At the beach
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2008
1
9
82
Trip End
Dec 30, 2009
Ao Nang,
Thailand
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Got up early to allow time for breakfast before getting a taxi to the airport for our 1140 flight. Double checked ticket printout: flight is at 1020. Janice took it in remarkably good humour despite having to rush hairdrying. Still had time for our breakfast on the 31st floor but missed out the pancakes and maple syrup. We had been a bit anxious about preparing our luggage for this flight as the Air Asia allowance is less than others (15kg in the hold rather than the usual 20kg) & 7kg as carry on. My trusty baggage scales showed that essential itens such as cycling shoes were our heaviest footwear 800g/pair, so we had ours on. There was also the bag of Evelyn and Crabtree toiletries from the Hilton @ 500g. May be important if things get sticky later in the trip. In the end, the bags were 15kg each, give or take a few hundred grams, and no-one weighed the carry on bags.
Noppathara Harbour
Furthermore, the plane was 25min late departing so we could have had pancakes and French toast after all.Almost full flight from Bangkok to Krabi. It had been a bargain at £25pp each way. At Krabi airport the taxi prices are fixed. We bought our ticket and were directed outside where we were almost literally grabbed by a taxi driver who installed us in the plushest, kitchest minibus I have been in. Full leather trim including the roof, inlaid wooden panels, also including the roof, a drop down DVD player, huge leather seats. He still drove in the manner of a Bangkok tuktuk pilot: hooting at anything that looked as though it might venture into his path and swerving around slower vehicles.
The Krabi Thai Village Resort hotel is huge but clearly only ¼ full at best. The main season doesn't start until next month. It is quite peaceful and set up on a hill about 10min walk from the touristy resort of Ao Nang in one direction and 10 min from Nopparat Thara beach in the other. The room is fine with some slightly eccentric touches like a wardrobe that opens from both sides and a glass panel between the bedroom and the shower
Andrew Ao Nang Beach
. The pool comes with a few Germans who are designed not to make any other guests feel self conscious about their body shapes.We walked into Ao Nang which has food stalls, a lot of building work, some dive schools and at least a dozen tailors who try to intercept you as you walk by with the promise of two suits for the equivalent of about £50. My colleagues back home will be disappointed to hear that I did not succumb.
Later that evening we had a meal in a Thai Dutch restaurant. We're novices at Thai food. I had a coconut milk dish that contained whole slices of ginger. Janice had a yellow curry on the basis that the green one she had had previously tried was very good if a quite hot. Yellow was clearly pretty fiery. It leaves only the red curry to try tonight. We'll see what happens.
Tuesday 14
Walked to Nopparat Thara beach. It was much quieter although clearly at the eastern end development is underway. There are large lumps of rock sticking out from the sea, limestone karsts for which this area is famous. Initially the tide was in and that covered the eastern end of the beach. We walked the mile or so to the far end which is part of a National Park. The beach was lovely with many Thai families eating in the shade of the trees
Flip Flop
. The cooking is done at the beach: steamed rice, grilled fish and fruit served wrapped in leaves. The Thai adults we saw tended to go swimming in the sea in t-shirts and trousers including jeans. They don't sit on the beach in the sun but sensibly retreat to the shady fringes. Lunch consisted of fresh fruit drinks and a plate of sliced mixed fruit, so pretty healthy. Then a hot walk back to the hotel: we should have taken a tuktuk but the journey would have been more fruit shake than smoothie.
Bit of a snooze then into Ao Nang for a beer. Great sunset. J and I have both bought cheesecloth shirts: going back to our roots in the 70s.
Comments
cheesecloth shirt
... and I remember yours from the first time round!
Sandy
Cheesecloth shirt?
I remember yours from the first time round...
Sandy