Hike to the Dragon Cress, the most beautiful viewpoint in Krabi

Preparation

• I have seen a few walking on sandals, doesn't seem very nice to make your way among the rocks. Hiking boots are best as far as I'm concerned, but I've also seen some people with athletic shoes.
  
  
• Like me, are you going for the sunrise? A handy head flashlight makes hiking a lot easier, that way you have nothing in your hand and your walking path is well lit.
  
  
• As with any hike: bring at least 1 to 1.5 liters of water and make sure you have enough sugars to keep your energy levels up. On the way to the starting point of the hike you will pass several 7-Eleven's, here you will have plenty of choices.
  
  
• Although you are sheltered in a forest, it is still quite warm. I didn't experience any bugs, so you can therefore wear shorts and T-shirts just fine.

How to get there?

The nature park is about a 40-minute drive from Krabi center. I rented a scooter to drive there myself. The roads are in good condition, along the way you are occasionally reminded that in Thailand you have to drive on the left, haha!

Once you arrive at the park, the scooter parking is self-explanatory, there are no extra (parking) costs involved. You will have to buy a ticket at the ticket office for 200 Baht. If you go early in the morning, there is a chance that there is no one there yet.

The hike

Het startpunt van de hike is misschien wat onduidelijk omdat er een bord staat met “CLOSED 2 PM". Je kunt vanuit het ticket loket gewoon rechtdoor langs het bord lopen, daar zul je op het informatiebord zien dat de hike zo’n 3,7KM lang is. Deze 3,7KM zul je in ongeveer 1 uur en 15 minuten afleggen als je een intermediateconditie hebt. Het is zeker geen hike die je eventjes doet, dus een beetje conditie is absoluut nodig.

The first part of the hike is the steepest. Here you get almost no time to rest your legs, because you are constantly finding your way up between the rocks. By the way, this is quite doable uphill, downhill you have to be careful.

Once you have been on the road for about 30 minutes (1.5 KM) you will reach the stairs. Once you have passed the stairs you can take a break, which I would absolutely recommend. In fact, with the extra energy you can do the second, easier part of the hike in one go.

The last 2.2 KM to the top are a lot easier and include some flat sections. You will also get some trickier sections, but here a rope hangs on the side to help you up. Along the way, you will encounter a few more kilometer signs that signal how many KM you are on the way.

The viewpoint!

Once pretty much at the top, it's another walk past a couple of viewpoints before you reach the Dragon Cress viewpoint. This can be identified by the barbed wire and "not allowed" sign towards the stone rock. Once enjoying the view, you soon forget that you have a hike behind you.
 

Climbing the rock is at your own risk and can result in a 2,000 Baht fine. To me this was worth the risk, because the photo you can take is definitely a unique one! By the way, I don't want to encourage you to do the same as me, for this make your own decision at the time you are there if it feels right.