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The papaya salad didn't stay with me too long. Too spicy for my digestive cultures apparently. I can't stay away from it though. I ordered some today with only one chili in it. Thats alright, right?
I'm still in a state of euphoria from the trip to Krabi. It all was so enchanting, and I think Friday was the best of all the days we spent there. I'll tell you why: I was in the rainforest. At Thung Teao Forest, Gerard (the resort owner) took us off the path to find the crystal lagoon on our own. We walked on wood planks raised above the ground for a while, then the planks stopped suddenly and we had to trek on the soggy, root entangled ground. I felt like Chrysta, Magi, and Batty were staring at me from behind one of the beautiful variegated leaves of the epiphyte weaving around the trees. The buzzing of the forest made me think the Beetle Boys were flying towards me from the canopy above. Everywhere I looked it was green. I kept wondering which was the Hexxus tree, and hoping the crystal lagoon wouldn't be a tourist trap leading to the destruction of the fern
gully.
Yah, yah. I'm being dramatic, but it was just like the movie. Just what I'd always thought it would be like. Made me realize how much I would like to be Darwin or Linneas; to be a naturalist/taxonomist and discover chinchona to cure the Incas of "the fever." (Now I'm mixing stories: thats from Amazon Trail, the classic 1990s computer game.)
Finally, we reached the crystal lagoon and thats what it was. We swam for about an hour. There were lots of tourists, but it didn't matter. It was just so cool; incredible really. It was crystal clear water, like all the substrates had dissocciated from H2O. The water flowed into a pool covered in the mineral deposits that had been part of the water. Its a chemical mystery to me that I'll have to research, like I always do.
After the crystal pond, we when to the Khao Phra Bang Khram Nature Reserve. Here...were the hot springs. Why is it that hot springs make me think of you? Well, clearly its because Dr. Andrew Cook worked at Preston's hot springs hotel in Colorado Springs. And if I remember correctly, Preston may have chopped down the Kissin' Tree (where
Colleen was seen just previously) just to build it. And these such things have direct connection to Ms. Laura Bea Schaffer for me😊
The springs were fantastic. Not as hot as I had imagined, but still nice. Glad to have the waterfall to slip into (literally) when we needed to cool off.
It was around 5:00 when we left to go to the Tiger Temple back in Krabi. Gerard (which is quite similar to "Geralidine") told us that the Tiger Temple is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Krabi province. We knew that we had a bit of a climb to get to the Buddha sanctuary at the top of the mountain in the Ao Luk Thanu range, but we were quite unready for the conditions we faced. Nearly a ninety degree incline for the entirety of the trip:1,232 concrete stairs and blue railings?...not always included. I made it, though. We all did, and it was a beautiful site at the top. The pictures don't do it justice at all. I stopped taking photos about 5 minutes in and just let myself enjoy it. Its nice to have the picture in my head and to remember the smell
Epiphytes!
I'm obsessed with them. of the sea and the sound of the rainforest and the feeling of the cloud and sweat in my hair. I know it sounds so cheesy, but I can't think of anyway to tone down what is the truth. It was wonderful.
Once we escaped death having had to go down the mountain the same way we came up, we went back to Na-Thai and showered. Gerard drove us to town in the Astro-van to get supper. Kahoua, Sarah, Alisa, and Justin went what Kyle and I called an "expensive restaurant" (about $3 a plate haha) so the two of us ate off the street. We found bread! and had good thick chicken sandwhiches, 2 smoothies each, and a "pancake." We were pretty pleased with ourselves having racked up total bills of just 120 baat. We kept our secret to ourselves when we met the others😉 The rickshaw was too expensive so we took an open truck back to the resort. Public transportation comes in all forms in Thailand, and so far I like it all.
So ends part 2 of my adventrue in Krabi.
Until we meet again,
Amy
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