Feb 15 - Arrange for a driver at the guesthouse for a full day to see some of the sights inland from Krabi. Go about 50 km east along some small country roads to the edge of the hills that form the N-S spine of the peninsula. First stop is the Klong Thom Thermal Waterfall. It is a designated park with entrance fee of 200 Baht/adult and 100 Baht/child. This is a series of streams sourced from hot geothermal springs that flow into a larger river. They have captured some of the hot water in concrete lined pools, but the more interesting part is where the hot spring streams flow naturally down a steep incline to the river.
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There are a fair number of hot springs in the southern part of Thailand, and they tend to be clear, bicarbonate, with very low sulfur.
Just to the west of Klong Thom is the Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot). It is a also a bicarbonate hot springs, flowing out of limestones and through a lowland rainforest setting. Unlike the former, the stream flows across the rainforest floor for a long distance before joining with a river of any size.
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While we are here, we determine that Odette’s hiking boots were left at the previous hot springs under a bench, and no one noticed that she has only been wearing her sandals since. The driver knows a shortcut back, so in ten minutes I enter the other park and explain my case to the ticket office. A worker there gives me a ride on the back of his scooter to quickly get into the area I need to look. The boots are still there. This deviation from our original agenda doesn’t delay things too much, so we go ahead and carry on to the last point of interest, Wat Tham Suea (Tiger Cave Temple), just north and east of Krabi town.
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There was a stairway going directly up the cliff. The concrete steps were steeply inclined, with risers up to 30 cm. I thought perhaps they went up to a cave in the cliff wall, so I went alone to see. It turned out that the stairway led to the top of the cliff, an elevation gain of 237 meters. Once I realized this, I was already a ways up so decided to just continue. The walk was not easy, with the height of the risers and constant intimidation by macaques. Fortunately, even the monkeys don’t go above about 100 meters elevation, and the rest of the way was peaceful. It was 1260 steps to reach the mountaintop, which I only know because of a sign at the top. It was really tiring and made me feel out of shape.
It was a good time to be at the top, as the sun was just going down.
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Back to our guesthouse for an hour rest, then get a free ride back to downtown Krabi for the night market. It is an extensive line of temporary shops that line the edge of the estuary, and makes for an entertaining stroll with endless opportunities to grab some chow, listen to music, or watch a performance at the main plaza.
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