1237 steps uphill in 32°C means a lot of sweat. And then a monkey steals your iced tea!
I’m going through my journal and sharing some experiences from my shoestring trip to Thailand and Malaysia in June-May 2018. This one is from a temple Wat Tham Suea, Tiger Cave, near Krabi Town, Thailand.
Worth climbing the steps?
Saturday 2.6.2018
“The bus driver nodded ‘Okay, okay’ when I tried to find out if the red songthaew could take me to the Temple area. After some driving, he stopped, turned around, and pointed to a small road: ‘This is your stop, you walk’. So I did. I had no idea where I was but I found the Temple.
The temple area is famous for tiger footprints (legend has it that a tiger once lived in the caves) and playful monkeys that are not afraid of humans. However, I saw no tiger footprints. The main temple was under construction so maybe they were there…
When I climbed up the thousand plus steps to the viewpoint where a huge golden Buddha contemplates, I saw no monkeys either. What a waste of time! No monkeys, no tigers, just dehydrated body and bright red face! The view was beautiful though and I certainly got a good exercise out of it.”
I was not the only one struggling in the heat
“Maybe I was at the viewpoint too early, around 9 am, and the monkeys were still resting. After I had descended the stairs and walked around the caves where the monks meditate, the monkeys had emerged.”
Maybe the monks really live in the caves
“I had my share of a monkey attack when I foolishly made eye contact with one of them. Before I realized what was happening, he had jumped at me and grabbed my camera strap! Luckily the camera hung around my neck so the monkey couldn’t steal it, but he didn’t want to let go. I shook the camera, but he was persistent. In that hassle, the monkey slapped my iced tea I had been drinking and some cold tea along with a handful of ice cubes splashed on him. Finally he retreated.
I don’t dare to think what that episode looked like to the outsiders.”
Tasty stolen treats
“But I was lucky, I only lost a few ice cubes. One British lad lost his ice cream and a young girl had her hair pulled real hard. Mean monkeys!
Having met these ‘playful’ monkeys, I am glad I climbed the steps to the viewpoint before the monkey attacks started.”
Near Here Way Away 