Amandari Krabi Hotel

... elite guide, as I ended up doing some killer routes, like 45 degree gradients over boulders, heavily transversely tilted slopes (where you have to lean left or right - whichever side is uphill), and ridiculous bends over rocks and deep mud puddles. Those ATV's can handle an amazing beating (trust me, I was giving it welly) - kinda like small versions of the legendary Land Rovers. Good fun!!<br>I took a photo of a photo of me (see photo of photo).<br>Back for an ...

... to Krabi, an oceanfront province in the south. The pictures from Krabi look beautiful so I wanted to check it out for myself. We took a bus to Ao Nang, the most popular resort town in the province. The bus dropped us off at the pier because we planned to catch a boat to Rai Leh, the place where most of the beautiful pictures are taken. Anna wasn't feeling very well so I found a hotel in Ao Nang instead. She went ...

<br><br>We got up around<br>11am ish for some breakfast and some blogging. The group had decided<br>that we were going to rent out some kayaks for the afternoon so<br>around 2 pm we headed off on 4 kayaks out of the bay area and around<br>to a beach where we went for a swim for a bit and watched the other<br>tourists get their stuff taken by the monkeys. We then hopped back on<br> the kayaks and headed towards the cliffs to see if we could find any<br>caves to paddle in. We found a few ...

... smoothie. We hit up Hat Rin that night to check out what the<br>layout was like and also heard that the pre-full moon party was quite a<br>spectacle as well. It was relatively low key that night, and we just kicked<br>back on a few booze buckets and walked around before taking a taxi back to<br>crash early.<br> The next day, Nathaniel and I met up with Christine in the morning after she<br>had a Muay Thai lesson. She actually trained in Muay Thai back home ...

... most Asian showers are shower heads above the toilet). It is amazing how different you can feel when staying in a nicer hotel. You feel cleaner, you have a better sleep, you worry less, and you smile more. Perhaps it's a teaser for home? We spent the next two days enjoying the room. Charis had her first bath since 5-stars Stephanie treated us to in New Dehli. Arik watched some rugby on the satelitte TV. And we both enjoyed the cool AC, clean ...

... am writing this online): I have always thought of myself as a purely western bottom cleaner. Toilet paper? Yes please. And the thought of spraying my tushy with a hose both puzzled and mortified me. How the heck to you clean with a hose? But I am now turned. It is so much cleaner! And no wasting paper! And no wiping! And if you get really good, your aim is perfect and you air dry in seconds! Of course ...

... And these party animals have sadly taken over much of this island. They dominate the beach scene, and escaping up North to one of the isolated areas such as Long Beach or Phak Nam Bay, where we stayed, is the only way around this, and all these areas are so far from town - so no night shoppingor choice of restaurants or bars. It's unfortunate you have to choose one or the other, loud crazy city life or relaxed isolated vacation.

... way it was time for The Main Event: The Snorkel Test. The Venue: Carlitos Beach Bar. We were lined up in 4 seats facing the crowd that were beighing for blood (or at least some vomit). We made a little speech and then it was time for the instructors to take their revenge on us. I was reasonably fortunate in that my bucket was filled with Sangsom (rotten Thai rum), coke, sambuca and tequila. I got through the bucket easier than I thought ...

... tranquil beach place, NO! aside from the bazillions of other tourists and the massively overdeveloped town centre with millions of bars and cafes you can almost drift off into a peaceful BASS BASS BASS BASS BASS BASS until 6am in the morning. - To be fair the beach is wonderful, golden sands, nice clear water, it ticked all the boxes, its just suffered from "show us the money" syndrome in terms of the way the ...

... le chemin, on a fait un court arret de snorkelling ou les gens du bateau attirent les poissons en lancant des croutes de pain quasiment sur nous...tonnes de poissons jaunes! Lunch sur une superbe plage digne des Iles Vierges... Lendemain, nous sommes montes au point de vue et question de suer abondamment, pourquoi pas monter a midi tapant! Superbe vue!! Retour a Kata le soir meme pour notre depart le lendemain vers Chiang Mai et les montagnes.