Discovering Phra That Cave in Kancahanburi by motorbike
 

This was definitely one of the most physically challenging days we had in Thailand. First we drove off on a rented motorbike which I was not looking forward to since I had never been on one, and even though I trust Joris's driving skills, he hadn't ridden one since years ago... so what could go wrong, right? Luckily nothing, but the ride was pretty long and uncomfortable for me on the back seat. We rode our trusty motorbike for almost 2 hours from Kanchanaburi to Erawan National Park.

Our first stop was the Erawan waterfalls with the famous seven stages where, normally, you can swim. Unfortunately, the night before it rained way too much and nobody was allowed to go in the pools. To keep it short: swimming was prohibited and in stead of beautiful blue water, we got poopy brown water. We were just unlucky that day! Bleh.

After looking around and taking some pictures, we decided to head out for Phra That Cave; a tip from the owner of our guesthouse who told us that the caves around Kanchanaburi are pretty impressive. On the motorbike, boohoo. Once again having to endure the literal pain in my ass (pun intended).

Pra That Cave is situated only 8 kilometers far from the Erawan waterfalls so only a short ride and the entry ticket for the waterfalls is also valid for Phra That Cave! It's a big cave; around 200 metres wide and there are a lot of awesome stalactites and stalagmites, some even translucent. Before getting inside the cave, visitors need to ask for a guide to navigate you throughout the cave. You need to be there before 3 p.m!

When we finally arrived at the entrance we realized that if we wanted to see the cave, we would have to walk a mile up the mountain, on a series of uneven, slippery stairs, through the humid and mosquito infested jungle. What can I say, we rode all the way here so we weren't gonna quit now.

Man up, take a deep breath and power through! Huwa! And up we went! It took us some sweat and tears but we made it to the top.

On the plus side: the higher we went, the less mosquitos there were. And man, it was a long way but we made it and we were more than ready to go in.

Check out the pictures here!