Our boat trip to the mainland from Pha Ngan Island is calm and uneventful. The 1.5 hour boat ride drops us at a pier where we catch a bus to Surat Thani ("SOO-rah ta-NEE", I think) and from there a bus to Krabi (sounds like "crabby"). We're doped up on Gravol this morning which we took in case the seas were rough, and it makes us groggy and cranky most of the day so the trip is a blur.
We've chosen Krabi as our next stop because it sounds easy to get around, there's a national park within scooter-driving distance, and it's on the way to Railay and Phuket (pronounced "poo-KET", in case you're wondering) which will be our final two stops before leaving Thailand.
After almost two weeks of island life it's a relief to get back to the mainland. The islands aren't really Thailand, not in way we know from our first few weeks. No wats, no Thais doing everyday Thai things. We allot 3 full days to Krabi in addition to one day for travel.
On Day 39, we rent scooters (automatics, one for each of us)
...and drive 8 or so kilometres northeast to Wat Tam Seua ("watt tam SOO-uh"), Tiger Cave Temple. Two things attract us to this place: a long walk up to a holy mount with a great view and a shorter walk to a valley of trees and caves.
The temple is very much active and alive, and a large stupa is in the process of being built:
The guide book mentions that the wat's "abbot" has a personality cult thing going on but it doesn't get in the way of the beauty that the wat has to offer.
The monkeys are welcome here and have a very strong sense of entitlement, as always. There are signs around the grounds that read "Please Beware From Monkey Stealing Things." Here are a couple on the tire swings that the wat has set up for them:
This one tried to grab garbage fro my hand - he did not succeed, which may be why he looks so miffed:
The central sanctuary is located 600m up a limestone karst. I don't know the geological definition/description of a karst offhand, but to me they look like icebergs on land (landbergs?) that are covered in brush and trees.
The walk up is via 1237 cement steps of varying heights - some are a few inches high, others reach my knees - and it takes us about a half hour to reach the top.
The day is very hot and sunny. As always, we got up and out today at what Pierre calls "the crack of noon" so it's early afternoon, the sun is high and we have to drink loads of water. We wore our hiking shoes to tackle the stairs but we pass a few Thais who are barefoot or in flip flops. We also pass a couple of 4 year olds walking up with their families and who do every stair themselves with a bit of whining, but not as much as I'd expect. One woman does the climb in a pair of 2 inch hot pink sequined kitten-heel dress shoes, and by the time we see her at the bottom again she's got a bit of a limp.
The view at the top is gorgeous and clear:
The top includes a huge Buddha:
...and several different shrines and statues of all sizes:
On the way down, I stop to take these pictures...
...at which point our lens cap falls out of my hand and does an on-top-of-spaghetti meatball roll across the ground, over a ledge, down a few stairs and then bounces off into the brush on the side of the cliff. Even if we could see it, it'd be foolish to try to get it.
"Is that bad karma?" says Pierre. We've just littered on a holy mount.
To make up for the litter we have to leave behind, I pick up bits of karma-litter on our way down the stairs. Pierre decides that the bottle he picked up on the way up counts as his karma credit. (I'm kidding about the karma bit, but it really did seem like the polite thing to do.)
The trip down is harder on the legs than the walk up was (poor, shaking quads) so we're glad that we decided to save the easy walk for last: the valley and caves are reached via a short 10-minute climb up and down a small karst.
This valley is home to a 1000 year old tree and though there's a sign pointing the way to it ("This way to big tree") there's no sign on the tree itself and a surprising number of big trees live in the valley:
...and others are used to house shrines:
One cliff is painted with a mural. (You may note that there is a skeleton in a case at bottom right - that is the abbot's way of reminding visitors of their mortality, the passing of all flesh, etc. , and is an unusual thing for a wat to have on exhibit.):
Some of the caves are homes for the monks who live and worship in the valley, and their small houses, doors and laundry lines add colour to the dark forest and cliffs:
Though it's a sanctuary for the monks, visitors are welcome and amenities are provided for them. One small square building houses 4 toilets, split into 2 categories: "for monk" and "for people." The valley is lush and silent except for a few visitors tramping around, and when the temple grounds close at night and after the guests and sunlight finally have gone, the monks get the quiet and privacy they live for and the only non-monks left to deal with are the monkeys.
Photo credits: P, P, P, P, P, D, D, D, P, P, P, D, P, D, P, D, D, P,P, D, D, D, D, D, P, P, D, D, P, P, D, D, D, P
