Wat Tham Suae

Wat Tham Suae is a Thai temple that is perched on a mountain top near the southern town of Krabi, Thailand. I was staying at a hostel and met a fellow traveler and blogger from Canada, Mike Diluccio. We joined forces for the day, rented two motorbikes, and visited the close temple (Wat in Thai). While in Ao Nang (a town 20min away from Krabi), we were staying at Slumber Party Hostel and we were able to easily rent motorbikes to ride to the temple for the day. The temple is about a 30-45min ride and requires some navigational skills but if I can do it, so can you.

The ride is beautiful and the road goes along beautiful scenery. It is easy to stare in awe of your surroundings, instead of the road. We got directions from the hostel owner prior to departing which I recommend. The Thai temple called, Wat Tham Suae is perched high on a mountain top and is visible from afar. As we tried to find the Thai temple, we passed it by accident but fortunately I saw that we were passing it and was able to turn around in time.

After arriving to the site we parked the bikes and walked around to get familiar with the area. There were monkeys that were walking around and I had heard that they were fearless. I promptly put my sunglasses in my backpack so that they could not snatch them from my head.

In order to reach the Thai temple that is perched on a mountaintop, you have to climb to it… There are signs that direct you to where you need to go and you start going up abruptly. There are concrete steps with blue railings and you put one step in front of the other. Whew! I am out of shape! The total elevation gain is roughly 300meters or 1000ft. My strategy was to do a set of steps and then rest. The climbing in combination with the heat and humidity make you sweat profusely.

As you climb, there are many other travelers and local Thai’s that sympathize with you as they are also tired. There are several water stations as you climb but I would encourage bringing a sufficient amount of water.

At last, we made it to the top! wow! What a view! Once you reach the top, there is a statue of Buddha, surrounding the statue there is a viewing platform with a 360 view of the surrounding area. On one side you have a spectacular view of mountains while on the other side you have a view of farming land. After spending some time taking photos, enjoying the view, and melting under the intense heat, we started to descend back down to the bottom.

While descending, it can be really scary if you are uncomfortable with heights. The stairs are relatively steep but there are hand rails to help guide you down. As we descended, there were several monkeys on the stairs or hanging in a tree next to the stairs. They were slightly intimidating but we proceeded with caution and made it down safely. Now it is time for some water and ice cream. There is a connivence store at the bottom of the stairs that allows us to indulge. Another great day! Thanks Mike Diluccio for an awesome adventure