Krabi

After returning to Bangkok from Cambodia, Kathleen and I left for a seven day vacation in the Krabi Province, a coastal area in Southern Thailand along the Andaman Coast and the Indian Ocean. Krabi is known for its limestone cliffs that border long, sandy beaches. The horizon is always scattered by a number of small limestone islands surrounded by white beaches. Needless to say, Krabi is a beautiful place. The coast is split up into a number of beaches, most of which are only accessible by boat. Kathleen and I stayed at Ao Nang, a relatively large beach town with a number of restaurants, bars, and tour companies. We also visited Ton Sai, East and West Railay, and Ao Thalane, all of which are very small but pretty. For the first three nights, Kathleen and I stayed at this budget guesthouse that was about 300 meters from the beach. We got a really good deal on the room (about $7 a night with A/C and hot water). When we arrived, there was a little puddle of water under the air conditioning machine that the woman told us is really rare but happens occassionally. Unfortunately, that pool of water kept getting bigger, requiring more and more mopping, and on the third day the water started coming out of the wall in the opposite corner of the room, soaking a lot of Kathleen's stuff. We also were frustrated by the fact that our toilet had no running water and required us to dump water into it to flush it. After three days we moved to a slightly more expensive bungalow ($10 a night) that had no leaking water and was in almost the same location.

Krabi is primarily an activities place. While the beaches are beautiful, there are so many adventure sports to partake in that it was rare for us to spend much time on the beaches. Kathleen and I went sunset snorkelling at a couple islands, elephant trekking through the jungle, sea kayaking through mangrove swamps and limestone canyons, and rock climbing on the limestone cliffs. We also rented a 150 cc scooter and explored the area, discovering various undiscovered beaches, towns, markets, and events. The sunset snorkelling was really pretty even though the visibility was poor because at night one can see the phosphorescent plankton - what appears to be tiny green flashes of light all around you in the water whenever you move. I also really liked the rock climbing and got to climb 100 feet on a cliff on the ocean and look across to see the sun set behind islands. On the last day, Kathleen and I discovered a beautiful undiscovered beach about 30 minutes from Ao Nang that had only three people on it within eyesight. Also, the seafood was phenomenal. It was a great way to wrap up the our time in Thailand. After we returned to Bangkok, Kathleen flew out and I left the next day. We are both safely back in the United States now. This summer has been a wonderful adventure and I thank you all for following along as I experienced it. This is probably not the last blog post, but until I can load more pictures online, thanks for staying posted on my summer!