Sunday, April 11, 2010

Tiger Cave Temple, near Krabi


It should be called monkey cave temple.  We were followed up the whole way by too many monkeys to count, luckily a stray dog from the monastery below also accompanied us and would shoo the monkeys away when they got too close.  We tried to make it for sunrise, since that's the coolest time of day and this is a major hike (some steps are almost 2 feet high), so we brought breakfast with us - mangos, watermelon, and yogurt - which i think the monkeys could smell.  They would slight down the railings commando style, and try to grab at our bags!

The views from the top are absolutely breathtaking.  The landscape in this area is like something out of jurassic park, and you get fantastic views from this high up, with tree-covered rock formations that sprout up out of the ground at 90 degree angles.  The Buddhas were shimmering so brightly in the early morning sun, almost glowing.  The scene was so magical and serene since we were the only ones up there, broken only by the monkeys who would occasionally try to steal the offerings of coconut milk that had been left at the feeet of the Buddha.  Since the dog did such a good job of warning of of impending monkey attacks, we rewarded her with an extra mango which she devoured in minutes, leaving the peel for the monkeys to fight over.

As we descended back to reality we saw others trying to reach the top, but by this time the sun was already blazing hot and people looked like they were close to collapsing from exhaustion.    

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