Happy Birthday Mr. Marley

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We stayed in Krabi a total of 4 days. We did the the super touristy but must do 4 Island Tour which was pretty cool. This included visiting Maya Bay in Koh Phi Phi which is the "The Beach". Oh to walk in Leo DiCaprio's footsteps, how lovely. If it wasn't for the gazillion tourists and 3/4 of the beach filled with parked speedboats and longtail boats. Still the saying "when in Rome" comes to mind. So we joined the bandwagon. The whole day was really awesome. We took a speedboat to snorkel around Koh Phi Phi Leh. (There are 2 islands that make up the Phi Phi islands, Phi Phi Leh and Phi Phi Don..Leh is where 'The Beach' is and it's an uninhabited island) We first snorkeled close to Maya Bay. It was fun but there were these small and by small, I mean about 2 inches long, kind of harmless jelly fish floating around . They were everywhere, we had to keep pushing them out of your way. They only stung a tad but it got a bit annoying looking out for them. Then went to THE beach. Man oh man could this place look magical if no one was there. We still enjoyed swimming and taking pics around it.

Oh and speaking of pics, I pulled a very characteristical Alina move that day. I was uploading pics from our cameras memory card the night before. And you guessed it...forgot it in the laptop. So as our speedboat was leaving Krabi to go see one of the most beautiful places in the world, I realized that we could basically only take 4 pictures on the internal memory of the camera!!! Oops?? I suppose this gave us a reason to be more present and enjoy the scenery without worrying about taking pictures from different angles all day. Still would have been nice to have more than 10 pictures from the whole day trip. I had my cellphone with me, so we took some pics on that as well.

Anyways, after Maya Bay we went to Phi Phi Don which is where all the resorts, shops etc are located and had lunch. The day ended with swimming/snorkeling at another island called Bamboo, which was lovely as well. All in all a fantastic day.

While in Krabi we also met up with my "diving buddy" from Koh Tao. Actually we bumped into her not knowing she was going to be in Krabi. That was very surreal to just be walking along the pier and seeing her there! We finally met up for dinner and decided to have our second "when in Rome" moment and attended a lady boy cabaret show. This was magnificent! For anyone who isn't familiar with lady boys, they are exactly what it sounds like..born a man turned into a woman with several surgeries etc. And if I were a single young male, I would be VERY careful as to who I would "befriend". Some of them look not so great, but some....are just beautiful. They were dressed in sparkly gowns and all sorts of elegant and elaborate costumes throughout the evening. The lipsyncing was hilarious! They "sang" everything from Celine Dion to "I Will Survive" to songs from different cultures. Good fun. We ended our last night in Krabi saying bye to our friend as she was leaving the next morning as well.

Next stop: Koh Lanta.

We stayed in Lanta for 5 days. We lovveeed Lanta! Such a nice island with a cool bohemian vibe. We stayed at 2 different bungalows. First one was Lanta Emerald Resort for $17 a night. Nice bungalow by the beach. Place had a nice pool as well, which was refreshing. One day we rented bicycles and peddled around for a few hours. Found a secluded beach and swam there. Good workout and a great way to see a bit of our surroundings. We then moved again to a more livlier part of Long Beach. We stayed at Seapearl Bungalows, with a bungalow just beside the restaurant on the beach for 700BHT ($22). The restaurant at this resort was AMAZING, not the cheapset but really good food! Their service was the best we've had yet. An older Thai man and his family own the place as well as the restaurant named Thai Cat on the beach. There are about 20-30 people that work at the resort and restaurant. Every single person here asks how your day is and if they can do anything to help. They literally RUN to you when they see you sit down at the restaurant. Eveyone is smiling all the time and making jokes in English. Fantastic bunch.

Now comes the funnest thing we've done in Koh Lanta (and up there for the funest thing of the trip so far)

While in Lanta we kept seeing these posters to a huge reggae party for Bob Marley's bday on Feb 6 ("when in Rome" #3) so we asked around and apparently this wasn't just another reggae party...this was THE PARTY to be at for locals and foreigners alike. There is this reggae band called Job 2 Do. Consists of about 8 guys one of which (bass player) is in his 50's probably and has dreads to the floor! literally. He was almost stepping on them! The main singer is probably about 60ish and is just incredible! (Def. had a Wailers feel to the band)

The concert was held at the Muay Thai stadium, with a 5 min walk from our bungalow. It cost us 400BHT each (13$) which included a drink. Slightly pricey but we went for it. It did not disappoint. They started out with the obiquious Bob tracks then some oldies (reggae style Beatles tunes, and a heartfelt rendition of "It's a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, among others) then at around midnight the real fun started. They played their super catchy Thai reggae hits, and the crowd went WILD! Also threw in some more Bob in the mix. We danced and sort of sang along what we could pick up from the Thai songs. Amazing show, amazing band! This was quite possibly the closest we will get to being at a show by Mr. Marley himself.

On our last day in Lanta I decided that my back needed a break from super hard Thai pillows and mattresses and I went to a very overdue Yoga session. There is a place called The Sanctuary which is a bungalow resort that offers Yoga classes in a small outdoor sala on the beach. How could I resist?? So I got up early, strolled for about 20min on the beach until I reached it. The class was fantastic!

We started by meditating for a few minutes to the sound of the waves. What an inspiring way to start the day! My body was very thankful for my efforts that day.

We also splurged on a $25 fresh BBQ fish feast that evening, as it was our last night in lovely Lanta. This was the best meal we've had in our travels so far. I had a BBQd Grouper and Dave had Barracuda. We also had salad, fresh grilled corn, rice & baked potato! I've definitely become a big fan of seafood here. Delicious.

The last few days in Lanta we've been trying to decide where to go next. There are a few small islands around Koh Lanta. But they are all soo beautiful! Such tough decisions 😉 We ended up finding and booking a bungalow online in Koh Kradan. So instead of paying 550BHT each for the ferry ride there, we bought another 4 island day trip for 900BHT each that will just drop us off at Kradan, which is the last stop of the trip! The island tour was fantastic! Just like the first one was. We went snorkeling in Koh Ngai and went into Emerald Cave in Koh Mook, which is basically a sink hole inside a mountain. You have to swim through a dark cavern and then you come out to this small beach surrounded by mountain, pretty amazing sight! Again we met some incredible people that we spent the day with until we got dropped off at Koh Kradan.

We've been in Kradan for 2 days now. It is the nicest island we've seen so far. Ever. We're staying at Paradise Lost Resort a bit inland from the beach in the jungle. It is owned by a 70 year old Hawaiian man called Wallie, he is quite the character with many fascinating stories to tell. We all sat and drank with him on our first night listening to his tales. He sailed the Pacific for 15 years and then set up shop in Kradan about 15 years ago and never left. We went snorkeling here (a standard activity for us now...lol) and it was amazing. We saw 2 eels, angel fish, a puffer fish and all sorts of other colourful marine life! We also met a lovely British couple that we've been spending our time here with. We plan on travelling together to our next island of Koh Lipe with them in a few days.

We can't wait! Until then...

xoxo D & A

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Comments

[Sveta]

Gypsy woman!!!

[Sveta]

blue is def your colour