Flashpackers Anonymous
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2009
1
4
14
Trip End
Jul 06, 2009
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Krabi,
Thailand
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Flew down to Krabi airport and caught the bus to Ao Nong pier to get the boat to Railay Beach in the Krabi Province. I'd switched my phone on to text Steve to say I was on my way, when I received a text telling me what to do in the event that I show symptoms of swine flu while in Thailand - I'm very impressed! (My phone has since broken, so I hope I don't need that text!)
Steve was travelling 12 hours ahead of me and so was organising our accommodation....he excelled himself, and our abode for the next few days was a lovely resort & spa on Railay's western beach - we were both once backpackers, and are now truly flashpackers, lol
Flashback to backpack - minibus from the airport
! It was still very cheap by UK prices, but we'd never had such luxury while backpacking! As it was low season, we got 3 nights for the price of 2 plus 10% off at low season rate. The place was stunning and even had a pool...fresh towels...dressing gowns...slippers...free water in the minbar...oh yes, it had a minibar - all of this stuff a million miles from the backpacking days! A bath AND a shower...I could go on - oh yes, my memories of Thailand past are fab, but I did stay in the cheapest of places while traveling, as did Steve. Oh, and it had air-con - don't know how I lived without it, ha ha!We decided to go ultra flash-pack, and ate in a restaurant we could only have dreamt of while backpacking - again, still cheap by UK prices, but totally not on the radar as a backpacker! It was on the other side of Railay, so we went by tuk tuk, then on the way back, it had to drop us at another place, as the tide was now in, and so we had to walk along a wall to get back to our area - lucky we hadn't had much to drink!
The first day was a lazing by the pool day, then we went on a boat trip on a Thai longboat. These boats (you'll see in the photos) are very long and narrow, and have a long pole on the end that goes in the sea with a small rotor on the end - and that's what powers it. Our boat had about 12 Japanese people, 3 Aussies, me and Steve, plus the crew. It's monsoon season here at the moment, so we weren't far out before it started getting choppy...and I mean choppy! The boat was bouncing at the front and landing flat, drenching those at the front of the boat (i.e. me, Steve & 2 Japanese)
It calmed down a bit after that, and we visited Poda Island, then Chicken Island - named because of the shape of the rock - see photos
...and then getting the boat to Krabi...
! As we approached Chicken Island, a storm brewed again, and all of a sudden the roof on the longboat completely blew off, with the exception of one corner, which stubbornly stayed attached, but with the force of the storm, was dragging the boat down to one side. The boatman eventually cut it loose, and it sank to a watery death in the Andaman Sea...or so we thought! They dropped us off to have lunch on Chicken Island, and the crew set off on the longboat. By the time we'd finished lunch, they'd retrieved the roof, and reattached it! (I don't think I was the only one holding my corner down on the journey back!) We were supposed to go to a cave as well, but the weather got too bad, and we just went straight back after that, albeit in another furious storm! Never been so glad to get back on dry land again, however because we were staying on Railay beach, the only way to get to it is by boat, so we had to get another one a while later that was going to take us to the east side of the (almost) island, which is apparently safer to get to or something in stormy conditions.Despite all that, I did get in the sea at Chicken Island! (I'm scared of fish) To be fair, it was very shallow and there were no fish to be seen!
Back at our apartments, I was amused to discover what was being kept under the bathroom sink in the ladies toilets...see photos!
Comments
Scared of fish?!?!?
Wow...never heard of that before...good thing you didn't run into any Thai Flying Fish! ;)
Wow
The boat trip sounds like quite an experience!!