Climbing Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Sua)

On Day 2 of my trip to Krabi, Ruthie (a new friend of mine) and I took motorbikes to Tiger Cave Temple. The Tiger Cave Temple (aka Wat Tham Sua) sits on top a high limestone mountain. The surrounding area of the Tiger temple cave is stunning with mostly tropical rainforest. The temple is built around a maze of natural caves and overgrown jungle valley, and one can reach the temple by climbing 1,260 stairs. The height of the Tiger Cave Temple mountain is 309 meters and at the top you find a beautiful 360 degree view of Krabi and the Andaman Sea.

Tiger Cave Temple was named such because many tigers were spotted in the forest around it when it was originally founded, and there are tiger footprints found in the caves. We spent some time around the base of the temple, enjoying the jungle (warning: there are playful/curious monkeys who want to steal from you), and wandering the nearby caves. We saw many monks and a kind lady monk interacted with us.

After we took a moment to mentally prepare, we headed up the stairs. We saw kids climbing which gave us hope that we could make it ourselves.

At the top of the temple:

With a monk we met: