Tiger Temple Cave

Yet another trip to the Tiger Temple cave. Steve, one of GVI's volunteers who has completed his 50 hour TEFL followed by participating in 2 weeks of the Teaching Children Project went on the trip with a GVI staff member. Below is his own description of the trip from his blog including some lovely pictures:

On Saturday I visited Wat Tham Sua with Kim. This temple is just outside Krabi and is set into one of the many incredible karst formations that abound around here. Ajahn Jumnien Silsetso, a charismatic Buddhist monk known as Thailand’s Good Luck Monk, founded the temple in 1975. A nun whom we met in the Viharn of the temple told Kim and me that its name arose because a tiger was living in one of the caves there at the time of the foundation. However other explanations include that it was named after a rock formation in the shape of a tiger, that it was named after rock formations in the shape of tigers' paws and claws and that it was named after fossilised impressions of tigers' paw prints within the caves.

The temple's grounds are immense and a new pagoda was in course of construction when we arrived. Refreshment cafes, souvenir shops and convenience stores are dotted about, together with the usual places to buy candles, flowers etc for offerings.

Monkeys freely roam the temple grounds and seem to have little fear of humans, coming very close to people and even stealing things from them. After completing the rainforest walk, we wandered back to the main courtyard and bought something to drink. My tin of iced tea (lemon flavoured) attracted the attention of a monkey who tried to wrench it from my hand. I resisted and managed to retain the can, though it was deeply dented from the monkey's firm grip. But then the monkey teamed up with a friend and both approached me in a threatening manner with their paws outstretched, showing their sharp claws. I decided to let the monkey have the tin and it gleefully ran off and drank from it just as would have a man.

Now it was time to try to climb the 1,237 steps up to the top of the mountain. Kim had already done this back in January, so she stayed down in the shade whilst I tried to see how high I could get. Painted numbers indicated the number of stairs you had climbed from time to time during the ascent, which did serve as an encouragement. I made it to number 675 and then descended. I got back just as our lift to Krabi had arrived. Kim got off at the bus station, whilst I continued to Krabi Town to stay at a hotel overnight for the rest of a relaxing weekend.’

Tiger Temple Cave