'm starting to sweat, huff and puff. I'm still going strong but am now only seeing more and more steps. The are people along the way stopping to rest and catch their breath while others are on their way down. I keep going and soon my pace starts to slow and I'm breath is like that of a and snorting bull! Wow, I think they meant 12 thousand steps! And who's idea was this anyway? While I'm not exactly speed walking my way up the stairs I am managing to keep going. I'm beginning to think there is no top. My T-shirt is soaked and sweat is dripping everywhere. I knew I should have brought a towel. I look up and see the stairs disappear into the trees and think, hey there is the top. Wrong! Just more stairs. Grabbing another big breath I climb the next set and then finally I see the top. 4 more flights and I've made it! Yahoo! I claim my prize, a view that stretches for miles and miles in all directions. Truly rewarding and amazing. The Buddha statue is quite large and stunning. I think to myself, how did they get all the materials and equipment up here to build this thing? Not only the statue but the concrete platform. That was one heck of a climb but I reached the top by 10:00 AM. By my math that is 15 minutes. I'm pleased with my conquest. Definitely one of the hardest physical things I've done in quite some time.
Going down was easy but somewhat nerve racking as it is very steep and the steps were very narrow. It was like standing on the edge of the roof of a high rise and looking down. Vertigo!
At the bottom Marie greeted me with water and we found a shady spot with a breeze so I could dry off.
We then headed over to another set of stairs, OMG, but these were just a short climb up over a rim and down the other side into a jungle like area (about the size of two football fields) surrounded by high steep cliff walls. There was a pathway that took us around the perimeter allowing us too view the dwellings of the monks. Some were doors built into the cliff side and others were extremely small buildings. There were several caves and some old and interesting tree trunks and roots. A strange place which had me wondering how it came to be. We spotted a tortoise in the leaves. It was so well camouflaged that if it had not moved we never would have noticed it was there. It certainly is one of the lucky ones as it hasn't been noticed by.......well people who would enjoy the meal it would make!
On our way out we noticed a group of Macaques clambering over the wire wall remnants of a cage, probably a cage that at one time was used to hold the tigers.

Instead of,heading back to Krabi we thought we would head back to our old stomping grounds in Ao Nang. Trying to find a Songtaew heading to Ao Nang was another story. Everyone that stopped was heading to Krabi so in the end our destination became Krabi. Lol. Go with the flow, no point fighting the current. At the Krabi bus station we managed to get catch Songtaew that was going to Ao Nang, but not before going to Krabi. Too funny. At the main stop in Krabi our Songteaw quickly filled with travellers, including a couple from France lugging a couple of large suitcases. Within minutes of departing they realized the Songteaw was not taking them around the corner to their hotel. They rang the buzzer for the driver to stop, but did not get off. We tried to tell them we were heading to another town. The French man was very upset with his lady. He was content to lug their suitcase the 200 meters to their hotel but she wanted a ride. Well she got her wish for a ride only now they were going for a 30 minute ride to another town. Lol. It was kinda funny but also sad as he was so frustrated with her. There is a Krabi Resort in Ao Nang and that was what the driver understood was their destination, not the Krabi Riverfront Hotel in Krabi town. Another couple also passed their destination. I think the driver was having a bad day. In Thailand you must be very diligent to make sure they understand what you mean or want. Often they just smile and nod their head while saying "yes" when they have no clue what you want. I think they are trying to be polite and not offend anyone.