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Published: November 30th 2014
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Krabi
Somewhere between Tonsai and Railay Krabi / the last days
I'm torn between not wanting to go back and being really excited about home. The realities of life at home like work, $13 thai food, snow, and a general lack of adventure are looming as they wait for me. Yet I am looking forward to clean tap water and not using a billion plastic bottles, food shopping and cooking, doing my own laundry, and knowing my way around town. Obviously I am excited to see my family and friends and GiGi. I won't have to justify what I want to do or rely on someone else to make my moment to moment plans (mostly). It's bittersweet as the end to any vacation or trip is. I remember feeling this way as I left Ecuador, only I was on tears because I had formed so many close relationships there. I wasn't able to feel at home here because we moved around so much, but Thailand is no longer foreign to me. After all, I can say "hello, no, thank you"!
So, the promised cliffhanger story!
We left Siem reap around 10:00am to go to the airport. Our first flight I Bangkok was about 45 mins
and then we had a layover. Landed in Krabi around 5:30 due to a delay and weather. Got a shuttle bus and waited until about 6:15. It was supposed to be express to Aonang but made individual hotel drop offs. We got to the pier around 7:45 and were told nobody else was waiting to go to Tonsai and if 10 people didn't come by 9:00, the long tail boat is 1,500 THB to charter. We had dinner at the wharfside restaurant and as we finished a group of 7 showed up for the boat.
Unfortunately at low tide you need to wade through the water to the boat, waist deep water. Got to the boat and got dropped off in the middle of the bag at Tonsai. Waded a long distance in super rocky/coral water and found Tonsai Bay Resort.
Tonsai Bay in Krabi is pretty secluded. It's appeal is to climbers as there's no one around and giant cliff faces waiting to be conquered. Tonsai Bay Resort is also secluded: no free wifi, no ATM, no outside food... Bare. We can deal with that, but for 1,000 baht a night we at least wanted the amenities
Tonsai Bay Resort
Cliffs behind the bungalows we had at 150 night hostels. We were given a bungalow quite a walk up the way and it butted up against the neighboring hotel's nightclub. Although there were things we could have gotten over and it was a private room, the vibrating club music until 3:30am was not tolerable.
We decided to check out early and sacrifice a night, making our one night stay at the "resort" $66ish. (Typical hostel stays were about $3-18 a night for a dorm and $24 for a private).
In order to get to Tonsai Bay or Railay Bay or any beach/island area really, you take a long tail boat or 100/150 baht ($3ish). So to stay at Tonsai meant staying on the island each night since boats essentially stop at 6:00pm. Instead we wanted to stay on Aonang, the beach town that the boats port at. Instead of leaving Tonsai right away, we rented a kayak for 300 baht for 4 hours and paddled to Railay Beach. I'm not sure which is east or west but we saw the Phallic Cave/Phra Nang/Princess Shrine: a shrine for a sea goddess filled with large wooden penises. Google the story if you're interested but the short if it is they are features to say thank you to the female goddess who provided fertility or a good day of fishing. There's a cave there's some where, but we couldn't find it. Kristen felt seasick so I took the kayak out for myself a bit and by the time I got back I was exhausted, sunburnt, and pretty certain I want to buy a kayak. I also felt the world rocking with small but steady waves until I fell asleep.
Around 1:30 we got to the main land. The area is largely Muslim and therefore has an array of fantastic Indian/thai restaurants. We ate and started our search for a hostel. With one in mind we started waking, periodically asking where it was. Every response was "oh just up there on the right side!" I was entirely exhausted and overheated but we eventually landed at MDF Hostel based on recommendation. The place we were initially looking for ended up being a few doors farther but MDF is awesome. I've found that my back feels oodles better with the hard thai beds and that duvet covers make me feel like a princess. The dorm room was mostly empty so we basically had the place to ourselves. Way cleaner, mor convenient and not luxurious than our resort. Maybe we've lowered our concern for privacy and placed not emphasis on things like wifi, silence, free coffee, and friendly staff? It's a gem anyway.
Today we went back to Railay. We could have taken a boat to Koh Phi Phi or another popular island, but this last leg of our trip was for relaxation. We had found a behind gorgeous beach with clean water, coral, fish, kayaks, and vistas you see in calendars AND we already knew how to get there and maneuver it. In the name of relaxation, we opted for Railay rather than another adventure.
Another guy from our hostel joined us and we rented a 3 person kayak. I learned that I'm not much of a team player and would rather have the kayak and destinations to myself, but when I tried to paddle the 3 person boat by myself, it was rough. We never did find the cave we were told about, but I did do a fare share of climbing and spelunking on my own. Incredible earth!!
Our last day was spent in the sun on a beach just like we wanted. I haven't had a farewell massage (i know ill regret it when a massage at home isn't $6) but whatever. I tried stir-fried morning glory. I sea kayaked. I climbed into caves. I got a sweet tan. Life is good 😊
See you soon, Home. We will be heading to the airport 13 hours early because there's no other way to do it and then embark on our long journey home. Here's to arriving to every day as the adventure it is, seeing everything through curious eyes, and finding the balance between seeking more and relaxing in what is.
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