Krabi (26th Feb - 5th March)

Well, we've had a brilliant time in Krabi. It was awesome catching up with Dan's folks and was sooooooooooooooooooo relaxing!!

We stayed at the Andaman Holiday Resort, about 30km outside Krabi town and arrived there onthe evening of the 26th (two days earlier than we'd anticipated - not that we were at all eager to indulge in a bit of luxury!) after a 16 hour trip that took in 7 different types of transport!

Due to our early arrival, we had to call on Doug to sort us out a room for a couple of nights. Thanks Doug, it was amazing! We had a massive, air conditioned, clean and well decorated room with an equally massive bathroom (with hot water), t.v and the comfyiest chair in the world (much like a round wicker bowl with a cushion), we're presently looking into how much it would cost to DHL one of these home!!!

The resort was the epitomy of luxury - palm trees, ponds, swimming pools, unimposing villas, and a view of the beautiful white sanded beach, that was empty, and the torquise sea....we could tell straight away that it was going to be tough staying here!

The resort also had a large variety of wildlife which kept Dan happy! There were loads of different types of lizard as well as a 3/4ft resident monitor lizard that was partial a swim in the swimming pool! There was also a baby elephant called Lala that would come down to the beach at 3pm everyday for a dip in the sea and some bananas. She absolutly loved playing around in the water and you could go in and help bathe her, a wicked experience!

The resort had two restaurants, one next to the beach and the other set further into the resort but still with a stunning view of the beach and surrounding islands. At the latter we ate breakfast where they served up a mean bowl of cornflakes, as well as the best egg and soldiers in town!

After a rather tearful reunion the following morning we got straight into chilling out, between the pool, the beach and the bar, setting the scene for the following week.

One morning we ventured away from our sun loungers and headed out by longboat to Hong Island, about half an hour away from the resort. The Island was absolutly stunning, with a breath-taking lagoon surrounded by steeped limestone cliffs. The bay where we stopped was straight off a postcard and the water was filled with huge shoals of colourful fish who proved quite partial to our pringles! Here we all took a turn snorkling around the bay and saw an amazing variety of fish (including a shoal of squid!) and some beautiful coral. We also took a wander along a nature trail, which while pretty devoid of nature, gave a fascinating insight into the effect of the tsunami on the island. As testimony to the victims, there was a memorial plaque and as a poignant reminder, much of the debris (smashed up fishing boats) had ben left in place where they were washed up, some several hundred feet from the shoreline. Evacuation procedures were also highly publicised with instructions and directions to the nearest evacuation point.

On a few evenings we headed to the local beach town, Ao Nang, which was set on another stunning beach. We dined in a superb restaurant with possibly the best view in town. There were also loads of souvenir shops which kept Di and I happy, but also kept Di and Andy's suitcase very full! We also ate in the hotel a few times, and couldn't fault the place and the staff were especially good. One night it absolutly poured down with rain which was quite a spectacle!

Towards the end of our stay Dan and I visited the very impressive Tiger Temple, about 40mins drive from the resort towards Krabi town. The temple is set at the top of a very steep hill/cliff, over 1,200 back-breaking steps up! But the view from the top was worth it. The temple was open-air with stunning views of the surrounding countryside and hills. There were a number of small shines to Buddha and also a massive statue of Buddha, about 30ft high. The temple itself was actually quite small, but very impressive nonetheless. There were also some very adorable monkeys on the steps up to the temple. A real cheeky chappy was fascinated with my camera and kept pulling it towards him (we think he could see his reflection in the lens) even though I was on the other end trying to photograph him!

We left Krabi on the 5th March, after a very tearful good bye and a doubt about whether we could carry on after we'd been so well looked after!

Thanks for an awesome past week mama and papa Free. One day we'll repay the favour!

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