After a delicious breakfast at May & Marks (they have dark rye bread there!) I decided to rent a scooter and explore a part of the Krabi mainland region. More specific: The Tiger Cave Temple, the Hot Spring Waterfall, and the Crystal Lagoon. Ai (from the the Good Dream Guesthouse) spontaneously decided to join ’cause the Tiger Cave Temple is not only a touristic attraction but visited regularly for praying by locals too. Off we went.

I am not sure if it was the first time on a scooter in my whole life but definitely the first in a long long time. Adding the facts, that I had another person behind me and that they are driving on the wrong side in Thailand it is quite surprising, that I am still alive and writing these lines ;-) Especially as the left-side-driving-rule does apparently not mean, that there are no motorbikes or even a caterpillar approaching you on your side of the road (yes, I was driving on the left side). Luckily, the locals drive especially considerate once they see that a falang is at the wheel. Thanks!

After a short time, we arrived at the Tiger Cave Temple. 1237 steps to go, which would normally not be too much. But at 35 degrees Celsius and a felt humidity of 100% it was a bit of a challenge. However, we finally arrived at the top and were rewarded with an amazing view of the surrounding landscape. These karst rocks are just impressive.

Back down we offered some joss sticks, flowers and oil at the Temple of Guan Yim (the Goddess of Compassion, Mercy and Kindness). And met a German couple who decided to join us for the rest of the trip. After a pit stop to get some fuel and a piece of food we scootered away. Which was great fun after we left the main road and entered a rural road into the countryside. Far less traffic and more curves. Woohooo :-)

Then we arrived at the Hot Spring Waterfall. A lot of natural stone pools to sit in fed by a hot artesian well. Especially soothing after the climb at the Tiger Cave Temple. The water was really hot. Great that there was a cold river just beside the pools. So I spent quite a while hopping from the hot pools to the cold river and back. Awesome!

As it was already late we decided to skip the Crystal Lagoon and headed directly back to Krabi, but made a short detour to Ao Noang, a stretch of beach close by. We intended to watch the sunset there, but we either left too late (my opinion) or I was driving to slow (Ai’s opinion ;-) and so we missed it. However, it was still a beautiful evening mood there and a nice ending of this day. We said goodbye to the German couple and went back to Krabi, where Ai took me to a typical Thai restaurant with delicious food.

Thanks Ai for joining me on this trip, for all the fun, the warning shouts when I was attempting to drive on the wrong side, and for being the boss this day ;-) Kob Khun Krap!

Whoop, whoop!
Michael