A big day was ahead, just like on day 14, a hike was planned for today. Although I still felt the hike of over 4 hours from the day before in my legs, I felt ready to take this adventure and make the most of the day. I hear you asking, which hike are you going to do today? It is a hike loved by many tourists and locals! I present to you, day 15 and my adventures at the Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Seua).

On my way to the Tiger Cave Temple

The drive to the Tiger Cave Temple was certainly not an ugly one. The route led me through the beautiful landscape of Krabi province, with many beautiful roads, views and rock formations.

The scenic roads of Krabi province

Although the route should only take about 30 minutes, it took me at least an hour. While the road to Tiger Cave Temple was very scenic, the first section certainly was not. It was a busy highway with a lot of freight traffic and taxi vans, which made it all a bit less relaxed. Fortunately this stretch of road didn't take any longer than 10 minutes, and I ended up on a quieter road.

The route I had to drive

Of course I had to stop at the last 7 Eleven I would encounter to do some shopping. A few bottles of water and some food were certainly not superfluous. Especially since my planning was not the best, since I was going to do the hike in the heat of the day. Something to do with waking up on time and that I'm not the best at planning. Perhaps this is why when traveling I always decide last minute what to do, where to sleep and what the next destination will be.. 😅

The Tiger Cave Temple

The Tiger Cave Temple is a Buddhist temple in the Krabi province of Thailand. The Thai name of this temple is Wat Tham Seua (Wat means Temple. It's basically just a temple with a lot of stairs and a great 360 degree view. The good news is that there is no entrance fee to Tiger Cave Temple.

Just a temple at Tiger Cave Temple's main ground.

The main attraction at Tiger Cave Temple is the sacred site at the top of the mountain.
Only to get here you will have to climb 1,237 of the steepest steps you have ever seen. A nice addition are the monkeys that are everywhere during the climb. The monkeys are certainly a nice addition to the climb, you just have to watch your belongings and zip your bag properly. 🙈

The start of Tiger Cave Temple "hike".

The stairs I had to conquer

Was the hike all worth it?

The climb up was pretty tiring and I did sweat a lot. What I didn't know was that there is a water tap at the temple's summit. So this is good to know if you ever consider climbing this temple! And the most important thing, was the hike worth all the effort? I think so, but I am certainly curious about your opinion (see photos and video).

The view from the top was amazing and was worth every step! From the top you had a perfect view of Krabi Province. The landscape consisted of a very green environment, with mountains on one side and a stretched landscape on the other.

View from the Tiger Cave Temple

Not only did you have a beautiful view on the mountain, the temple itself was also very beautiful. It consisted of several Buddhist statues and a huge bell. I definitely spent more than two hours at the top of the temple. I mean, I had plenty of time ahead and it was wonderful to just dream away in the green landscape.

Buddhist statues

Drive back to Ao Nang

Just before I wanted to drive away from Tiger Cave Temple, I spotted another chance for a cool photo. I looked in the rear view mirror of my rental motorcycle, and saw a great temple in it. This is where the following picture came out.

Rear view mirror picture of a temple

I didn't want to drive the same way back so I quickly looked for a stopover. On Google I came across the lake Nong Thale. A lake with a great view and certainly not a destination where other tourists had been that day. The water of the lake was definitely not the cleanest, but the view was certainly spectacular.

Nog Thale lake, Ao Nang

Next to the lake was a small village where everyone was amazed that a tourist was driving through it. Even my new friend below gave me a puzzled look that I stopped to take a picture of him. So cool!

My new homie! 🤣

At the start of the day I knew the hike wasn't going to be an easy one, so I thought I'd be smart to take my swimming gear. On the way back I stopped close to my hostel at the beach. To take a dip in the sea during the sunset. This definitely was my best idea of ​​the day. The perfect combination, a good sunset and a very refreshing dive into the sea!

I mean, can it get any better than this?

**Food review
**Of course I must not forget to tell you about two snacks that I tried this day. On my way to the Tiger Temple I stopped at a 7 Eleven, and there was this vendor selling some very famous and delicious Thai snack. I had read a lot about it online, and definitely had to try it. I present to you, Thai Coconut Pancakes (Kanom Krok). They’re made in a pan with iconic round indentations, creating a little cup of goodness that’s crisp on the outside and soft, warm and custardy on the inside. Way to delicious!

Thai Coconut Pancakes - Kanom Krok

On the other side of my hostel was a mosque, where several street vendors sold delicious halal food. There was a man who sold some chicken and beef on a stick. And the line for the street vendor's food stall was huge. So I had to try his snack. I ended up choosing chicken, and I can tell you one thing. It was delicious!

BBQ flavoured chicken

Cinnamon Video

Just like last week I have another video for this week. I hope it gives you a good impression of the Tiger Cave Temple, the lake and the sunset at the beach.

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=398485966890730551

Video header of the link above, preview is not working..

Only Coil subscribers can read my story about and see 10 bonus pictures!

Day 15 of my backpacking trip, and we are still in Thailand. After my third night at Pop In Hostel Ao Nang (Krabi province), it was finally time to hit the road again. Not in terms of a different location, but a new adventure. The past two days have been resting day, so I feel full of energy to do something active. And by this I don't mean a normal activity, because we are going to hike!

The start of the day...

After I woke up I started te day good by getting some breakfast at the same place as yesterday and the day before. Saad Kitchen just had such amazing fresh made food. I remember exactly what I ordered here every morning: a bowl of freshly cut local fruit, such as mango, papaya, pineapple and banana. As an added bonus, I ordered some yogurt, making it the perfect breakfast. Really, I would prefer to eat this for breakfast every day. It's just so gooood!

Of course, this breakfast alone was not enough for me to complete the hike. At the 7 Eleven I bought some bananas, sandwiches and bottled water to make sure the hike would be a success. After my visit to the 7 Eleven I quickly rented a motorbike at the hostel, so I was ready to go and start the adventure.

It was time for me to drive from the hostel to the hike. The hike that is planned for today is the Khao Ngon Nak Nature Trail. According to Google Maps, it was only a 16-minute drive, but I sometimes stop on the way, so this estimate is often incorrect.

I took the less touristic route to the Trail.

Khao Ngon Nak Nature Trail

Once I arrived at the start of the hike, I had to show up at the counter of the park rangers. You could only take the hike within certain times of the day. I had to write down my name, telephone number and arrival time. I also had to take a picture of some emergency numbers, since you will not see many other people during the hike. As the hike is in a national park, admission to this national park is free, but a tip is appreciated.

The hike had a distance of 3.7 KM (2 miles), this over rocks and roots of tree trunks. At a pretty normal pace the hike to the top took me about 2 hours. The hike itself was really tough, I cannot remember a moment in my life that I sweated so much. It was a good thing I had put on a sports outfit. After an hour of hiking through dense forest I was finally able to see the first view. This view was already so good, that I was curious what the top of the mountain had to offer.

The path I had to walk on.

Almost at the top of the mountain, the path became more difficult, it wasn't as before a forest path to walk on, but slippery rocks with nothing but the stone itself to hold on to. After two hours of hiking I was finally at the top. Here I saw the first rock that you could climb on through a bamboo staircase. From this rock I had one of the best views I had ever seen. I had a view over Krabi, while I could also see other places in the distance such as Ao Nang and Railay Beach. For the first half hour I did nothing but sit on the rock, sweat, drink water and enjoy the view. If this was what I did it all for, it was certainly worth it.

The mountain view

After recovering a bit from the hike, I decided to look further. The view here became even better, that I did not know what was happening to me. I mean look at this picture:

Some pictures..

There was one place on the mountain where it was a bit busier with tourist. And it was no surprise why. You could take two of the best photos on the whole mountain here. One sitting at the edge of the rock with a view that cannot be described. A view of rocks, a green valley with trees, pictures, rivers, farmland and of course the sea.

I had to put some more effort into making the other picture. For this one I had to climb on a large rock first, after which I crawled very slowly to the end of the rock (fear of heights). What made it even scarier was the fact that the rock hangs over the cliff. The results are impressive:

I was at the top of the mountain for about two hours, after which it was time to go down again. The way back was a lot easier. The walk back down took me just over an hour.

Once at the scooter I immediately drove to the nearest 7 Eleven to stock up on some water and food. An additional advantage was the air conditioning, which is always present in every 7 Eleven. A wonderful cooling off after a great hike. Just what I needed after a great hike.

Oh and yes, I promise this burger looked better on the packaging. I was quite shocked when I got it in front of me once. But honestly, it tasted pretty good.

The evening

Once back at the hostel I took a shower and immediately went to eat at the restaurant of the neighbors. Here I first ordered a Thai green curry, but it was just a bit too spicy for me as a Dutchman.

Thai green curry

After having eaten about half of it, I decided to order a hamburger at the hostel. It is not very common for me to eat Western food on my holidays outside of Europe, but this was the easiest option for now.

The rest of the evening consisted of a small party with some Germans guys. A few people from my hostel asked me to go out and have a party with them. Of course I couldn't say no to this.

And I have to say, I'm glad I went along. It was a very nice evening, and it is always nice to meet other travelers.

Cinnamon video

I'm way to happy this weeks blog includes a video again. It's not the longest ever, but they give such a great impression by the blogs.

https://www.cinnamon.video/watch?v=392690620281390280

This was it for today. I hope you enjoyed my blog.

For Coil subscribers there are a 5 bonus photos.

A few weeks ago I went on holiday with friends to Germany. This is something we try to do every year. This is not always a holiday particularly to Germany, but a holiday with friends somewhere in Europe. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend last year, as this was always the best time for me to do a backpacking trip, this due to school holidays.

This year everything was different, in February I went backpacking in Thailand. Because of this I did decide to join my friends again this summer, as it's always a lot of fun. Also, the current covid-19 pandemic would have also not made it possible to travel outside of Europe anyway.

Our Bungalow in Heimbach, Germany

Me and my friends stayed at the holiday park named Landal Eifeler Tor. It's a park with a collection of apartments and bungalows located on a beatiful mountain hill. We rented the bungalow for a week, and it had no less than 5 bedrooms, with beds for up to 10 people.

The house had a living room, dining area, flat-screens, TVs, kitchen, terrace. Also it came as a suprise to me that the house also included a private sauna and whirpool tub! 👌

Take a look to the house and beautiful view we had from the terrace.

Our house, and look at the sky! Just wow...

The view from our terrace

Had to put this segment in...

Because we were with 9 people, there was of course a lot of groceries to be done at the supermarket. Some friends went to the supermarket together and came back with the following. A car full of groceries, which all just about fitted in the fridge and other storage cabinets.

All of the groceries in my friends car 😱

One of the storage cabinets

Road Trip – Eifel National Park

Two of my friends decided it was time for a little road trip. When they asked me I couldn't say no to this. As you probably already know, I like adventures like this. So I absolutely didn't want to miss ou on this one. We were staying in Eifel National park, a park dominated by dark blue lakes and rivers, dams, as well as densely forested mountain ranges. A sight so close to home, yet so beautiful that I had to discover it. So we started our adventure, first over the dam, which was next to the park, towards what we thought the mountain passes.

The dam close to our holiday park

We couldn't really find a mountain pass route via Google. However, we encountered many motorcyclists on the way, which is always a good sign for beautiful roads. So we started out by just following them, and eventually we got there! The first signal that we were on the right track finally came to about 15 minutes. It was a traffic sign showing sharp bends and recommended speed limit.. This was it, this is what we hit the roads for that day.

So many sharp turns that they were impossible to count. They just kept coming, it was really great. Just when you thought it was ending, dozens more came. A ride so beautiful that it is almost impossible to explain in words. We drove for about four hours and only stopped twice. Once for some food, and once for a great view.

A Burger King with a view! 🍔

Cinnamon Video

Of course I can't just leave without giving you some imagination about this road trip through Eifel National Park. For this reason I shot some footage and edited a little video for on Cinnamon.

https://www.cinnamon.video/watch?v=391189527911203967

It was a nice holiday which I certainly would not have wanted to miss. I hope you enjoyed this blog (and video). In the subscriber only section I have added some bonus photos.

Thanks for reading and take care! ✌

Day 12 of my trip was my first full day in Ao Nang Thailand.
Ao Nang is a resort town in south of Thailand of the Krabi Province. It's know for it's beach coast and beautiful surroundings.

What struck me immediately was the landscape, which was completely different from all the other places I had visited during my trip. This because of the gigantic rock formations. Although Ao Nang is known as a resort town among many tourists, this was not the main resason for met to visit this place. The area has many possibilities for active activities, such as hikes and beautiful scooter trips.

Breakfast

I started my day around 10 AM, since you couldn't have breakfast at the hostel, I was referred to the neighbors across the street. It was called Saad Kitchen. This place was completely focused on breakfast, and that made the breakfast options to choose from way better. I rembember that I ordered the banana pancake, and it was delicious. Just such a great start to a new day!

Saad Kitchen

Ao Nang

If I remember correctly, Ao Nang is a small town in Krabi province. This is an incredibly beautiful province in the south of Thailand, which really surprised me during my trip.

As you know I don't plan my trips. Because of this I did not know what there was to do in the area of ​​Ao Nang. For this reason I spent my afternoon to rest a bit from the intensive travel and to do some research on fun trips. Since the town is very popular with families, the information available on the internet is quite limited. It took some effort to find the best trips that I liked. Finally satisfied with my schedule, I decided to go out to relax some more. This time no exciting adventures, but just a trip to the beach! 🏖

The beach

I have to admit, I'm not much of a beach person. But I loved the time at the beach. Normally, I can never find the peace and quiet to spend a few hours on the beach. I have to admit that the beach was really great, and I'm glad I went. Although it was very busy on the beach, I could still enjoy it. The sound of the sea was very calming, and the beer I bought at the 7 Eleven made it all even better.

The only drawback were the loud longtail boats that left for the nearby islands every few minutes. A beautiful sight in the water, but not very pleasant for the ears. This because, the engines of these boats are simply engines of old trucks.

Ao Nang Beach

The evening

After lying on the beach, I did not go back to the hostel immediately. On the way I saw an Indian restaurant, which I had read good stories about. I ordered naan (oven baked flatbread) with some kind of chicken curry. And I can tell you one thing, it was absolutely delicious!

Dinner at an Indian restaurant 👌

After dinner I went back to the hostel to freshen up. After a cocktail at the hostel bar, I walked back to the beach. I stopped at the 7 Eleven again to buy me a beer and enjoy some more time at the beach.

Tiger beer at the beach 🐯

After sitting there for half an hour, I saw a place to go out and have a drink. I ordered a beer, but this was not very special. After drinking one beer here I decided to go back to the hostel to watch some Netflix series.

Beer at the bar

This was certainly not my most adventurous day of my trip, but every now and then you have to give yourself some rest so that your body can recharge itself. And I can tell you, it was a great day!

Oh and I forgot to tell you. This weeks and next weeks post unfortunately do not contain a Cinnamon video. I completely forgot to shoot any footage these two days. 😅 I promise to make up for it in the weeks that follow!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again next week! ✌

For Coil subscribers there are 4 exclusive pictures!