Wat Thum Sua

Archie or Stan? Can't tell from this distance
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We spent our last full day in Krabi visiting Wat Thum Sua which was a cheap local bus ride out of town. It is a beautiful spot where a buddhist shrine has been built on top of one of the rocky tombstones which dot the landscape in Krabi and the surrounding areas. There are 1237 steps up to the top and in the 31 degree heat that is no small feat. After about thirty steps we were all a ball of sweat, gasping for breath and pulling ourselves up by the handrails. After five hundred our skin had lost it’s elasticity and our faces had been pulled tight against our skulls, eyes bulging and veins throbbing. By the thousand mark we had all become delirious and zigzagged our way up the stairs chuckling to ourselves and swatting away imaginary birds who were trying to steal our bananas. However we eventually made it, the free water at the summit helped us gain fluidity in both body and mind and we could enjoy the incredible view.

Stan, a nun and a huge gold Buddha at the top of the 1237 steps. Surreal
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Practically skipping back down we enjoyed the sight of the many monkeys who frequent the Wat (although strangely they were a bit scared of us; sweaty, red and gasping for air as we were) and we witnessed the surreal sight of monks in special Bob the builder orange robes, busy mixing cement for the improvements to the Wat ‘complex’. If you pledge 9,999 baht towards the rebuilding you get a brass statue and a guaranteed place in heaven apparently.

Back in town it was lunch time. A five minute search found us sat down at a hawker stall down a side street with a short but tasty-sounding menu. Being in a ‘porky’ frame of mind we settled on ‘red pork with rice’ and ‘crispy pork with rice’. Both came with a bowl of chicken broth so there was plenty for four, and what a delight it was; the red pork sweet and juicy, the crispy pork light and crispy on the edge, buttery fat underneath and soft meat under that. Total for all food was less than a pound.

Archie contemplates
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That evening we went one better, back to the night market by the river where a dozen or so traders ply their culinary wares, mainly to locals, but also the more adventurous westerners such as ourselves. The boys ate chicken and pork satay sticks until their eyes bulged, the grown-ups settled on crispy fried mussels with egg and bean-sprouts. This was followed with particularly fatty and tasty sausages from another stall before the finale of a bag of miniature sweet rolled pancakes. All utterly delicious, all memorable and all for under four quid. All those weeks of doing without and scrimping for every penny are finally over, it’s the hawker stall revolution and we are standing at the front with our pitchforks!

View of Krabi from the top of the shrine
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The next day we packed off another parcel to the UK (kid’s completed school books, a few bits of clothes we no longer need). Jont has dispatched his jeans home in favour of burgundy Thai fisherman’s trousers, which are only rivaled by our friend Farmer Jim’s beard as ‘fashion statement of the year’, and we’re all so proud. Then it was off to the so-called ‘VIP’ bus overnight to Bangkok, where we are cashing in accumulated points earned at Holiday Inn Express in the States to stay in a proper, air conditioned, hot water & TV included Holiday Inn hotel for a night of Western decadence - hooray!