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After leaving Bali we had an overnight stop in Singapore where we filled up on a great dinner of street eats, before flying to Krabi in Southern Thailand.
Thailand had always been a place we would visit on our trip. Bee had visited many times before but it was Tim's first taste of this incredible country. As we left the plane and stepped onto Thai soil at Krabbi airport we were greeted by large signs warning us about Thailand's strict anti drugs and trafficking laws. We had to chuckle at a large sign warning us not to loiter, we would have taken a photo but a large sign warning us off no cameras meant otherwise.
We'd decided to head to the south of Thailand first to make the most of the good weather. As it was the low season there were less tourists around than Indonesia but they were still noticed. We took a bus and then a very cool long tail boat (narrow boat with a large engine and propeller on a long metal pole) to Railay a small beach resort on a rocky peninsula.
This was a very gentle introduction back to Thailand, for Bee who was returning after 10 years, not having to face Bangkok straight away was a real treat, within an hour of landing we were on a long tail boat putt-putting our way round the coast to Railay.
It remains a stunning place to arrive, with majestic limestone rocks jutting out of a rainforest filled headland. Jumping over the side of the boat and wading ashore it looked like nothing had changed. Our bungalow was high up on a hill side surrounded by jungle, really peaceful with only the sounds of the wildlife and occasional coconut falling onto our roof. To save us having to lug our bags up the rickety steps they had a great bag lift operated by a pulley, Tim even got to jump on top and got pulled up too!
Thailand is very hot and very humid, we knew this, but still after travelling for 7 months it still took some getting used to! Even a 10 minute walk would reduce us to a giant pool of sweat.
We filled our initial days exploring the beaches, going to caves, eating stunning and spicy dishes in a little family restaurant, and drinking iced fresh fruit shakes, before we decided we should be more active.
Rock climbing is big business here, and keen to get back on real rock we booked to climb, in the heat this was hard work, but were rewarded with views out over the sea, we climbed until our arms were done in. Bee loved it, ended grinning from ear to ear. Tim wilted in the heat.
For some variety we joined a boat trip out to Poda and Chicken Island to do some Deep Water Soloing (rock climbing from the sea until you jump/ fall off), this turned out to be Tim's thing, he loved scrambling over the rocks unhindered and plunging back into the sea, swimming through caves, he was in his element. Bee was not so sure and snorkelled round the cliffs.
Other highlights included seeing the Spectacled Langurs at dusk above the beach feeding in the trees, crazy fire show in the evening where they really pushed our expectations throwing fire poi and catching it between their toes and break dancing whilst performing, watching Muay Thai (Thai boxing), and sipping drinks on a little bar on a barge (the next day this was missing only to return fully laden with gravel and a digger to help with the construction, turns out its a working boat, all the bottles were still above the bar!)
We decided to pursue some more island life by heading to Ko Phi Phi next.
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