Ao Nang, Krabi

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After searching for the best value accommodation we could find in this mainly expensive resort area, we wandered around to discover more. I was struck by how this beach area was so different from the beaches we had experienced on the eastern side of Thailand's peninsula. It was very commercialized with Starbucks, McDonalds, and Subway poking out at every block. In the 4 nights we spent on the West coast, we were unable to find the simplicity and serenity of the beach lifestyle we experienced on the West. The people were less approachable, and seemed to look at us as "just another tourist". Their interest in us stopped if they realized we weren’t going to buy something from them. In Ko Samui waiters would sit and talk to us and take our order as an afterthought, this seemed to never happen here. Moreover it was monsoon season at the time (early august) so it rained often and the seas were so rough that the remote beaches were inaccessible. I still enjoyed my time, but I missed the dream-like atmosphere of the beaches on the East. On a positive note, the beaches and islands were the most stunning I have ever seen!
The night that we arrived we went for drinks and dinner at a restaurant right on the beach. We started off drinking two long-neck San Miguel beers and received a San Miguel baseball cap because of it! Then Pina Coladas served in coconuts were calling our name. Then, it was buy two get one free drinks, so we had 2 more! Throughout the few hours we spent here we saw the sun set over the beach. Once it was dark, the lanterns vendors infested the beach. These white square lanterns are about 4 feet high and lit from the bottom. Ryan and I had seen these lanterns set off numerous times but had yet to do it ourselves. We went down to the beach to wait for a vendor to approach us. Two young sisters came and started fighting over who would sell the lantern. We kept trying to explain to them we would buy one from both, but they kept fighting until one stormed off. I ran after this little spit-fire and finally was able to explain I would buy one from her too. Ryan and I held the lanterns and the girls lit them. The air inside grew hotter and hotter until I could barely hold onto it any longer. At this point I released my hands and the lantern soared into the night sky. Both Ryan and I set ours off to watch them disappear into the night and made a wish.
One day we took a tour to see Bamboo Island, Ko Phi Phi and Maya Bay (where "The Beach" was filmed), among a few other islands and beaches. Luckily the day we went was one of the calmest and sunniest days. However, we made the mistake of sitting in the front of the speed-boat. Although it was one of the calmest days, the ocean was by no means calm. We were bouncing up 3 feet and slipping off our seats. When we would land, we would often land on each other! Luckily Ryan could stand up a bit on really high waves, as for me my feet could not reach the ground (har dee har har). I don’t know which was worse though, my soar bum or the gripping claw marks on Ryan's arms!
After 45 minutes of feeling like we were in a car crash, we finally arrived at Bamboo Island. I tried to refrain from puking (I have bad motion sickness at the best of boat rides!) and staggered onto the sand. The white sand beach and the clear turquoise water were unbelievable! When we boarded the speed boat to move onto another island I made sure to get a seat at the back and looked on in pity at the people excitedly hurrying to the front: they did not realize what they were in for. Time and time again this would happen where people who had not sat in the front of the boat would hurry to get a seat in the bow and when we would see them get off they would be pale green with shattered spines!
Next, we went to a few bays and caves of Ko Phi Phi. We did some snorkeling but the waves were so big that we kept breathing in water. For this same reason, the captain said it was too dangerous to go to Maya Bay. This was one of the highlights of the tour, but no matter how much people protested he refused to attempt to enter Maya Bay.
After a few more snorkeling sessions we head back to Ao Nang.
That night, our last night before going to Bangkok, we decided to celebrate! We decided to pub crawl down the main strip and head to the first 2 for 1 drink special we could see. I ordered a martini and Ryan ordered a Bailey's on the rocks, a drink of choice for both Ryan and I. Because we had this drink many times in Thailand, we were appalled when it came out with only one ounce of Baileys and one ice cube. The Bailey's literally filled 2mm of the bottom of the glass. After explaining to the waitress how Baileys is served with at least 2 shots, she reluctantly brought him back the drink with another shot. After one sip, the Bailey's started to curdle until there was barely any liquid and giant chucks of solid. Once again we called over the waitress and explained that Ryan wanted a new drink because this one was all curdled. She took the drink away in a huff and never brought a new one. When we asked for the bill so we could go to a new bar, we were shocked to see that she had charged us for the two shots of Baileys, an equivalent of a $10 drink! Now we were being charged for 2 drinks, when, with the special we had expected to pay for only one. Moreover, Ryan had merely one sip of the Baileys "drink". To make a long story short, when we refused to pay for the extra drink she threatened to call the police. We thought this was ludicrous and explained to her customer service and how the customer is always right etc... But she informed us how she just got a promotion to manager; so of course she was on a power trip. Even though the staff all told her to let it go, she refused to give us another drink or to take the drink off our bill. We knew that Thailand has Tourist Police and they really do protect tourists. "So fine", we said "call the Tourist Police." After she informed us that her boyfriend is a police officer, I set off on some Nancy Drew detective work and called the tourist police myself. I found out she did not call the tourist police, but in fact the local police. I was scared shitless and had images of Ryan being dragged from the restaurant by her protective police boyfriend to never be seen again. Luckily I told the tourist police to come as well. About ten minutes later both the Tourist Police and local Police show up. They are arguing in Thai with the waitress and talking in English with us. Everyone in the restaurant, including the staff, were really uncomfortable at this point. Finally a resolution was made to give us another drink. Some people probably think we should have let it go, but neither of us would have had an enjoyable night and it had escalated to the point where there was no turning back. Now that this was resolved, we went on to have a very enjoyable evening.
Although we were a bit shaken up, it was nothing that $3 Mojitos wouldn’t fix. We sat at the bar, sipped our mojitos, watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and chatted to the bar tender all night. In the end we had a very enjoyable evening. As we were walking back to our hotel, we walked by a small group of people sitting on plastic chairs on the sidewalk. I recognized one that I had talked to during the day who runs a painting store, and he called us over too join them at their bar.
"Sure, where is your bar?” we said.
"Right here!"
Him and his friends had developed their own "bar" by sitting together on plastic chairs and buying cheap beer from the 7-11. They had even gone so far as to make artistic flyers to advertise. Since they were artists the flyers looked really good too, even though they were just a joke. The flyers said "At our bar you will be entertained by any sights and sounds like Lady-boys and 'Hey man, you buy my suit?' ". So we grabbed some beer and sat down with them and some other backpackers they recruited.
The next morning we lazed around during the day and later took the night train to Bangkok...

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Photos

Viking Cave
This cave is called Viking Cave. Tourists can usually enter this save, but at this time of year birds make nests in the cave from their saliva. The bamboo laders you see in the picture are used by the locals to collect these nests. They use the nests, NOT the birds or eggs, to make a stew considered a delicacy by Thais!