Krabi and Ko Samui

Trip Start Jul 05, 2007
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Trip End Dec 24, 2007


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Saturday, November 24, 2007

It isn't the wet season in Southern Thailand.  But you wouldn't know it.  It hasn't stopped raining since I got here.  I was woken up on the first night by an ominous damp feeling in my bed.  I was worried that I'd embarrassed myself at first, but soon realised that the ceiling was leaking.  There were no spare rooms, so I had to make do.  Still it was more comfortable than Bradmore Road, where university used to put me up.

I went to Krabi first, on the Andaman Sea.  Krabi's beaches were badly hit by the Boxing day tsunami three years ago, but the place has recovered well.  It's certainly more beautiful on the west coast than on the islands on the Gulf of Thailand side.  I crossed over to the east via a bus and an overnight ferry.  You hear some horror stories about the ferries in South East Asia, but I figured that they must stay afloat most of the time, or else how would they make money?  But my boat did not look remotely seaworthy.  A feeling reinforced by then numerous violent lurches it suffered before we'd even got out into the open sea.

The beds on the boat are not made for fat people.  You lie side by side with your neighbours.  I was sandwiched between an unfriendly German girl, and a middle aged Canadian blike who was way too friendly.  I was torn between the two, as to which way I wanted to be facing in case my stomach gave way to the movement of the boat.

Those of you who know me well will know that I am not really a slave to fashion.  But I have been persuaded to buy a pair of flip-flops by an Australian guy who said that they were easily the most comfortable way to enjoy the beach.  Actually he called them "thongs" at first.  This unnerved me because I'm not accustomed to men telling me that wearing thongs is the most comfortable way to enjoy the beach.  But it turns out that "thongs" is Australian for "flip-flops".  I can only assume that "flip-flops" is too long a word for Australians to understand.

Anyway, I bought a pair and wore them for one day.  For the five days since then I have been unable to walk without a limp.  High heels would have been more comfortable.  Not that I'd know.

Next I head up to Northern Thailand to do some trekking round Chiang Mai.  I'm running behind time a bit, but hopefully I can cut out some of the "authentic shopping" and "ethnic experiences" that my book recommends, so I can catch up.
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