If there is one cave combined with a temple worth seeing, it’s the Phraya Nakhon Cave!
Situated about 4 hours south of Bangkok, the massive cave boasts some amazing views from all angles. To access this cave, go to the parking lot and either catch a boat around the little headland to the beach and hike from there or simply walk from the parking lot. Location: https://goo.gl/maps/2CJ2EFpCNCQ2
We opted to catch the boat which cost about 12 USD return, in order to save us an hour to be in the cave for the best lighting conditions. The optimum time to see the sun shining on to the temple was from about 11am in the last week of February. Note that this will change based on the time of year. Additionally, we each paid about 6USD for the National Park.
We were summoned to catch our boat from the beach. Note that your legs will get wet up until roughly knee height. The boat ride took all of 5 minutes but is totally worth it. From the beach drop off, we hiked up the steep mountain for about half an hour. Luckily most of it was in the shade of trees but take lots of water along, as well as plenty of mosquito spray. They were vicious on top of the mountain just before starting the descent into the cavern.
On the way down, we came across the ‘dry waterfall’, which is the result of extremely salty water droplets running down a crack in the limestone and forming this amazing feature.
Before entering the main cave where the temple was situated, you enter a separate smaller cave with trees growing in it. The size of this cave was already an impressive sight!
After exploring a bit and taking some photos, we followed the sign to the main attraction, which was accessed through a gap in the rock wall.
There were already several people inside, walking around the massive cave with a large opening above. The sun was shining perfectly on to the temple and the shooting conditions improved over the next hour!
There were plenty of angles to explore the cave from, to capture and admire the beauty. It had a sense of peace and tranquility.
The pictures will not do this place justice, you have to be there to experience the true size and energy of the cave!
After leaving the cave and reaching the top of the mountain, we came across some Dusky Leaf Monkeys. I can’t ever resist taking photos of them. The shooting conditions were not prime and I had to push up my ISO level, which resulted in some slightly grainy pictures.
We decided to hang a GoPro in the tree, to see if we could get some footage of the monkeys coming to check out the foreign object. They came close to check it out but were not brave enough to touch it. They were entertaining to watch, as some played and swung around, while others snoozed on the wide branches.
On the path back to the beach where we caught the boat back, we came across this beautiful lizard. It stood still for me and posed wonderfully at the entrance of his home.
If you ever find yourself on south-western side of Bangkok, then definitely make sure you stop here to visit the Phraya Nakhon Cave! It definitely was one of my highlights in Thailand, along with Khao Sok National Park of course.