Ao Nang

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We tried to leave Ko Phi Phi by boat only to be told we'd have to walk halfway to the the pier as the sea was a bit rough....... which involved climbing up a hideously steep walkway with our backpacks!! We made it, and were then cramped onto a longboat with the driver shouting at us all to make more room for other passengers....which is quite a familiar situation in Thailand. We were then taken to the port where we were crammed onto a boat for 2 hours..... in which we managed to get some space on the floor on the top deck....with Bex forgetting to bring the suntan lotion!!

We arrived in Krabi and made our way over to Ao Nang..... hopefully being able to wing-it with the accommodation. After finding our first option closed down..... the driver then tried to get us into one of his (commission paying) mates places.......i was a little rude.... said thanks but no thanks and hung up!! Then we stumbled across quite a nice guest house which is pretty cheap and near to the beach....... i just love it when you wing it and it turns out fine!! As you can see from the pics the weather here is fantastic, and the scenery is gorgeous!!!

The Visa run - as i mentioned before our 30 day visas are running out and the way to renew them is to leave Thailand, and then come back....which im still trying to figure out?? So we embarked on what was supposed to be a 10/11 hour trip to the border and back in a day..... on a minibus (i really hate minibuses!). The driver turned up and we started to pick up people from various hostels along the way.... and then meet up with other buses to pick up other people and drop others off. For the first hour we got nowhere...... and then it seemed we had set off, after stopping again to fill up for petrol. We both blew up our inflatable pillows and closed our eyes. 30 mins later the bus stopped for our first break...... this was going to be a long trip!! We set off again..... stopping another 15mins down the road.... with the driver doing what looked like his weekly fruit shopping. Then we hit the road again stopping after another hour for a 10 minute comfort break at a petrol station. I was hungry at this point so i didnt mind the chance to pick up some 'oreo cookies' along the way, and we set off again. 10 mins later we stopped for fuel at another petrol station! After spending the next hour or so trying to work out what was going on it became clearer...... stopping at every shop along the way must give the driver some sort of commission..... and then stopping at the cheaper petrol stations makes more sense for fuel?? I JUST WANT TO GO TO THE BORDER!!! We eventually arrived after 6 hours and had to leave Thailand, go over to the Malaysia immigration and sign up for a visa, then walk round to the other counter to say 'thanks but no thanks, and leave Malaysia, then filling out a visa form to re-enter Thailand at the same counter we'd just left 10 minutes ago! AGGGGHHHHHH. We arrived back at half 7...... after a gruelling 12 and a half hours in a minibus! In the end we decided that it actually wasnt as bad as it sounds as the bus wasnt that full..... and although a pain, at least when we stopped there was something there unlike Cambodia!

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