Random Notes
I'm in Krabi Town now. A bustling town of about Nanaimo's size. Pleasant enough for buying books and munching on Pad Thai, but looks to me primarily like a transportation hub. Tomorrow I catch the bus up to Phang Nga where I'm hoping I can find a good kayak day or overnight trip through the mangroves, karsts, and hongs. There's lots of power boat trips, but there's two problems with that: first, the motors scare away any birds and other wildlife you might otherwise encounter, and second, no-one talks because the engines are too loud. Better to use one's arms and dip slowly through the waterscape.
After that, I'll likely head to Khao Lak - a relatively expensive little town on the west coast and the jumping off point for diving the Similan Islands. Then Khao Sok National Park, with it's treehouses, gibbons, leopards (but few see them) and floating bungalows in the middle of what is rumored to be the most beautiful lake in the world. This will all involve more money than my budget allows (because of the diving), and so I'll have to spend a week or so financially recuperating by getting a beach bungalow in the middle of nowhere and just hanging out reading for a week or so. Know any likely spots like that around here Bob?
Travelling from Hua Hin to Ao Nang was interesting. I'm such an amateur. I tried to get an overnight sleeper train, but they were all booked two or three days in advance, so I got an overnight VIP bus to Surithani. I spent most of the night looking out the huge windows at great flashes of lightening that would blast away every three seconds or so. Arrived in Surithani sleepless and disoriented at the crack of dawn. At the bus station the local drivers told me that the bus to Krabi runs from a different bus station on the other side of town so I find myself on the back of a motorcycle taxi, with my pack on my back, zipping through early risers and commuters. I get dropped at this little hole in the wall, head inside, and buy a bus ticket to Krabi for 350 baht. This seems quite expensive to me, but at this point I'm at the mercy of those around me. I wait for half an hour, not for a bus, but for a van to take me to the bus. I sat with a guy from St. Louis who I ended up hanging out with for a week and found out that his ticket all the way from Bangkok cost him 275 baht. I'm such a rookie.
Diving was, to borrow a word from the
Aussies, brilliant. I had to spend two days watching videos and splashing
around with gear in a pool, but then it was out on an overnight cruise with 6
spectacular dives. Well, six dives - five spectacular ones. For one the
surface chop was so high and the current was ripping so bad that it was really
a survival exercise. No chance whatsoever to look around or play. We
overnighted, swam and dove in Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley (where "The Beach" was
filmed), dove the
King Cruiser
car ferry wreck and some absolutely
spectacular reefs
teeming with brilliant fish, corrals, and bizarre alien life-forms.
It was a great group of
people
as well, and we all ended up drinking buddies back
in Ao Nang. I'm now a certified Open Water Diver. At the Similans I'll likely
go for my advanced ticket so I can do 30 metre dives there.
Ao Nang was a whole lot of fun. It's
only about a four block strip of tourist oriented businesses, but the size
means you constantly run into people you know. After 8 days there, it felt
like home and there was a bit of sadness in saying good-byes and moving on
here to Krabi. And of course just a short, noisy boat ride away from Ao Nang
are the most spectacular tropical beaches you could hope to find. The beaches
are separated from each other by towering limestone
cliffs
that climb straight out of
the sea. I'm told that the cliffs separating Railay from Phra Nang beach host a
bit of a cave that you can swim through. I was intending to verify this before
departing, but unfortunately developed one hell of an ear infection after
diving that put snorkelling and swimming off limits for a while. I suspect
that means I have to go back there again before leaving this area for
good.
That's it for now. I've got a beat up little bungalow that faces out onto a quiet, messy courtyard. It's time to go sit in one of the plastic chairs out there and read for a while. I have been reading Lila by the Zen Motorcycle guy (Pirsig), but it's boring the hell out of me, so I bought "Angela's Ashes" and Grisham's "A Painted House". I'll see if they make better travel reading.
I hope you are all well. Take care, stay
cool, and keep warm...
...Byron