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Published: February 15th 2009
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Krabi
Bamboo Island on Valentines day We've had a lovely couple of days since our last blog; another day, another country! We hope the pictures do justice, but we know that they won't...
12th February 2009
We were up at 0720am, to have breakfast before a full days worth of travel. Before leaving the hostel in Penang, Malaysia, we were concerned about how busy our destination (Krabi) was going to be and with good reason as we couldn't find any accomodation for less than £60 a night - way over our modest budget! So, we started our journey wondering where we would be sleeping that night. The journey was advertised as an 8hour trek across the border - 10 hours later, and numerous stops at various check points, we arrived in Krabi. It was a long, bum-numbing day. However, we were lucky enough to have a locallly based American guy on our bus who directed us to a row of guesthouses. After checking out all of them, we decided on the first one, which was a bonus as the owner knew our taxi driver and so could trace Hayley's trainers that she had left in the taxi...
Despite the long journey we were happy to be
Krabi
Hat Ton Sai - rockclimber's paradise (Jelly fish camera shy) back in Thailand, and very excited about the food (aren't we always?!). We were tipped off about a great local restaurant and swiftly made our way there, where Hayley had her long awaited first Thai Green Curry - and well deserved it was too! Daniel followed his dinner with a well deserved Nutella Pancake. A nice end to what seemed like an endless day.
13th February 2009
Despite the numerous trips on offer from Krabi, we decided to go it alone. We had decided before we left England that these few days were to be our Holiday within a Holiday, so we were heading to the beach. Krabi Town is almost a commuter town, away from the hustle bustle of the more popular beach destinations of the surrounding towns and islands. We caught a bus - which here means sat in the back of a van - for 30 minutes heading to Ao Nang. From Ao Nang, we caught a 15 minute Long boat to Hat Ton Sai, a secluded beach favoured by rock climbers, and primarily reached by sea rather than road.
It was hot. There is no other way to say it.
Unfortunately, when we decided to
Krabi
Looking out from Phi Phi Ley beach cool off in the sea, a huge jelly fish decided it wanted to hang out with us and so we were slightly reluctant to get in completely, and were content to kind of dance around the edges! After 2 full hours of intense sun (our personal best!) we headed for the shade to watch some rock climbing, eat our lunch and fight off a hungry squirrel! The wildlife here seem to like us, although the mosquitoes here definitely prefer Daniel to Hayley!! On our return to Ao Nang we decided to have a walk around, but it was very tourist heavy and so we headed back to our quieter Krabi Town.
That night, as it was a Friday, the night markets were out in force and we ate on the street before strolling aimlessly.
14th February 2009
A Valentines Day special! We decided to take a tour of the surrounding islands as it was our last full day here on the Andaman Coast. We were picked up from our guesthouse at 8am and taken to a jetty in Ao Nang. We lucked out completely by being called up first, meaning we bagsied the very front seats of our transport
Krabi
Beautiful Phi Phi Don for the day - a speedboat. The trip started with a 45 minute high speed, bumpy and brilliant voyage out to the Islands known as Phi Phi. We started at the almost mythical Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley - most famous now as the location of the film 'The Beach'. Despite the heavy number of tourists, this place is undeniably, and epically beautiful. White sand, emerald sea, blue sky, all encased in an alcove of rusty, green coloured rocks. We are not huge beach lovers, but you could never tire of this place and our time there was too short. On leaving the alcove, we headed to Lohsamah Bay which again was an alcove with amazingly clear water, and it was our first glance of the huge number of colourful fish playing beneath our boat. From here we headed to Monkey Bay, where we had the chance to snorkel with those fish, enticing them closer with bread, and then getting nipped by them! After the fish had finished eating, it was our turn so we headed for the largest of the Phi Phi Islands, Phi Phi Don. This was a larger, longer version of Phi Phi Ley, and again
Krabi
Lohsamah Bay breathtakingly beautiful - you can almost see why people spend thousands of pounds to stay all the way out here. After lunch, whilst others from our tour took in the gift shops we took to the clear waters to play in the sea. We were reluctant to leave but there was more to see and do. Halfway between Phi Phi Don and Bamboo Island, we anchored and did some open sea snorkelling which was incredible; the coral was 5 metres below and the fish were colourful and active. As we boarded the boat, we spotted a leopold shark which caused a stir until we were told by our guide that, in Thailand "people eat shark, not shark eat people"! Our final stop was Bamboo Island which had the real feel of a deserted island, where we took to the shade and ate watermelon, pineapple and valentines cake! It was a great trip, and something we simply couldn't miss out on.
That evening, we pushed hard to stay awake for a touch of home....England Vs Wales in the 6 Nations! It was hard going as kick off was 0030am and the latest we'd been up was midnight....but we made it with
Krabi
Snorkelling in open sea the help of some Chang Beer! Lets not talk about it any further! Other than the result, a perfect day. One that makes 11 months of scrimping, saving and being generally unsocial, all worth while (sorry guys x).
15th February 2009
Today we are embarking on a 13 hour over-night bus journey to the craziness that is Bangkok. It will be a very fleeting visit, as we are making our way east into Cambodia. We have booked some 'interesting' accommodation for the capital, so we'll keep you posted....
Love to you all - hope the snow has melted!
D and H
xxx
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Woody
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Shark shark shark!
Eat the shark!! Hi guys!! Wow, those pictures of Clare in the morning (AKA Krabi) were amazing. I can't believe you were given jip by a jelly fish - you should have punched it back to china town -that's near Thailand right? (Joke) Bet the snorkelling was a bit special - did you see any parrot fish like at xel ha? I'll never forget the floater i let off when i saw them come at me! Not a great deal to report here. I'm trying to arrange footy at wanborough for saturday morning - we're a man short and i'd be bitterly disappointed if you didn't make it. Hope you're enjoying Bangkok!