Hippie Ton Sai and return to BKK

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Finally we are on our way to Krabi, or actually Ton Sai, where we've already wanted to go a few days ago. So after a 3 hour bus ride to Krabi, another 40 minutes taxi trip to Ao Nang and a 15 minutes boat trip to Ton Sai we are there. On the beach we have no difficulty, as always, to find someone who can show us a bungalow. This time however we are surprised that the bungalow they offer us is only 200 baht (approx. 5Euro) a night. That would be the cheapest we had so far. So we jump on some sort of motorbike and a friendly, slightly stoned Thai guy is driving us around (while my bum is almost killing me sitting on this vehicle). He first showed us his own bungalows which he offers us for 130 (3Euro) baht a night but as I am sure I would break my legs finding the bungalow again at night we decide to take the more posh (no, not really) option for 200 baht: Dream Valley Bungalows. Actually this resort seem to be the most popular one and we are very surprised to see that many people here (around 50% of all bungalows seem to be taken which is something we havent seen the last weeks). The next day we start exploring the beaches close by. Therefore one has to walk over a quite steep hill (at least when the tide is high) to come to Railay West, a beautiful beach with loads of upmarket resorts and unbelievable prices for food and drinks. From there you can cross over to Railay East a more relaxed beach (although the beach completely disappears when the tide is high). Around the corner is Pranang beach, another beautiful beach quite popular with tourists. So we decide to stay on Pranang beach and watch the climbers climbing up the beautiful limestone formations. Railay and Ton Sai are very well known for their amazing climbing and after watching it for a little while we decide to try it out ourselves within the next few days. However, as the weather is not so good the next day we skip that idea and go kayaking around the beaches instead. In the evening Becky and Frauke arrive and we have a lovely evening together at the Small World Bar, a very cool hippie bar. The next day we finally mange to go climbing. After a few confusions in how to set up the equipment and with the help of another Thai climbing guide we finally manage to climb up those rocks AND survive.. yay! As Becky has some climbing experience she can also give some good advise on where to put your foot next as it seems to be almost impossible to find the next little crack or hole where to put you foot in while suffering from pain in your hands and arms and legs and... However, we all made it up there and it is good fun. I think with a few more years of training my body might slowly look like one of the climb instructors... maybe...
The rest of the time we spent on the beach, climbing up and down to some lookouts and lagoons, eating nice Thai food and drinking cocktails. Ian even goes fishing once and manages to catch a monk fish and not to forget the only fish of the day.... well done although we were too late to taste it but at least the Thai guys had a nice dinner 😉.
There is also a lot of wildlife in Ton Sai. Loads of monkeys, frogs, squirrels and monitor lizards who love to take a nap on our bungalows roof. Overall a very lovely and chilled out place and I'm sure we could have stayed here a few more days.
But we have to go back to Bangkok to apply for our Vietnamese visa. So on Sunday we get ready for the long trip back to Bangkok. We first take the boat to Ao Nang and as we have to jump out of the boat while its still in the water and while it is raining not only we get wet but also all our stuff. In Ao Nang we have to take the minibus to a place where we have to reconfirm our ticket (or the sticker place) then we are on a minibus to Surat Thani with a crazy driver who made it impossible to sleep as he definitely found all the potholes on the road. In Surat Thani we get dropped off at a restaurant to wait for the big bus to BKK but just as everyone ordered dinner we are told we are in the wrong restaurant and have to leave (hello doggybag). And then we are finally on the big bus to BKK. As there are hardly any people we can stretch out and sleep quite well but just as I am fast asleep I get waken up by one of the other travellers. Apparently he saw one of the Thai guys crawling on the ground searching all the backpacks for money... Well, now Im not surprised that one of them with the Tshirt "Sex Instructor" asked me before to put my handbag on the floor for "better sleep", right mate, thank god I had it under my bum and nothing happened to neither of us. We arrive in BKK at 4:30am and after finding a guest house go straight back to sleep. The next day we get up early and apply for our Vietnamese visa at the embassy (with a little car accident on the way- and the taxis mirror gone) and on the way back stop at MBK, a massive shopping centre. So I am very happy and spend a few hours just walking around (ok, also buying a few things) whereas Ian has to go back to the embassy (he forgot to bring his passport in the morning..........) 😉. The next morning Im still in the shopping mood and walk around the little street markets only to find out that I paid way too much for my new jeans... Ah well. We then go back to the embassy to pick up our passports and go back to MBK to meet Mint, my lovely friend from Bangkok university times. We have an amazing Hotpot Sushi dinner (again, I could hardly move afterwards) and then do some more shopping and Mint is showing us around all the shopping malls. It is quite impressive and in Siam Paragon (a very posh mall) we go to the food court and try out some Thai ice cream with amazing flavors (different Thai fruits and herbs and even vegetables).
The last day in Bangkok (at least for a while) we spent mainly relaxing and I finally had the chance to update the blog. Ian goes playing Thai football with some Thai guys and in the evening we go to the State Tower (Hangover 2 was actually filmed here). On top of it there is an amazing bar over viewing Bangkok. Unfortunately it starts to rain as we are just sipping on our 500 baht cocktail (that is more than double the price we paid for our room in Ton Sai;...) Anyway, it was worth it.
While packing the next morning I also find that someone must have inspected my bags a little closer as the Australian dollars which I had in another wallet (it was only around 15 dollars) were gone... so, the lesson learned: Never leave anything in your room or unattended if its of value and you want to keep it.
Bye bye, Thailand for now and thanks for a wonderful few weeks.

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