Krabi, Thailand

We overslept the next morning, no surprises there, and I was just really happy to have remembered that I needed to pick up the laundry I had dropped off the previous night. As it was, I had just discovered I lost my hiking shoes somewhere along the line. Oh well, good thing I'm headed for the beaches! I ran up the street to the laundromat where they charged 20B/kilo. There was a little old man there, this was our second meeting. He was very sweet and excited to hear me say hello and thank you in Thai. He told me he was 81 years old, asked me where I was from, knew about the 76ers being from Philadelphia and then of course asked if I was married. Seems to be a popular question, at least amongst the older Thais.

Hadas and I had breakfast at our guesthouse and ran into a few of our friends from the night before...apparently the night continued well after we left and everyone seemed to be pretty hung over! After a few last hugs and goodbye, the hotel called for a driver to take us to the airport and we were once again, on our way...

We arrived just in time to check in (this is becoming a habit of ours) and boarded an enormous flight to Bangkok with Thai airways, one of my favorite carriers btw. An hour later we landed and then had 2 hours to kill before our next flight to Krabi. I browsed the bookstore and picked up a book called "The Road of Lost Innocence", an amazing autobiographical story of a Cambodian woman who was raped at 12 and then forced into prostitution at the age of 16 to pay off her 'grandfather's' debts...apparently a much too common scenerio in Cambodia. This woman's story was riviting and I read it in a matter of just a few hours (a huge feat for me!). An astounding 2-4 million women and children will be sold into sexual slavery every year. This book shed light on a horrific topic that demands our attention. The UN estimates that the Asian sexual industry earns between $7-12 billion dollars a year, roughly Cambodia's entire annual budget. I have the book if anyone is interested in reading it...but this woman is amazing and set up a wonderful organization that has saved over 4000 women to date get out of this horrific cycle of abuse. She shelters them, educates them and mentors them into transitioning to work and independence. Please read more about her organization here: http://www.somaly.org/


Leave it to me to pick such depressing topics to read about while on vacation!

Onto Krabi...it's unfortunate but Krabi is more of a "stopover" than a destination...surrounded by limestone cliffs on all sides, it is truly a beautiful place. We grabbed our bags and were happy to see our taxi driver holding a sign with our names on it...talk about service! He carried our bags and led us out to his car. We drove about 30 minutes to get to our hotel called the "Cashew Nut Bungalows". The guesthouse is run by a Muslim family. We checked in at their open air lobby and 3 tiny little kittens immediately were at our feet! SO freakin cute!

Our bungalow was simple, fan cooled and cold water shower, but who cares in this heat?? We changed into our bathing suits and headed for the beach...we were about a block away from Ao Nang beach...shell covered and bordered by 2 limestone cliffs on either side. There was hardly a breeze in the humid air, no clouds whatsoever, the water was crystal clear and I was able to finish up my book just in time to witness the beautiful sunset...

We packed up our stuff and headed back to our bamboo bungalow. After showering we ventured back to the main strip and decided to eat at "Hippies". We were led to a bamboo booth with cushions on the floor and a flat irregular shaped rock that served as our table. We had fruit shakes spiked with vodka and accidentally ate each other's dinners...oops! The food is all so delicious so it really didn't matter. Maybe it was the vodka??

We hit the internet cafe while listening to some live music at Hippies and then treated ourselves to our first official Thai massage. We were both wearing skirts so the girls gave us fisherman pants to change into. Thai massage is more like acupressure than typical Swedish massage and is designed to not only be relaxing, but also to redistribute energy. You start by laying flat on your back and the massage starts at your feet, then legs, then arms. Then you flip over and they again work on your feet/legs, arms, back, neck and shoulders. They also stand up and press into the backs of your knees giving your legs a really good stretch and it finishes off with you sitting upright so they can massage your neck and head. Afterwards we were served a steaming hot cup of spicy ginger tea...

The next morning we rose super early and packed our stuff once again. The cold shower was refreshing yesterday after the beach, but this morning it was just not happening. Instead I just washed my hair...this is becoming a much too common occurence for me. If there's one thing I truly miss, it's a good hot shower! We booked a kayaking tour of the island (according to "the rough guide" this is the thing to do in Krabi) and decided to take the later ferry out to Koh Phi Phi. The tour company picked us up right at 8 am and we joined 4 traveler's from Holland. We drove 40 minutes to the mangroves and Hadas and I jumped into a kayak. We kayaked through a cave and down some beautiful narrow waterways. Our guides led us to a beach where we got to see 'walking fish'...it was crazy! They actually walk right out of the water! It was unbelievable!

We got out of our kayaks to explore a cave that they believe was inhabited by an ancient prehistoric people, they assume this based on the drawings found inside. It amazes me that there are people out there who have jobs like this...to determine the time range of when something was etched inside cave walls? Amazing. Anyway, it was a cool cave to explore, mostly because there was no wooden walkway and no crowds of people like the cave in Halong Bay. It felt much more authentic. Our guide pointed out the water line which was a pale green color very high up in the cave. Apparently the water has permanently receeded to a point much lower than that now. Was a cool experience...if only I could ignore the chain smoking old man from Holland. Who smokes in a prehistoric cave? And then tries to throw his cigarette butt on the cave floor? After mentioning this behavior to the guide, he picked it up himself. It amazes me how inconsiderate some people can be...

We had lunch back at the dock which consisted of chicken and cashew fried rice with chicken soup and fanta of course. Dessert was fresh pineapple served with nescafe.

We boarded our van and for an extra 60B the driver took us to the pier where we Just missed our ferry to Koh Phi Phi...had to wait an extra hour...but fortunately there was an internet cafe and book exchange. Hadas managed to make an even exchange for one of her books, but apparently my book wasn't good enough and I'd have to pay an additional 300B. I wasn't giving up my new copy of "Eat Pray Love" that easy.

We boarded the ferry, dumped our bags inside and got prime seating right at the front of the deck. It was perfect weather with clear blue skies as far as you could see and a nice warm breeze coming off the ocean...it was smooth sailing for the 2 hour ferry ride and we finally decended upon the tiny island of Koh Phi Phi...one of the islands devastated only a few years ago by the tsunami...