26 July 2020, by Oana Badiu
This awesome jungle tour takes you to some of the most beautiful nature places in Krabi, Thailand and it was one of my favourite tour during my two week visit! The tour starts around 8:30 in the morning and ends around 16:30 - 17:00 in the afternoon. The tour costs around 55 €/person and, like most tours in Krabi, lunch and water bottles are included in the price. I recommend you bring swimming suit and towel.
If you don't have time to do all things in Krabi and you have to choose between all the tours, I definitely recommend going for this one! This was the last tour I went on during my visit and I must say that after almost two weeks of daily tours I was contemplating quite a lot whether I should take this or not. After a while, I thought to myself that probably I am not going to visit this place again any time soon (not that I wouldn't want to, but my bucket list is pretty full 😁) so I should finish "strong" and book this tour. After all, I would have plenty of time to rest in front of my computer when I would get home. I definitely didn't regret my decision and I was really amazed by the natural beauty of all the places that we visited in this tour!
The Hot Springs of Krabi are natural "hot tub jacuzzis", with fresh water coming from thermal springs originating from deep underground and they have a constant temperature of 35 - 42 °C. The "tubs" are carved naturally in the stone and their water is filled with minerals which are believed to do wonders to your health. This is Krabi's natural spa and it's a really great place to relax and enjoy the nature. Can be a tad crowded there, however our tour guide made sure we got there first, so we could occupy some of the tubs. We had around one hour to spend here. If bathing is not your thing you can also walk around, admire nature and the many butterflies flying around.
You can easily see why this is called the "Emerald Pool" and its colour looks even better in real life than in these pictures!
Perhaps the main attractions here are the Emerald Pool and the Blue Lagoon, however this site has a lot more to offer than these.
Somehow this place reminded me of Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, with wooden planks around the crystal clear waters, but with a jungle twist.
The Emerald Pool, also known as the "Crystal Pool" is called "Sa Morakot" by the locals and it is part of Thung Teao Forest Natural Park in the Khao Pra-Bang Khram area. There are two ways to get to the emerald pool from the entrance: a short 800 m trail or a beautiful, 2.7 km nature trail on wooden planks, surrounded by awesome nature! Obviously I recommend taking the longer route!
Once you reach the Emerald Pool things can get a bit more crowded, however it was still pleasant. There are toilets at the site and places to change your clothes. The pool's edges can be very slippery so you should watch your step!
The surroundings of the Emerald Pool are also quite impressive!
These are all really nice, however the real beauty is hidden deeper in the forest, around 500 m walk from the Emerald Pool. The Blue Lagoon is absolutely spectacular and, luckily, swimming is not allowed here!
The Blue Lagoon is surrounded by lush vegetation, which adds even more to the "wow" effect of the sun rays that hit the surface of the water. The striking blue just stands out from the dark area around it!
Once you have seen the Blue Lagoon you can go back and chill in the Emerald Pool for a while or just walk around and admire this amazing forest!
The last stop of this tour takes you to the Tiger Cave Mountain Temple, which has one of the most beautiful views in Krabi! The view comes at a price: 1 260 steps straight up on a very hot day!
If you are a woman there is even more bad news: you need to cover your knees and your shoulders, so it's about to get sweaty! If you don't have anything with you that covers your knees you can rent some "clothes" from the entrance.
The steps are quite steep and you need to be in a decent physical condition to climb up. The heat makes it a lot more difficult, however with plenty of breaks and plenty of water is very doable for most folks.
Once you get up you will be rewarded with some of the best views of Krabi! The view from up here is very similar to the one from Khao Ngon Nak (aka the "Dragon Crest"), except that on one side it's very flat.
The temple is also quite amazing and I was not expecting it to be this big! I imagine it must have been a very difficult job to built this temple so high!
Once you get down you can enjoy a fresh coconut and some ice-cream. There are, however, some thieves around, so be careful with your belongings.
This was an incredible tour and the perfect way to end our two week journey around Krabi! The natural beauty of this area is just amazing!
