Tiger Cave Temple, Krabi Province

Not far from Krabi's airport is one of Southern Thailand's most revered temples. The monastery is set at mouth of a cave in the base of a stone pillar rising almost 1,000 feet into the air. Tour guides will spin you a tale about the cave once being home to a tiger, but the source of the name is more mundane that that. Apparently one of the rock formations near the cave looks like a tiger's paw.

A stairway winds up around the rock pillar to the very top, where there's a Buddha statue and Buddha footprint shrine. If you can make it up all 1,250 steps, the views of the surrounding countryside is fantastic.