Ups and Downs

After camping out on Maya last night I had 5 hours to kill before catching the ferry to Krabi, so what better way to kill time then to go for a Thai Massage. I can't believe how cheap it is over here!

At 4pm I was on the boat to Krabi with Asaf (one of the guys I met when camping). We both pretty much passed out on the boat and had to be woken up by the boat crew when most people had already disembarked. What was about a 5 minute walk from the pier to the taxis felt like 30 minutes. I was feeling drained and deflated at this point and really just wanted to be in a comfortable bed. Asaf and I went our separate ways as he boarded his bus to Koh Samui and I get a taxi in Krabi town for the night.

My hostel wasn't far so soon enough I was taking a quick nap in my room wondering if I could just sleep for the remainder of the day and night without feeling guilty for not exploring. I did manage to drag myself out of bed, but once I got into town, which was a 5 minute walk down the road, I realised there really wasn't much to see at all. It was like a ghost town. I had made a conscious effort to stay away from Aonang beach when I booked a place to stay, because I've been on beaches for over a week now and I'm getting a little tired of finding sand in everything I own!

I ended up going for early dinner at an open fronted place called I-OON, thinking it would lead to an early night, but soon enough it started raining. As I was eating my massaman curry (probably my 10th since I've been in Thailand) I was treated to a spectacular lightning display. I decided to stay in the restaurant and wait out the storm, so one beer turned to 2 and before I knew it...5. By that time I wasn't moving anywhere as my taste buds had become accustomed to the Chang beer. I ended up talking to a really cool couple from Manchester (Carly and Will). I moved to sit with them and we just kept drinking and eventually moved over to cocktails. We didn't leave I-OON until about 10:30pm...probably the best dinner sitting I've ever had.

After dinner we ended up at an Irish bar (there's always an Irish bar) called J. Mulligans and we played a few games of pool. I even got a chance to work on my rusty table football skills. By 1am I was in bed, tipsily 'scribbling' in my journal.

I got up bright and early this morning for breakfast and caught a long boat to Railay. I had heard from others and from reading guide books that Railay is the most beautiful beach in Thailand. I was awestruck as we approached. The cliffs are stunning and I kept thinking I can't wait to have a go at rockclimbing, but as we got closer I was pretty disappointed by the look of the beach. The water is really muddy and all I could see along the coast was building site upon building site with tractors lined up on the beach. Not at all what I expected. I guess everyone I had spoken to had been here before the Tsunami and I just didn't think. The long boat stopped about 20m away from the beach so I donned my backpack and waded through the water. I kept getting stuck in the mud and there were so many rocks I found it hard not to wince with every step. As I got on the 'beach' I felt like I just wanted to get straight back in the boat and head back to Phi Phi or Krabi, but I plugged on to my resort. I decided to spend it a little bit more on accomodation here and just go all out on a beautiful place since I've been really good thus far with sticking to my budget.

My plan was to book myself to do a rockclimb as soon as I settled in, but once I got in my room I noticed the bottoms of my feet were hurting. Following a quick inspection I found that I had basically shredded my feet during that short walk in the water and left a few bloodied foot prints on the floor of my room. Boy it's painful! I went to the nurse in the hotel and she cleaned me up and told me to rest up for a couple of days. I'm finding it hard to walk properly now so I think all hopes of me doing a rockclimb are out the window. I know she told me to stay put, but I'm catching a boat out again tomorrow morning and I'm going to stay in Aonang for a night before flying over to Koh Samui. I found a really good flight deal which is only a little bit more expensive than the bus and it'll take only a fraction of the time. Bargain!

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