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Published: July 15th 2014
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We left Pengang on day 9 and spent the best part of the day in the bus which was pretty tough on everyone. At midday we reached the Thai border and once again crossed with ease. I had it in my head that we would be spending hours at each border but so far we have crossed with ease. Once over the border we stopped at a Tesco shopping complex for lunch. I was hungry and took advantage of the KFC (I needed a break from curry and Chinese food). After a gluttony of fried chicken we spent the afternoon in the bus where it rained non stop until we got to Krabi province for a short longboat ride to a small island called Klong Kang for our homestay experience.
Having spent most of my time so far in cities/towns I was excited to be somewhere more remote and rough it a little. My expectations of the homestay were that it would be an evening in someone's home where they would cook for us and we would be sleeping on a mattress in a spare room (I had my mosquito net ready an everything). What we actually experienced
was a lot more luxurious but equally enjoyable. The family were owners of a restaurant on the river. As we left the long boat they drove us 10 minutes down the road or path is probably more accurate to four wooden shacks on stilts that were fitted with beds,showers,towels etc. I was lucky enough to have my own shack,however, my shack didn't come with a mosquito net. This wasn't a problem as I was proud to reach into my bag and pull out my own which I had brought and used in India a few years ago. Our main bags were at a local hotel we would be staying at the following day so we had all packed an overnight bag. As I pulled my mosquito net out to my horror I realised what I thought was my net was actually a first aid kit which has a similar look. I felt like an idiot but thought never mind, I might get bitten to buggery but at least I can soothe the bites with the multiple sterile wipes I had. Thankfully one of the girls on the trip had actually packed hers and didn't need it as her shack already
had one fitted so she lent it to me. We were picked up that evening and went back to the restaurant by the river for a lovely meal which incidentally the thousands of mosquitos also had despite my 100% deet jungle spray. My feet now look like they have the measles. The following day we were driven to a local fabric painting workshop where we were allowed to join in and then to a boat making factory which was closed. We left the island and were driven to a coastal town in Krabi called Ao Nang where we were staying for a couple of nights.
Ao nang is a coastal town designed for westerners and as such is very touristy. It's a good base for Island hopping on the west coast. On our first day I was feeling tired from the lack of sleep I'd had at the homestay so some of the group opted for a kayak tour and some went off on their own. As we had planned for drinks later I went out scoping for bars that looked decent for an evening drink. I found a place called Boogie Bar which looked good as
a band were setting up. We returned there later and spent the night listening to the band play mainly covers but it was entertaining all the same. The following morning we went on an all day island hopping tour where we would be swimming,snorkelling and relaxing. We got a speedboat at 9:00 am and headed for the first island. It was choppy and not very good for my gut having consumed a few to many beers the night before but I felt ok once we were in the sea at the first island. It was the first time I had got into water and not had to adjust to the temperature. It was nothing like the North Sea. We then went onto other islands most notably Ko Phi Phi where Danny Boyles "The Beach" was filmed. I attempted to snorkel but as with most things in life I struggled massively. We retuned to Ao Nang where our tour guide had kindly cooked for us a lovely Thai meal. Then I bumped into some Swiss lads I'd met in Singapore so we all went out to Boogie Bar again as it had a TV that was showing the Switzerland, Argentina game.
The Swiss lost.
The penultimate day of the trip saw us leave Ao nang for a place called Surit Thani where we were getting on a sleeper train to Bangkok. The girls on the tour got massages and pedicures in the morning, I opted for life admin and booked my hostel in Bangkok. We had lunch then got took a bus to the train station. We boarded the train at 6ish, ate a very pleasant Chinese set meal then slept or tried to sleep. I was very impressed with the quality of the sleeper train but I struggled to sleep and was awake at some point every hour. We woke at 6:30ish the following day and arrived in Bangkok for our final full day. Our hotel was right by the train station and by far the best we had stayed in during the tour. We had an organised tour in the morning which took us down the river where we fed some fish and stopped off at the famous reclining Buddha temple after that we were free to roam the city. As I had another few days in Bangkok I opted to sleep at the hotel and
skyped with the folks. We had one final group meal in the evening then the young members of the group headed out for drinks in the famous khao san road district. It's basically Bangkoks broad street although I'm not sure if you can eat scorpion,get a suit tailored or visit a ping pong show on broad street (Mum, I'll tell you what a ping pong show is another time). The following day we all parted ways. I had enjoyed the tour and had a nice time with the group.
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