Krabi
Trip Start
Feb 20, 2006
1
16
19
Trip End
Mar 24, 2006
Phi phi to krabi,
Thailand
Monday, March 20, 2006
Tomorrow, we begin the journey home.
I wish, I wish, I wish we had spent the entire vacation here. I wouldn't have traded the whole experience for anything, but this is paradise. We've spent the last two days in Krabi, Aonang Beach. Endless beaches punctuated by soaring, ragged cliffs rounded at each end by the elements.
In Phuket, the largest, most developed of the islands you find the most diverse places and economies. We visited another Burmese Baptist village where pigs lie nonchalantly shaded under sticks and stone huts. Roosters and children run freely greeting you with various calls, 5 baht, 5 baht, cock-a-doodle doo. Everyone here sells something; it's a vast, fierce free market economy. The ladies peddling monkey food at the temples sounded eerily like their charges. 10 baht, 10 baht. We passed lychee, mango, banana and jackfruit orchards and the three generation investment Teak plantations. It takes a teak tree 100 years to grow as big as the 50 yr old big fella elm growing outside my front door. Phuket is also booming in real estate. Shops dominate the center of the island competing with rubber, pineapple and palm farms. Tourism is the main industry here, anywhere, it seems in Thailand. Yet, 20 years after tourism began its boom, people here are still resolutely their own people. They speak in their own incomprehensible way, their lazy tongues ending every word in a nasal soft ah. Even children in small tourist villages stay clear of direct contact. They cannot or have not learned much of any of the languages of their guests. The people here are very proud but private. I guess I can't blame them. They see people with such wealth everyday. Foreigners from places they will never visit and yet everyday they open their doors to us.
The Phi-Phi Islands are just beautiful. There are two islands; the smaller is a national park where the film "the Beach" was made. The larger has a sand swath between two mountains. When the Tsunami hit, it cleared a path flattening everything in its stead. Pictures of before and what now remains or what has been rebuilt are staggering. Much of the center of the island is still being rebuilt.
The first night here we went on an evening cruise. The proprietor, Aladeen, is a 19 year old kid who scraped up the money to open his first business, a large tour/party boat. He and his crew were all new to each other that night but they took us to some great spots, fire danced and took our pictures for their new brochure. We are going to be famous for years to come... The beaches here are white, soft pulverized coral - no sand mites at night. The atmosphere is laid back and the food is great.
The tuk-tuk drivers of the Andaman Sea are the longboat sailors. They will take you anywhere for a price and fast... Where you want go, pee-pee eyelahn 500 baht, 500 baht, but by God; I wish they'd leave us alone. What ever happened to 'If I need ya, I'll call ya."
Krabi is still in the midst of a growth spurt. The beach we are on the verge of being the next best thing. The hotel we're staying at is the coolest one yet. The Phra Nang Inn, a multi award winning hotel, is built in two wings. The first is done is a land theme, the Beetlenut wing. We are in the Coconut wing, dedicated to the sea. The walls are plastered with sand and shells and other surprising accruements. The exterior of the building is overgrown with beautiful flowers, trees and ivy overlooking the sea. The common areas are done in Bamboo and Palm wood and shell designs. Just lovely.
Today we went on a final cruise round the area. We snorkelled amid neon striped fish that actually bit me as I was fed them a banana. It hurt.
I panicked, I'm allergic to the little sea dwellers. We swam on a couple of beaches that defy description while being transported to each mach speed on a very powerful speedboat. In the distance you can see pearl farms appearing as stick picket fences run amok. Fishermen with beads of bell shaped light bulbs strung cross-boat bows ply their trade. At night the horizon doesn't remain hidden for long, the lights are switched on softly illuminating the distance.
The Thais give great massages. We enjoyed many, for the price we pay at home...I'll miss this service a lot. The bus service here and in most of Thailand is in the back of pickup trucks, neatly lined with plank seats and roller bars...just in case. In most of Asia; I'm told, the horn is used frequently. Here it is a friendly reminder or a tap on the shoulder and like the Caribbean, a way to say hello. In India they lay on the horn, constantly, not caring if it's a rude gesture or not. At home it's cause for a fight.
Tomorrow we catch the overnight train to Bangkok, after a brief stay in some place that starts with an S??? One more night in a crazy city then the long journey home.
I'm tired. A full day of sun, a wonderful lobster, shrimp and crab dinner, pampering...
It's been tough. I see ya all soon, probably out slogging in the snow...
Or maybe, it'll start to melt. he he.
