After spending several days sitting around on the beach, it felt like time to get a bit more active. Kayaking in the mangroves seemed like a pretty reasonable choice for my second (and last) tour in the beach area. Once again, there were some pretty interesting people in our group including a South African who works as bodyguard in the Helmand province (one of the most dangerous places/most gunfire in the world) in Afghanistan. His girlfriend is German and she just moved from Afghanistan to work in Sudan. Woah. My kayak buddy was this odd, bald, very pale man from Boston. He just got done diving in the Philippines and does not take kindly to even the slightest scent of cigarette smoke (which is relatively common). The tour through the mangroves was really gorgeous. Mangroves occur in tropical and subtropical areas and can thrive in a really wide range of water salinity. They protect the coastline from erosion and host a very unique ecosystem for a variety of organisms. Among those organisms that we were told we would get to see were fish, water snakes and monkeys. Lucky for us, we got to see all three of those! I even made friends with a monkey who got pretty excited to see if I had any food in my bag.
The next day I joined a couple of new French friends to make a trip up to the Tiger Cave Temple or Wat Tham Sua. It is said in legend that either a tiger used to live in the cave, or that the Buddhist monk who found the cave saw tigers running around it during his meditation. There is a cave at the bottom of the temple, and if you can climb the 1237 steps up 2,000 feet to the top you are greeted with a golden Buddha statue and and a panoramic view of Krabi and the coastline. If that wasn't enough, the whole area is full of monkeys who will come rushing over at even the slightest rustle of a chip bag.
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| They just don't even care. |
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| View from the top of the temple. |
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| Where'd you get the measuring tape, bro? |
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| BABY |
Q: Why did the monkey like the banana?
A: Because it had appeal!
