Tiger Cave Temple

Wat Tham Suea takes its name from a cave in the compound where a tiger was said to live, and it is a forest meditation monastery founded in the 1970s. The famous part is the climb: 1,260 concrete steps up a limestone outcrop to a summit with a golden seated Buddha, a chedi and a 360-degree view over Krabi's karst country to the sea. The steps are the honest issue - they are uneven, some over forty centimetres high, unshaded for most of the way, and the climb takes forty minutes to well over an hour in humidity that makes it far harder than the number suggests; a substantial share of people who start turn back, and heat exhaustion cases are common enough that water sellers are stationed partway. Macaques on the lower steps take bags and bottles. There is a second, easier walk at the base through a forest of large trees to caves and monks' kutis.

What you actually see

• The 1,260 steps - uneven, unshaded, and much harder than the count suggests.
• The summit Buddha - the golden seated figure and chedi at the top.
• The 360-degree view - Krabi's karst landscape and the sea.
• The forest walk - the easier loop at the base past caves and kutis.

When to go

November to April, starting at dawn - the climb after mid-morning is genuinely dangerous in the heat. Carry water; there are sellers partway but not enough.

Honest expectations

The stairway is brutal - uneven steps up to forty centimetres, no shade, and heat exhaustion is common. Many people do not finish. Monkeys steal on the lower section. It is a working monastery; dress code applies even for the climb.

Nearby

Krabi Town is south-west; Ao Nang and the Krabi beaches are west.