Adventures in Krabi Town

Our third full day in Thailand we explored the Krabi Town area, starting with Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Sua).  
Tiger at Tiger Cave Temple
Warrior statue in the temple complex
The temple complex has several pretty buildings and statues, but the main Buddha statue is at the top of a 2000' mountain.
Entrance to Tiger Cave Temple
The way up is via 1237 steps.
start of the 1237 steps
they aren't joking!
These aren't regular steps either.  In many places they are giant steps with hardly any place to stop for a rest.
jumbo steps
It was lightly raining, and it appeared that we were the first ones up that morning.  We woke the monkeys up, and they swung around the trees and climbed along the banisters to head down the mountain looking for breakfast.  We also woke up three stray dogs taking shelter in a small sanctuary, and there was a cat hanging out on the steps.
Mama and baby monkey
Almost there!
When we finally made it to the top, we were both dripping with sweat and grateful for the light rain.  The statues at the top were gorgeous, and we were rewarded with some amazing views of the region.
At the top
Cool statues
View of the cliffs and Krabi town below
Phew, that was hard work!
Warrior at the base of the Buddha statue
Phil ringing the bell
Since it had been raining the tiles at the top were super slippery.  We removed our shoes as requested which made things worse.  Unfortunately on our way out Phil slipped and fell.  The camera bag bore the brunt of his fall, but he did land funny on his wrist.  It made for a tricky decent because the stairs were so steep you had to use the hand rails.  Fortunately we made it back down, in tact but in pain.
Buddha
Another tiger in the temple complex
We explored the grounds a bit more and found the giant cave full of smaller Buddhas.  There were monks inside chanting and one motioned us to a short set of stairs up to a small alcove with even more statues.
Lots of little Buddhas inside Tiger Cave
Dragons in front of a new temple under construction
Our driver then picked us up and took us into Krabi Town.   We went to Wat Kaew Temple first, right off of the main street.  This temple had a lot less stairs to climb, but after 1237 these steps were a lot more effort than they should have been.
Wat Kaew Temple

The inside of the temple was amazing.  It was very ellabrotately painted, with a large Buddha statue as the focal point.
amazing painting

Finally it was time for the thing I had been most looking forward to, fabric shopping!  The tailor we found in Ao Nang suggested we try Sunny's in Krabi Town, and sure enough it did not disappoint.  They had racks and racks of silks and cotton Thai batiks, and my smart husband took a seat a few doors down and let me go crazy.
the main street in Krabi Town
After I loaded up with some beautiful bright prints, we headed back towards the main street.  Then Phil spotted another fabric store, so we browsed and found even more, all for around $2.50-$4/meter. Fortunately we had the foresight to leave room in our luggage for the return trip.
love the bright colours and prints

After our adventures in Krabi Town we headed back to Ao Nang and picked up my beautifully tailored new winter coat.  We packed, had dinner, and got ready to head back to Singapore the following morning.



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