Thailand Guide
Southern Thailand: the Andaman coast
Wat Tham Seua (Tiger Cave Temple)
Address: About 10km northeast of Krabi town
Spectacularly situated amid limestone cliffs within a tropical forest, Wat Tham Seua (Tiger Cave Temple) is a famous meditation temple of caves, wooded trails and panoramic viewpoints.
Beyond the main sanctuary, follow the path past the nuns' quarters to reach the pair of steep staircases that scale the 600-metre-high cliffside. The first staircase is long (1272 steps) and very steep, and takes about an hour to climb, but the vista from the summit is quite spectacular, affording fabulous views over the limestone outcrops and out to the islands beyond. There's a large seated Buddha image and stupa at the top, and a few monks' cells hidden among the trees. The second staircase, next to the large statue of the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Im, takes you on a less arduous route down into a deep dell encircled by high limestone walls. Here the monks have built themselves self-sufficient meditation cells (kuti) in and around the rocky crannies, linked by paths through the lush ravine: if you continue along the main path you'll eventually find yourself back where you began, at the foot of the staircase.
The abbot is a renowned teacher of Vipassana meditation, and, in the main sanctuary, under the cliff overhang you'll see some of his educational displays – close-up photos of human entrails and internal organs – reminders of the impermanence of the body, a fundamental tenet of Buddhist philosophy; the human skulls and skeletons dotted around the rest of the compound serve the same purpose.
Infrequent pick-ups from Krabi town go as far as Nua Klong (20min; B20), from where you'll need to either take a motorbike taxi or walk the final 2km. Bear in mind that as Wat Tham Seua is a working monastery, visitors are required to wear respectable dress (no shorts or sleeveless tops for men or women).