20th- 28th February In and Around Krabi

After a gruelling day travelling involving a few rides in the back of a pick up truck, eventually made it to Krabi town. Krabi town was only a small town in itself, but was an excellent location for visting the local sites and most importantly beaches.

We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. On a few occasions we joined them in the local park and jogged around the running track, to their amusement, I think they were laughing out our flab shaking. They had really good sporting facilities with circuit training apparatus in the centre of the park, tennis courts, of course a boxing stadium and an area where they practised Thai Chi.

But most importantly they had lots of food stalls. A food market where you could try lots of strange snacks and then plenty of food stalls by the river, that had a really relaxed atmosphere. The fish stall had to be my fave, you could buy freshly grilled whole fishes for a $1 including rice and salad.

Reiley Beaches

During the day we managed to catch a long boat to the famous Reiley beaches, warm clear sea, white sandy beaches with back drops of lush green and chalky red cliffs. You could explore the caves. Unfortunately we could not afford to stay here but I'm sure it was more fun getting on & off the long boats, wondering if we would make it to shore crashing over the waves.

Tiger Temple

Determined not to get a taxi, found a songthaew (truck) that stopped near the tiger temple. After been dumped on a busy road had a steep walk up to the tiger temple, where a tiger once lived. Quite amazing to see many buddhist monks living inside caves with very small wooden huts. Then we climbed to the top to see the buddha statue, this was a 600m climb, or 2,300 steps. I know it might not seem high but in the heat of mid day and humidity, it was a challenge, some of the steps were nearly 90 degree, very steep. Many people turned around. But the views at the top were definetely worth the climb.

Hired a Moped

Before you start panicking mum, the roads were very quiet and we had our horse riding helmets on at all times for protection, even though they were made for a small child. The countryside was really beautiful and we found a national park to walk around. We foolishly walked through a nature trail in flop flops. Thinking trail, it would just be a gentle walk through the forest. It was in fact a steep climb through the rainforest, with no path markings, had to purely go on instinct. What dim wits my flip flop broke, however fate struck and I found a kiddies flip flop, a bit small but protected me from the termites. Then my other one broke, steven innovatively tied my belt round my foot keeping the sole of the flip fop in place. The noises you hear in the rainforest are really quite scary and every time i placed my hand on a tree for grip, i was really conscious i wasn't putting it any where i shouldn't.

Luckily on the way home spotted a Tesco, they are taking over the world. Had to walk around in my dirty bear feet, thinking that would cause less attention than my odd shoes and a belt tied around my foot. Anyway purchased a new pair and are still rocking after 2 weeks.

Pee Pee Island.

This became famous after the famous film "Beach" starring Leonardo Di Caprio. Unfortunately its difficulty to get accommodation and pricey. So we decided it would be more fun to take a speed boat and island hop for the day. The beaches were stunning, and the snorkelling was good, however the coral had been severely damaged by the tsunami.