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We decided to ditch Phuket and cross the bay to Ao Nang near the town of Krabi. We were assured by the lady we booked the journey with that going by bus took the same time as by boat... lying cow. What a horrible journey to take in a sweaty little minibus. The heat was unbearable and it took all of our concentration at times to keep from throwing up. But here we are in Ao Nang.
This place could not be more different from Phuket. We wonder why we even went there in the first place. The land meets the turquoise sea here with a myriad of dramatic limestone stacks which I'm sure our photos just won't do justice. The horizon is dotted with tiny islands visitable by long tail boat and coconuts litter the beach. We wandered down the beach earlier and came across a group of monkeys playing in the stream. These little creatures may seem friendly and fun but don't make the same mistake one guy did in taking food anywhere near them. Two of them almost yanked his shorts down before a big burly one came and grabbed the food.
We met another couple Pip knows through uni after staying in contact with them. It's nice to see familiar faces as we've found it quite hard to meet new people so far. Having said that, we met two Swedish sisters last night who we lovely.
It turns out they LOVE connect 4 here for some reason. Every bar has a set and they bring it out every time you order a drink. Pip tends to win the most (cheating probably). However she was thrashed last night by one of the bar men. In her defence he has only lost twice in 11 years and he plays everyday. He was also a mean magician and not a bad Michael Jackson-esque dancer.
After spending a day sunbathing (burning), swimming in the sea and watching monkeys play in the trees we decided to book a trip to koh phi phi for the following day. That evening our meal was a little haphazard with the restaurant managing to book the worst singer and guitar player we have ever heard. He was mimicking playing guitar whilst his microphone picked up all his bum notes! We will never be able to listen to American pie the same way again!! The food wasn't that great either what with us all managing to order two mains instead of a side of noodles!
10th nov.Today we awoke early and were picked up by luxury mini bus (this one actually had leg room, comfy seats and air con! Luxury in our eyes) and caught a speed boat to koh phi phi. During the trip, our driver suddenly veered off course as dolphins had been spotted nearby, the crew on board mentioned we were very lucky to see them as they are a rarity in this area. It took us 45 minutes to get to maya beach where 'the beach' was filmed, gorgeous turquoise water and perfect sand, the only disappointment was the amount of tourists about on this tiny beach.
Thankfully we booked with a good company and noticing this, they took us on to the next spot early. With it being a full moon the tide was at its highest and we were able to visit a place usually inaccessable by boat. This place is hard to describe, it was a long shallow channel, flanked on either side by enormous limestone walls and at the end was a deep pit. The Thai's describe it as a 'room'. After this was we set off towards the first snorkelling spot at Monkey Bay, passing the Viking Cave on the way. Here, they were collecting ingredients for birds nest soup, a very expensive delicacy in China. The snorkelling here was interesting as they had sent the small fish into a frenzy by throwing bread into the water. The only downside was that there wasn't really much variety in fish.
We spent lunch on Phi Phi Don, the larger of the two Phi Phi islands. It was absolutely beautiful here. We landed on the north bay (much more beautiful than where the port is on the south). Have a look at the pictures! The sand was so soft and the water so warm, we've never swam in warmer seas than here in Thailand.
Bamboo island was our next stop, a short journey from Koh Phi Phi. This is a paradise island protected with national park status. We couldn't even look at the beach as it was reflecting the sun so much. Everything about the island (apart from the loos) was paradise. The beach, the sea, the reef, the view... amazing. Here, we snorkelled from the shore and were able to see a much greater variety of fish and get some good pictures. It was almost a shame to leave to move on to the next place.
The last stop was another 'off the boat' snorkelling spots not far from the island. The fish weren't quite as interesting here but the steep reef walls and mounds made interesting viewing. After an exhilirating but exhausting day, we headed back, enjoying pineapple, watermelon and the local Krabi cake (delicious) on the way.
We were told by the tour guide on the boat that there would be a festival that night in Ao Nang (and across the country) called Loi Krathong (a yearly celebration on the full moon this time of year). That night, we went down to the beach and set off our Chinese lantern to join the hundreds of others in the air. Our decorated banana leaf lotus shaped float wasn't quite as successful. You're meant to release these out into the sea thanking the water for our daily use of it. Once done, this is meant to give a year's good health. Unfortunately ours almost immediately became demolished by a wave... so I guess we better eat healthily and stay in shape ourselves this year! The evening ended with a spectacular firework show (and us carefully avoiding the locals setting off smaller fireworks along the street!).
Today will be another day at the beach, maybe with a relaxing massage later. Despite applying a ludacris amount of sun cream yesterday, we're both looking a nice shade of medium-rare so we may go for one of the special sun burn massages we've seen advertised. Massages are a way of life in Thailand, yes there are some seedy places, but most offer a service that the Thais seem to get fairly regularly. Just don't go for a 'Thai Massage' like our friends did... an hour of them seemingly beating the crap out of you whilst you lay there.
- comments
Tom Sexton Sounds amazing guys! Keep up the good work! Lets hope food poisoning isnt on horizon, keeping in the mind the lantern incident... And trust matt to enjoy the company of 2 blonde swedish girls!Tom x
Jan Clayton Hi Pip & Matt Just caught up with all the goss - sounds like you have had an eventful couple of weeks but getting the hang of it now. Look forward to reading more blogs Luv Jan and pedroxx