When it comes to holidays, I have to say I am not a person for sitting around a beach for any decent length of time. I like the beach, dont get me wrong, but I get bored. After 3 or 4 days of not doing much I am ready for a trip somewhere. Today, after three days of not doing much, myself and the two travel buddies headed off on a day trip.
We were picked up at 8:30 by a very enthusiastic and charismatic tour guide named Tom and we headed off to the first of our three destinations of the day; the Hot Springs just outside Krabi town. We were told by Tom on the way to the springs that they average out at about 35 - 50 degrees, and when you think that body temperature is 37 degrees, it doesnt see, very hot. Boy were we wrong! They were amazing. Hidden in the dense forest, there is a number of little pools of water constantly flowing thanks to the spring coming from higher up on the mountain. We stripped off to the bikinis and dipped in. It was incredible. It was the heat of a nice hot bath and the waters were crystal clear. Luckily it wasnt too busy with the fact that its low season here, and we got to have a good soak and came out all relaxed and calm. I loved every second.
From here we moved onto the Emerald Pool. Also situated deep within the Thai tropical jungle, this pool is a lot more substantial than the springs. Basically when you look at it you would mistake it for an outdoor pool. It even has the blue tinge of a pool. But the water is in fact from a waterfall up on higher ground which trickles its way down and into the natural pool, and the blue colour is from the emerald green rocks which line the bottom and sides of the pool. It was not as hot as the springs, but there was definitely more room to swim about.
So all relaxed and chilled, we were shipped to a gorgeous lunch of tom yum shrimp soup, chicken in sauce, vegetables and rice, followed by watermelon. Thinking this day was perfect, we headed off to our last destination; the Tiger Cave and Temple. The name is a bit deceiving as there isnt the cave you expect there. There is a sort of cave into the mountain, but not a go-down-into-the-ground sort of cave. Just more a cut into the mountain side at the foot. The story goes that decades ago a tiger lived in the cave and the locals would hear his roar echo through the cave. Then, in 1975, monks came along and kicked him out of his cave, so he went further into the mountains in search of a new home, and the monks built a temple there and named it after the tiger they forced out ..... not exactly great for the moral standing of the monks there but however .... Anyway, after wandering around and taking pictures of the tiger sculptures and shrines (while avoiding the robbing monkeys that also live there) we three decided that since we are young and fit and used to the Thai heat, we would have no problem climbing the 1237 steps up the mountain side to get to the view point at the top. We are idiots.
Step 1; We can do this NO bother at all.
Step 200: Ok, its a little steep but nothing we cant handle.
Step 350: Phew, I am HOT. This is kinda hard. My legs hurt. Wow.
Step 550: I think I might not be able to do this.
Step 864: I can taste death. I am turning around and going back. Later dudes!
Turns out sitting behind a desk for 6 months shouting at kids and eating doesnt make you fit. It took half an hour for our legs to stop shaking, but we made it down and back to the hotel to stand in a cool shower for 15 minutes. Overall though, a really good and active day.
Sawatdiikha.
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