Krabi Isn´t so Crabby

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helen got a seat that, when darkness fell, was converted ,by an attendant, to a bed with a curtain to separate from the aisle through the middle of the car. the light was always on. a compartment was pulled down out of the cieling that made another bed above the seat bed. a plastic bag containing sheets and pillow came with each bed. the lower bunk is preferred as it does less swaying as the train rocks and corners and it is easier to access. when i bought my ticket there were no more at the rate she paid so i had to pay 70baht more but got a far superior situation. my bunk was in an air conditioned(not necessary) room separated from the hallway by glass and a sliding door. my bed was solid and firm and more spacious. i shared my space with only three others. i had a private reading light and storage area. we could turn the light out in the room and close the curtains to the outside and to the hallway.
helen and i hung out in my bunk and ordered a single dinner to share as it was several courses and relatively expensive having a captive audience. there were always vendors at stations and vendors walking the aisles with drinks and snacks. after dinner we retired to our respective quarters to read. i cleaned and soaked my foot the best i could in a public bathroom on a train, and went to sleep.
i woke the next morning rested. our train destination was Trang, a little southeast of our final destination. there are no trains to the krabi or phuket. we could have taken a train to Surat Thani and taken a bus at 5 or 6 in the morning or taken the train to Trang and taken a bus at 8am. it worked out well going to Trang. we took a bus for 2 hours to krabi town. then we hopped in the back of a pick-em-up truck from the bus station to the town center. we were close to many popular beaches. lanta, ao nang, phuket, phi phi amongst others. phi phi is a very popular destination. phi phi le is where The Beach with reotardo di crapio was filmed. i was glad to be away from the crowds. we walked to a pier and argued prices to Railay, a peninsula beach town accessible only by boat. we settled on a price and time. the boat ride was fun. the water was clear and the views were incredible. mountains rising out of the ocean. we jumped into the water at railay, paid the boatman his due, and hiked through the upscale town to the beach on the opposite side of the peninsula. our goal was Ton Sai. from this point there were three ways to get there. 1)take another boat, 2)wait for low tide and walk the slippery jagged rocks with our packs, or 3) hike a steep path over part of the cliff wall to the bay on the other side. we chose 3. it took some time and even though i was a bit gimpy, i had an easier time with my little pack. the first thing you notice in ton sai is that everyone is rock climbing. we passed many climbers and toured the laid-back community of young athletes and local thai´s. after inquiring many places we found that the best housing for the best money was to rent one hut with two beds and our own bathroom. it was nicer and closer to the beach than the singles and would cost us less(250baht each per night($7.25)). we settled a bit. helen soon found that there was a good-sized lizard in our toilet. i helped it out and hoped it was gone. we went in search of lunch and had a delightful meal right on the beach with longtail boats cutting through the bay, Railay beach in the distance, monoliths rising out of the ocean, distant islands on the horizon, mountain climbers on the cliffs all around and the waves gently lapping on the sand in front of us. it was wonderful to say the least. one of the waittresses grabbed my arm and rushed me onto the beach and pointed about 1000ft up on a cliff face. i didnt understand what she was saying or what she was pointing at, but i stared intently anyway. then i saw a tiny dot of color on the cliff face. a moment later it began to drop quickly. then a parachute bloomed from the point of color and drifted slowly down to the beach to the applause of everyone who had witness the feat. through the commotion helen and i walked to explore more of the surroundings. we went back to our hut to find the lizard was back in the toilet. i tried to get it to climb on something that i held but it decided to climb up my arm, up my chest to my shoulder then into my hair on the top of my head. helen, who was by now laughing and glad that she was sharing the hut with me, opened the door for me. i walked slowly off our deck, down the steps to a nearby tree and put my forehead against the trunk until the lizard climbed into the tree. we realized that we hadnt paid for lunch in the parachuting commotion and went back to pay. they were very pleased. at dinner we met a german girl living in london. she insisted her name was jerry which is just a play on the fact that she is german. this was just her travel name as her position in london is more serious and separate from who she is travelling. jerry and helen had alot to talk about and got along very well. after dinner we retired to the hut and went to sleep with the fan on and mosquito nets deployed. i woke before dawn and took my book to the beach to watch the sun rise. the tide was way out. one could walk to railay at this time. all of the local longtails were gathered in a single deep channel to keep them from being beached. one could walk about a quarter mile out before getting wet. helen and i met for breakfast and turned in some laundry (30baht/kg). we gathered some supplies and hiked to Railay. we took turns swimming and sunning/watching stuff. i swam all the way around to ton sai. it was amazing that it was 20ft deep where earlier that morning i could have walked around without getting wet. obviously i was without bandages. i was healing nicely but when i got out of the water to change the guard with helen i noticed i was bleeding on the side of my foot. something, fish, shell, or razor sharp rock had taken a gouge out of the side of my foot. this took weeks to heal. we met up with jerry and explored the town. we ate crepes. touristy and expensive. the tide started going out again and we walked around to caves that were under water during the day. we walked back to ton sai cleaned up and went to dinner. we met up with a couple that helen had met in vietnam or cambodia, i dont remember. they turned me on to the idea of teaching english in south korea. After a good night´s sleep i woke before dawn again to read and greet the sun. helen, jerry and i met for breakfast. after breakfast, we rented kayaks. we tooled around and eventually we found a tiny tiny beach in some rough water. it was barely accessible and only big enough for 3 or 4 people. it was perfect. we landed and swam and sunned with no concerns for our belongings. after a look at ao nang around a peninsula, we paddled back making sure to return before the tide went out in the afternoon, having seen some unfortunate kayakers dragging kayaks and paddles a quarter mile over slippery coral. the group of us had dinner together. i was to meet a girl from columbus who was going to be in the same area very soon. at the same time jerry was heading to phi phi and beyond snorkeling and scuba diving. and helen was heading to malaysia and singapore. by this time we were following the closing of the bangkok airport. there were riots and protesters had taken over the airport. that day someone had thrown a grenade. we were constantly running into people who had to change all of their plans to avoid that airport. of course this additional load made it very difficult to leave from nearby airports as well. i had actually been in bangkok while it was happening but it had remained at the airport itself and hadnt spread at all. the only noticable effect was trapped tourists scrambling to find different routes and different housing.
i met julie from columbus in the morning on the beach after my dawn greeting and breakfast. she and i went in search of inexpensive housing. helen found a nice place for her last night before heading to malaysia. julie and i found a nice row of huts. her hut was a little farther up the path than mine but she liked it better. julie and i had lunch together and got to know one another. she had left ohio the same day i did. but she visited a ton of different countries from europe across central asia following silk caravan routes into southeast asia. she is an interior designer whose passion is travel. i first came to know of her when danielle, my closest ex, referred me to julie because of her knowledge of SEA. when we realized that we would be in the same place at the same time we agreed to meet. so there we were. we had dinner and agreed to meet for breakfast on the beach the next morning.
After breakfast, we rented kayaks. we explored some caves in a couple of the islands just off the coast. after a while we came ashore on one of the more exclusive beaches and laid in the sun. julie had a snack as it was midday. we kayaked back to ton sai and had lunch. julie waited patiently as i spent half an hour trying to capture the sillouettes of longtails against the sunset. we stopped for coffee and a chat. they brought milk out in a baby bottle... we sat there looking at it. we had seen a native newborn baby being brought to the beach that morning. they surely wouldnt...naa. over dinner we discussed our plans amongst other things. i had decide to go to cambodia and she had to be in bangkok for a wedding. so the next day we took a longtail boat to ao nang and had some lunch. from there we jumped in a truck to the krabi bus station. we were on different busses that left at about the same time for bangkok. we ran into each other at a common reststop and planned to say goodbye in bangkok. the next morning in bangkok, i walked julie to a taxi and said goodbye. i found a bus to khao san and headed back to familiar grounds to plan my cambodian endeavor.

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Photos

Climber Heaven
Ton Sai is packed with rock climbers

Train Bunk Dinner
Helen and i dine on the train in my bunk

Cat Nap
This cat napping with a ribbon and bell around her neck has the attitude that permeates the beach. relax.

Monkey Nap
Girl naps with her pet monkey in ton sai

Low Tide Channel
They left their boats in this deep channel during low tide.

Kayaks and Longtails
Julie is ready to go kayaking

Julie and I
ton sai behind us railay to your right

Julie in a Cave
you can kayak into caves in the 'haystack' islands

Ships and Caves
julie kayaks by a wooden ship. behind can be seen a huge cave

'Haystack' Island
strange monoliths rising out of the water

Baby Bottle
Coffee and milk?

Longtail Sunset
Longtails lined up at sunset on ton sai