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Published: January 4th 2007
Ao Nang Beach
view from the longtail taxi boat going from Tonsai to Ao Nang beachAfter spending a few days in Bangkok, we decided it was time to head down south for the holidays. I took a flight from the Bangkok airport to Krabi located in the southern peninsula of Thailand. There's an airline in Southeast Asia called AirAsia that offers super low-fare flights between different cities. It's basically a clone of Southwest Airlines in the US, except their flights are even cheaper than the domestic US flights. So...instead of taking a 15 hour train ride for about US$25 Joey and I took a 1.5 hour flight for $40, not a bad trade-off.
So after staying the night in Krabi, we took a short longtail boat ride over to Tonsai Beach. A beautifully secluded beach with some of the best rock climbing anywhere in the world. Actually, the place is crawling with professional-level rock climbers from the US, France, Germany, Canada, and Japan...where winter weather isn't exactly condusive to sport climbing. So Joey and I spent 6 days climbing and enjoying the beautiful scenery around Tonsai Beach. We ended up staying a total of 8 days in Tonsai Beach, enjoying 80 degree sunny weather for Christmas. We went over to neighboring Ao Nang for New
Monkey on Tonsai beach
on our way to rock climbing this little monkey stopped in to say hello Year's Eve, complete with fireworks and all the important New Year's excitement. I must admit, entering 2007 on the beach in Thailand is about as good as it gets. So far 2007 is off to a great start.
After finally leaving Tonsai, we took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi, an island about 1.5 hours off the coast. It's where the movie "The Beach" was filmed in case anyone has ever seen it. Pretty incredible scenery. Snorkeling, swimming, and feeding monkeys was the name of the game in Ko Phi Phi. However, Ko Phi Phi was crawling with tourists and not exactly the scene we were looking for. Because of the popularity of this part of Southeast Asia in the winter months, tons of European tourists come for a few weeks to enjoy the warm weather and to party. It gets quite annoying with so many people there, so we decided to pack up shop and head back to the mainland. So....at the moment, Joe, Fergus (our British friend), and I are in Krabi town spending the day and planning our two week road trip. Aside from the typical tourist transportation, there are local buses that run between towns,
typically only carrying Thai people.
So...for the next two weeks the three of us are just heading north to escape the mass tourism of Southern Thailand. Using only local buses and a map I recently purchased, we're gonna head from one place to the next making our way up the peninsula through Central Thailand. According to locals there are quite a few great places to stop along the way, many of them are sleepy little beach towns that Western tourists rarely venture to. And that's what we're hoping to find...towns with locals and good local food, a vacation from our vacation. In order to better understand our reasons for doing this, I gotta say one thing first. The absolute best experiences that I've had on this trip so far are the ones where you get off the beaten path, escape the tourists and crowds and go find places where you can really live adn experience the culture and life of Thailand. People are sooooo friendly here and especially when you're the only foreigners around, they practically welcome you into their homes. Because I'm lucky enough to travel for so long, I have the luxury of going to find places
Tonsai Beach
getting off the boat at Tonsai beach that most tourists never visit. It's where the real jewels of any country are to be found...back roads and an easier pace of life. The next two weeks should be filled with adventure, fun, local bus rides, and hopefully the real culture of Thailand that we're hoping to rediscover.
Other than that, I'm doing great, healthy, safe, and as happy as ever. Southeast Asia couldn't be more of a wonderful place to backpack around and I couldn't have picked a better time of my life to do it.
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Rita Keeperman
non-member comment
Which guy loved the grapes - Joey or the monkey? Admit it, you didn't specify!! Happy New Year and keep wanderin'-we're all terribly jealous.