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I am going to backtrack a bit and write out some of the experiences I had before Brian and I got jumped and robbed, it was such an incredible trip and I want to be sure that I highlight all the good things that happened and not just the bad.
After arriving in Surat Thani on the overnight train, we took a local bus to Ban Ta Khun, a really small town West of Surat Thani. On the bus we met a woman who told us she would help us find a ride up to Ratchabrapha which is another 12 km outside of town. After walking around Ban Ta Khun's market and temple we got a ride up in a small van and arrived at the lake, which is on the corner of Khao Sok National Park. The pier was pretty empty and the information center told us it would cost 2,400 baht to get out to the raft houses that we wanted to stay at that night. Luckily we ran into a Finnish/Thai family who offered to take us along with them which greatly reduced the cost. They were really nice, welcoming people that we got along with great.
Humble Abode
floated on bamboo! The boat trip last about an hour and a half, the lake is gigantic and absolutely stunning. We saw one other long-tail boat on the lake, but that was it. When we arrived at the raft houses, I immediately jumped into the water for a swim which was followed by a delicious meal of fresh fish and all kinds of other stuff that I am not sure exactly what it was, but it was incredible. The rest of the afternoon was spent eating, swimming and canoeing with our new friends. There was a group of Thai family and friends there and 4 or 5 Buddhist monks. It was completely surreal being there, the family who we had come in with spoke English but they were off doing their own thing for the most part, so we were using our limited Thai and their limited English to talk to everyone else there. I could go on and on about this day, but we had an incredible time and stayed up late into the night playing guitar and singing and eating all kinds of things (including spicy snails straight from the lake!). At midnight, the monks came down for a special ceremony
that the Thai people were all there for. They lit incense and gave the lake offerings and started chanting. Brian and I sat on the edge of the rafts right next to the ceremony. They were calling the "Naga" a mythical creature with the head of a dragon and the body of a snake which you see everywhere at temples around Thailand. There was a full moon lighting up the lake, and the whole thing was amazing. After the ceremony we lay out on the dock listening to the some of the guys singing soft Thai songs. The next morning I woke up early for a swim in the lake before breakfast. We had a sad goodbye with our new friends before taking the boat to another part of the lake to go caving. After a hike through the jungle and a ride on a bamboo raft we arrived at the cave and explored it with our guide for a while before heading back to civilization. Our Finnish/Thai friends tied our bags to the roof of their SUV and squeezed us in for the ride to Krabi.
After our first night in Krabi we took a long-tail boat to
Swimming
The water was incredibly clear! And the perfect temperature Railay Beach which is on a peninsula south of Krabi town. The beach is surrounded by limestone cliffs that rise directly out of the Andaman Sea making the beach only accessible by boat. It is the most beautiful beach I have ever been on, the combination of the cliffs, surrounding islands and encroaching jungle give it the feeling of a personal paradise. It was not very crowded at all as you can see by the pictures. There are some very nice resorts and restaurants on the cape between Railay East and West but that is the only development to speak of. We ended up walking through the jungle to Phra Ngan beach. Right when we got there about 20 Macau monkeys were playing in the trees on the edge of the beach. There were a couple of other people around who were feeding the monkeys fruit right out of their hands. We grabbed some mangoes and pineapples and had the monkeys on our shoulders feeding them. I had a great video of two monkeys jumping on my back and knocking my hat off but unfortunately that was stolen along with everything else... After the monkeys ran off we went swimming
Our New Friends
Brian, Meow, Me, Mai, Arm and hung out on the beach before heading back to Krabi around 6 that evening. Later that night was when we got jumped and robbed.
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