Paradise Lost

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After seeing our photos of Ko Kradan, mum and dad decided that wanted to make it our next destination after Ko Lipe, in place of Ko Phi Phi as was previously planned. To be honest, thought, it was my dad who first "discovered" Ko Kradan by reading about it in Lonely Planet two years vefore while we were meeting up for Christmas on Ko Phi Phi. At the time, we didn't have time to go.

Again we stayed at Paradise Lost. It is the first resort on the island and is owned by Wally, an American sailor who came to Ko Kradan 12 years ago and never left! We checked into our small shed-like bungalow again, while mum and dad got a bigger one with attached bathroom (but they still had to share it with frogs!)

The two full days we had there were spent visiting the island's three beaches and snorkelling offshore. each night, we had Thai curry, garlic bread, and beer at Wally's whilst talking to various people. On our last day, Scott and I were brushing our teeth by the communal bathrooms and heard a voice say, "Remember me?" It turned out to be Debbie, an Australian we'd met two years prior on our last trip during safari in Tanzania! She was on Ko Kradan with her boyfriend, Damian. That's the second person from our prior trip that we have bumped into this trip (the first was Christ from Goa, India). We all met up at the beach and then later at Wally's.

Each night on Kradan, we were awoken at 2am by Wally's six or so pet dogs howling in unison like a pack of wolves. It sounded cool for the first few minutes, but then because highly irritating!

Tired from lack of sleep for three night, we left paradise Lost and began the trip to Railay Peninsula, Krabi, where mum and dad would fly out the next night. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. First, while walking to breakfast, the island's two "gangs" of dogs decided to have a fight and we were caught up in the middle of it - charming! Unscathed, we ordered breakfast and they forgot to bring mine out. Mever mind, after a gentle reminder, it soon came - so far so good. Then, the boat to the mainland left 20 minutes late, and the mini-van driver stopped for 20 minutes and disappeared without explanation and for no apparent reason - that's 40 minutes watsed so far, not too bad for SE Asia. Upon arrival at Trang at 11:58am, we found out that our bus to Krabi left at 12:00 and was a 5 minute tuk-tuk ride away! Not to worry as at leats it gave us an excuse to eat a proper lunch rather than the usual packaged junk of a typical travel day.

We took a tuk-tuk to the station in planty of time for the 1pm bus but were told "no bus!" We never did find out what happened to the 1pm bus - had it already left, did it blow up, or had it simply never existed? What we did know was that we had to wait for an hour for the 2pm bus.

Leaving mum and dad with the luggage, Scott and I leaded out to find the internet cafe that was reportedly 200 metres down the street. After trekking in the mid-day heat for quite some time, we realized that, like the 1pm bus, it didn't exist, and so headed back to wait at the bus station. It was a good job that it didn't exist as our 2pm bus boarded at 1:35pm and set off soon after. If we had found internet, we'd have missed this bus, too!

From there on out it was plain sailing. The bus arrived in Krabi town, where we instantly hopped onto a tuk-tuk to Ao nang, where we managed to book accommodation and instantly hop onto a boat to Railay, our final destination with mum and dad.

We arranged to meet up with mum and dad for dinner and drinks at 7:30pm, and I got into the shower at 6:50pm. Just as I'd put conditioner all over my hair and soap all over my face, our bad luck returned for one last blow - the shower ran dry! After 10 minutes or so of impatiently sitting on a towel covered in soap suds, the shower finally sputtered to life! Oh, did I mention what day it was? Valentines!

The next day, we had a final day on the beach before mum and dad left to get their flights in the late afternoon. Their time here suddenly seemed so short! I'm wondering what exotic location we'll meet them in next...?!

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Comments

[Clyde Rowan]

Scott and Sharon, Just wanted you both to know that I absolutely enjoy reading of your adventures. I hope you keep this site because 15 years from now, when I take Emily on a big vacaction, I will read these entries for ideas! Take care,Clyde