The 1237 Steps of Wat Tham Sua

Today I went on another solo adventure and missioned 8 km north to climb to a temple known as Wat Tham Sua (Tiger Cave Temple).  I’ve seen my share of temples in Asia so far, but this one intrigued me.  Mainly because this one features a shrine perched at the very tip top of a massive limestone tower jutting out of the local karst landscape. The Buddha statue gleams a brilliant gold and is visible from town, 8 km away.

I made it there easily enough.  The ride only cost me 40 baht (around $1.30) and didn’t take long at all.  Once there, I walked a ways and found the namesake of the whole place, the Tiger Cave.  It wasn’t all that impressive, just a small cave in the side of the cliff that paled in comparison to the one I visited yesterday.

Past that, I found the base of the stairway that is pretty much etched into the sheer rock face.  Oh boy.

It took me a little while, but I made it.  Since I waited till the afternoon to go, the temperature was brutal… over 90 degrees.  Some of the steps were so steep, I had to crawl up using my hands or pull myself up with the safety rail.  Within a matter of minutes, I’d sweated through my shirt.  As I told Sandy later, it was a ‘wring my shirt out’ kind of day.  I took a few short breaks to stay hydrated and ensure I wouldn’t pass out and take the easy way down.  Then, 1237 brutal stairs later, I made it to the top.

That down there?  That was my starting point.At first, I didn’t even bother with the view.  I just cast myself to the stony ground and panted like a sweaty, out of shape beast for a good ten minutes.  Then I decided I might as well have a look around.  You know… since I just so happened to be there…  The view: stunning.

I could see the town of Krabi sprawled to the south, the mountain range off to the west, and farmland stretched as far as the eye could see.  The breeze dried the sweat from my brow and, after guzzling the rest of my water, I decided I was pretty darn happy I’d made it up.

I stayed at the top for a while, took some more pictures, and encountered yet another demon monkey.  This one didn’t attack me, but it did make this face…

Seriously, that is the face of SatanAfter a time, I made the descent in record time.  It always is so much quicker going down.  I seriously think I did it in 15 minutes.  Along the way, I encouraged a few disheartened looking climbers… though some sick part of me wanted to mess with them.  “Sorry guys, it’s closed for the day…”

Being an avid walker, somewhat loopy in the brain, and a glutton for punishment, I opted to walk back to my hotel.  Eight km and a loooong time later, I made it back.  Perhaps next time I’ll just get a cab.