tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9609247093030466852024-03-12T23:45:48.156-07:00Marie and Georg in ThailandWiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-33471277410810565852013-03-05T05:36:00.001-08:002013-03-09T00:42:14.322-08:00Stuff in Hua HinTen days since I last posted anything, mostly because hanging out in Hua Hin is not overly eventful. While we do "stuff" a lot isn't worth documenting. However, when even the local guys (not mentioning any names Art and Dan) start to get on my case about no postings, I suppose I should write something to let everyone know we are still alive and kicking.<br />
One new tidbit is me joining the Muay Thai gym. Just to be clear I did spell it correctly M U A Y <br />
T H A I. To some that have emailed and used the spelling Maui Thai, well that won't work as Maui is one of the Hawaiian islands. To our other friends that suggested I was taking Mai Tai that can be rather confusing as well. While I have had Mai Tai's, it was when I was in Hawaii on the island of Maui. Having a Mai Tai in the heat of the day was a lot more refreshing than taking Muay Thai and sweating my you know what off! I tried to get Marie to sign up for Muay Thai as well, however she said that since she cannot have a Mai Tai (the alcohol allergy thing) she definitely will not take Muay Thai. <br />
Hua Hin has several markets and a central mall. There are also a lot of shops towards the central part of town, all catering to the tourists, with something for everyone. The beach also has its fair share of vendors pedalling their wares. The night market (starts around 6pm) has a ton of stalls and is a good place to eat. Although it is crowded it is very entertaining to see the people from so many countries and different walks of life. From the ultra small vendor stands serving skewers of mini hot dogs or chicken to the larger sit down restaurants, here is something to satisfy virtually every appetite. If you want fresh fish or lobster and crab, this is the place! All the seafood is displayed on ice, fresh, just waiting to be picked so the chef can cook it to your liking.<br />
From our balcony we are able to view some very interesting birds and listen to their wonderful melodic warble. We spotted a cinnamon coloured bird with striped wings and tail and a crown of feathers standing up on his head. It is a hoopoe and has a long slender bill to penetrate the soil so he can feed on insects and small reptiles. It was a delight to watch this bird flit about on the ground. The other bird, bluish black head and body and rusty brown coloured wings and tail, is a<br />
Coucal (crow pheasant). The yellow one in the tree is a warbler. <br />
Our suite is equipped so we can stock up on simple groceries like muesli, milk, eggs and bread and have our breakfast on the balcony. The mall is conveniently located across the main road and has a huge grocery outlet. During one of our grocery runs we met Emma, in the checkout line. Emma is from Sweden. Marie met her again at the beach and they recognized one and another from the grocery line. Turns out Emma is staying in our hotel, 2 doors down the hall. Coincidence or what? Over the course of the week we got to know Emma and I accepted her invitation to play tennis. Now I haven't ever really played tennis and what little practice I did have was a well over 12-15 years ago. Emma, however, takes lessons and practices with a pro, not to mention she is 20 years younger. We hit the courts in the hotel next door where I ran my butt off, while coach Marie kept my swing in check. Lol. Talk about the blind leading the blind. Actually we came up with the perfect strategy to gain an advantage by giving Emma the side where she faced the sun. All in all it was fun to get out and whack the ball over the net. Not sure how it was for Emma but she was gracious enough complimenting me on my sad attempt to play tennis.<br />
Marie and I went on a short exploration trip of Hua Hin. We took a Songtaew which got us off the main drag so we were able to see where some of the side roads went. We came across a guy on a motorbike with a huge slab of a hive hanging from a short pole on his bike. He also had a bucket with broken pieces and a lot of honey. He had jars and was selling the honey on the street. Next was the ice pedlar, a truck with an open deck carrying huge slabs of ice. The slabs were off-loaded by sliding them down a ramp.<br />
Towards the end of town we discovered another market and ventured in for a tour. The smell in this place was ghastly! The kind of smell that once it gets up your nose it sticks and is there indefinitely! Poor Marie was gagging and even when we left she could not get rid of the odour. In fact it was so bad that a few hours later when we went for dinner (at the night market) Marie thought her food was bad and could not finish. Yucky!<br />
Morning walks and/or Muay Thai, breakfast, time on the beach, visiting, an afternoon coffee, shopping (mostly looking) and dinners with Art and Dan pretty much sums up our days in Hua Hin.<br />
The "green hotel" is where Dan and Art stay. At the beach access by their hotel are a large group of umbrellas and beach lounging chairs available to rent. Art and Dan are regulars here, a couple of beach bums lounging about, bronzing their magnificent bodies in harmony with the other beach patrons. If only they could kite surf. On days when there is a good sea breeze the sky fills with kites of all colours dancing about in the wind, a surfer in tow, tacking across the waves. The pro's make it look easy and effortless while the novice makes it look like a losing battle. Lol<br />
<br />
I started this page a few days ago with good intentions but here I sit, one day before we leave for Bangkok, typing in the finishing touches. Art left for a convention in Pattaya, Dan is waiting for his lady Meow (she should arrive today), Ron keeping busy at the gym and Emma headed home for Sweden. Funny how time works. When we first got here and were looking forward we thought, wow, 2 weeks might be a bit long? Now, as we look back we think where did all the days go? Tomorrow, Sunday, we head to Bangkok for our final four days in Thailand.<br />
We will let you know about Bangkok in a couple of days. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TtJjKr_zIANhUH2Z2eIrLw03Jtfir6qcGIXN-_xzGaHNWLkSHF3VyDnqe5lA71-MJbsk_1_eY3mVH3DbeTYiB2z3fhloGqi_oYA47jEOve_S8Y-qojHNcArKn9RL8kV7SsW81rTmmEEg/s640/blogger-image-623877783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TtJjKr_zIANhUH2Z2eIrLw03Jtfir6qcGIXN-_xzGaHNWLkSHF3VyDnqe5lA71-MJbsk_1_eY3mVH3DbeTYiB2z3fhloGqi_oYA47jEOve_S8Y-qojHNcArKn9RL8kV7SsW81rTmmEEg/s640/blogger-image-623877783.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xRaIn61jmImAYcENLaAZcx8oXYXaeC4MEDXpEWty37psBi2eDzQ2dPBoPGU74KjWZTE9DncxjPV1IUoY1P7lnnlwcM3a3GAWPHwSnyS8hikD1deCxkoi_OjOEZx0A0vdDnnfI2xr0yx9/s640/blogger-image-1347129482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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Kite surfing. Three amigos. Stuff. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwO-pXSecvroBO_kQ2s17bhyphenhyphen8LA7tv9KuyMYekrQGvdrb76c2uQc3585G4hLwVrppG1EfIp1VeX6k6fRl1DS98VtQZTa6uiNr_NdyHb1Z0ODuEA2eHVVNmgmyJryMrNf5trd9w2XVcDEpj/s640/blogger-image--954524741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwO-pXSecvroBO_kQ2s17bhyphenhyphen8LA7tv9KuyMYekrQGvdrb76c2uQc3585G4hLwVrppG1EfIp1VeX6k6fRl1DS98VtQZTa6uiNr_NdyHb1Z0ODuEA2eHVVNmgmyJryMrNf5trd9w2XVcDEpj/s640/blogger-image--954524741.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsD9wZL5I_i9n_9KgU_pkGQpZQsMirjg-sdr5smzFW-WvskLLKxRD0CO0YrzE6n44TmEZNNP3aDF2gtVL8P8StB0n_YInE_ul7DhcDCRaa30MN0O6HgIPefl-DQT76DMQNcOUCXcKKxH2A/s640/blogger-image-597055487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HZS5dfUCkE6EYxZPLZR-xe9uxbtziVM8cjnQvhyphenhyphen0oGdxqLyyfRP6c8w1GTZSfi4QCzKsVxrP2pcAPaobNPiHqxG6p7sQVlmepLzVk66j2qAd55B5rjd4pOxqayE9DLzmyrkUbhz5znff/s640/blogger-image--1751948153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HZS5dfUCkE6EYxZPLZR-xe9uxbtziVM8cjnQvhyphenhyphen0oGdxqLyyfRP6c8w1GTZSfi4QCzKsVxrP2pcAPaobNPiHqxG6p7sQVlmepLzVk66j2qAd55B5rjd4pOxqayE9DLzmyrkUbhz5znff/s640/blogger-image--1751948153.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-70156477752192543532013-02-25T02:17:00.001-08:002013-02-25T08:34:13.257-08:00Blueberry and our beachOur room at the Blueberry and the beach. It is soooooo nice to be on this side of the main road as we do not need to cross it to go to the beach. Out our door, a quick left and 100 meters to the sand. Perfect!<br />
The water on this side of Thailand has more waves and is not clear like on Koh Lanta. Also more wind which attracts the kite surfers. We enjoyed sitting on the beach in the wind, getting blasted by the sand, while watching several kite surfers. I thought of giving it a try but then had this vision of being towed across the ocean, unable to turn the kite and ending up in Singapore. Think I'll wait for a small lake. Lol<br />
Time to get the sand out of our teeth, so we headed to the Market Villa Mall for a refreshment and a bit of window shopping. While sitting next door to the KFC (yes, a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet) enjoying a coffee and some quality jazz, the shrill sound of a whistle screeched loudly destroying the moment. We looked over to the front of KFC where now there were a group of five uniformed young employees lined up in two rows. There was another group of uniformed personnel conducting an inspection of the young group. Next the young group started a cheerleader type routine which we deciphered as being a KFC rah rah! <br />
Window shopping the mall was a lot of fun, three levels of a lot of unique shops and also some of the same chain stores we have at home. Walking by Swenson's Marie felt a need to photograph an extremely tasty looking ice cream sunday. Two more strides and we were confronted by a mega size ice cream poster. Talk about the power of advertising, especially combined with weak will power! Yessiree, we indulged; one mango sunday with green sticky rice and one hot fudge. Yummy. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOufoNkJQthDaWOyynktIuaVyBiH3xgIX511RV_IXipmRLvWfHrO02Ip9t3BIUik_t9tDMj_WvZfD6DBDtKZUq_-yUgMh7J6OB1KGkCQ6em_QSOUOXhh8kr0qPFGkrY8SLJUknodKKWjd/s640/blogger-image--2029220681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOufoNkJQthDaWOyynktIuaVyBiH3xgIX511RV_IXipmRLvWfHrO02Ip9t3BIUik_t9tDMj_WvZfD6DBDtKZUq_-yUgMh7J6OB1KGkCQ6em_QSOUOXhh8kr0qPFGkrY8SLJUknodKKWjd/s640/blogger-image--2029220681.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSCf-rib9iyvZPGrv6RAHa_4yAzJ_gs1S0JVeepBomQbD6RoJXVTSHSOkxKQxtMabpBw9O831KhJ1QYderOPJF98ELN-lC4PXwXCzLDwT10ugEZTTKUpFcKzr7iGrIkJcJ_PV5toilQse/s640/blogger-image--1630496966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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Also Art and Dan have been keeping us out late. Lol. <br />
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New day, new town and another familiar face. Our buddy Ron, also from Vernon, showed up at the hotel today. Art and Dan were already out and about, so Ron offered to familiarize us with the town. Our hike first took us to the local gym where Ron buffs up his body daily.<br />
After showing us his small suite we continued on to an area where there were a series of small narrow streets, lots of guest houses and small hotels and a ton of shops. Obviously this was a great area for tourists. Lots to see. Here, on the beach front, was the Hilton hotel. Talk about a wow factor! A standard room for a mere $330.00, (that's in US dollars), a night and you could get up and have breakfast on the ocean front. I thought I heard someone tell me Thailand was really inexpensive? Some pictures of the beach by the Hilton. We were surprised how much garbage was on the beach. One would think with a hotel like the Hilton, they would have a large staff assigned to keep the beach clean. Someone has to pick up after all the lazy tourists.<br />
For the afternoon Marie and I once again went hunting for accommodations. We looked at a lot of rooms, some a bit too basic but most just priced over our budget. Nearing our first hotel and running our of places too view we saw a sign, "room for rent". Called the Blueberry, close to the beach with a pool, Marie thought for sure we were wasting our time. The host showed us the room and we were delightfully surprised, a one bedroom apartment size suite. Very nice and even nicer when they told us we could rent it for $840 BHT a night. Fits the budget, beautiful room and awesome location. Deal!<br />
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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWjrQEJCLSI7m30XcQ3ucYyLI9sKw-PKHIUXjkI3BiGYHyvQBDtA6h7WMV1B1X4yBIP2VX0w2tig2oeMOWpaLKHVb4Tw3-fdvg-yRAi3IUBICij3VJzsGxb-CLrpPFuAIfDuBCSX5IjB9/s640/blogger-image-1533160465.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-24388629136085816062013-02-22T20:35:00.001-08:002013-02-23T18:44:06.585-08:00On the move, look out Hua Hin<br />
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Another travel day, destination, Hua Hin. Our minivan will pick us up at 10:50 so we have time to go for breakfast. We saw a place by the river that looked worthy of a visit for breakfast. The Easy Cafe, associated with Relax Cafe just around the corner has a full sized Italian looking cappuccino machine we spotted yesterday.<br />
We ordered up some bacon and eggs with toast and cappuccinos. Now these eggs were perfect, two grease free sunny-side-up gems with two perfect slices of bacon and great looking brown toast. My plate looked like it was plucked out of a magazine food advertisement! Bar none, best bacon and egg breakfast ever!!!!<br />
While we were sitting enjoying our coffee we met a couple, Gordon and Cecilia, from Salmon Arm. They were checking out the cafe and as we started talking with them they joined us for the next hour until we had to leave to checkout and catch our ride.<br />
Our minivan ride was the ride from hell for me. They always over pack and these vans. There is no space for luggage so the suitcases and backpacks are crammed in with the passengers. The seat directly behind the driver and aisle were stuffed full with bags. Talk abut claustrophobia! On top of the compact sitting quarters, the air conditioner was in poor condition so the van was hot and stuffy with very little air flow. Talk about a miserable ride.<br />
Just before Surat Thani we switched vans. Thank goodness! I grabbed the front seat, a bit selfish for sure but I was losing my mind being confined in the back. Yowza! <br />
So here I sit in the front seat typing out my blog, safely on our way to Hua Hin. <br />
Expecting to arrive around 5:30, it was a bit of a surprise when our driver signed (he didn't speak English at all) 9 PM for arrival. Good thing Tom's estimate was close, those three extra hours seemed like only minutes. LOL!<br />
We arrived at the hotel by 9PM and settled into our room. Later we were greeted by Art and Dan, two of our buddies from Vernon. It was nice to see some familiar faces and socialize with the boys from home.<br />
Sorry no pics today!WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-90416167662718283152013-02-18T23:47:00.001-08:002013-02-22T20:35:16.827-08:00Wat Thom Sua Monks housingThese are the photos of the forest in the bowl surrounded by the high cliffs. Within these stone cliff walls are the monks homes. The tiled platform is for praying. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTCB0YivYEG2v8gQwHWfIrRFgXyRrdVfZHM14Awn_h58c_YeDQWnDG7kce__m54KwZGe9YVAhpSGHrBlfzpyWRYbaJdnhgHOXFNI4atULxVyV6NbNijxoCiMDOES3G59wXIf6R5-3SnWu/s640/blogger-image-2113521942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTCB0YivYEG2v8gQwHWfIrRFgXyRrdVfZHM14Awn_h58c_YeDQWnDG7kce__m54KwZGe9YVAhpSGHrBlfzpyWRYbaJdnhgHOXFNI4atULxVyV6NbNijxoCiMDOES3G59wXIf6R5-3SnWu/s640/blogger-image-2113521942.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHL1-IDmHj2hT4aDP2YVzKw-n5G7WYj_kW3h-3-8MW_wwtuC22D7tHYtyi7y-Xd6RksRLGLyFYebq_QgvbkwI5Do_DKrGFRaQzfGzLkluqkwOnr8dUjJjmwbQPk4_vKxKAGpxvsJEJNUZw/s640/blogger-image--1404818312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMx7rVwrQTTgt6z83DhT6-4PeBlKe6QNnTFljFQBFMlSQYIJcODm8KtrejG3B9bYbxIGGRECaNXtEHtRWRvELpqoeIY4XeRtCuw6jClWUPsTs2cW8BTmN1lD3hjn513U0ZempVP0vmTlW/s640/blogger-image-88485935.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-35400050648171698432013-02-18T22:56:00.001-08:002013-02-18T23:47:54.516-08:00Wat Thom Sua or Tiger Camp Cave TempleSunday morning and our second day in Krabi town. Today our destination is Wat Thom Sau or commonly referred to as Tiger Camp Cave Temple, approximately 6 km from the town. We opted to take the local Song Thaw (poor mans taxi) which passes along the main road at regular intervals. Cheap cheap. <br />
My goal for this site was to climb the 1272 steps to the top. I challenged myself to go non stop in as short a time as possible. Marie decided climbing that many steps,for her, just was not in the stars! Lol. <br />
Not knowing what to expect I thought it best to wear runners, instead of sandals, and my gym gear. Looking up at the several sets of railed stairs zigzagging up the side of the mountain, disappearing into some trees, I thought this isn't going to be so tough. At 9:45 with a water bottle in hand I started my ascent. Climbing the first steps, the ones I could see from the base, was the equivalent of taking the stairs to 8th floor in a high rise. Each step varies in height and the steepness of each set varies from somewhere in the range of 35 degrees to 80 degrees, with the steeper steps being almost a foot in height.<br />
Okay, now I'm starting to sweat, huff and puff. I'm still going strong but am now only seeing more and more steps. The are people along the way stopping to rest and catch their breath while others are on their way down. I keep going and soon my pace starts to slow and I'm breath is like that of a and snorting bull! Wow, I think they meant 12 thousand steps! And who's idea was this anyway? While I'm not exactly speed walking my way up the stairs I am managing to keep going. I'm beginning to think there is no top. My T-shirt is soaked and sweat is dripping everywhere. I knew I should have brought a towel. I look up and see the stairs disappear into the trees and think, hey there is the top. Wrong! Just more stairs. Grabbing another big breath I climb the next set and then finally I see the top. 4 more flights and I've made it! Yahoo! I claim my prize, a view that stretches for miles and miles in all directions. Truly rewarding and amazing. The Buddha statue is quite large and stunning. I think to myself, how did they get all the materials and equipment up here to build this thing? Not only the statue but the concrete platform. That was one heck of a climb but I reached the top by 10:00 AM. By my math that is 15 minutes. I'm pleased with my conquest. Definitely one of the hardest physical things I've done in quite some time.<br />
Going down was easy but somewhat nerve racking as it is very steep and the steps were very narrow. It was like standing on the edge of the roof of a high rise and looking down. Vertigo! <br />
At the bottom Marie greeted me with water and we found a shady spot with a breeze so I could dry off. <br />
We then headed over to another set of stairs, OMG, but these were just a short climb up over a rim and down the other side into a jungle like area (about the size of two football fields) surrounded by high steep cliff walls. There was a pathway that took us around the perimeter allowing us too view the dwellings of the monks. Some were doors built into the cliff side and others were extremely small buildings. There were several caves and some old and interesting tree trunks and roots. A strange place which had me wondering how it came to be. We spotted a tortoise in the leaves. It was so well camouflaged that if it had not moved we never would have noticed it was there. It certainly is one of the lucky ones as it hasn't been noticed by.......well people who would enjoy the meal it would make! <br />
On our way out we noticed a group of Macaques clambering over the wire wall remnants of a cage, probably a cage that at one time was used to hold the tigers.<br />
<br />
Instead of,heading back to Krabi we thought we would head back to our old stomping grounds in Ao Nang. Trying to find a Songtaew heading to Ao Nang was another story. Everyone that stopped was heading to Krabi so in the end our destination became Krabi. Lol. Go with the flow, no point fighting the current. At the Krabi bus station we managed to get catch Songtaew that was going to Ao Nang, but not before going to Krabi. Too funny. At the main stop in Krabi our Songteaw quickly filled with travellers, including a couple from France lugging a couple of large suitcases. Within minutes of departing they realized the Songteaw was not taking them around the corner to their hotel. They rang the buzzer for the driver to stop, but did not get off. We tried to tell them we were heading to another town. The French man was very upset with his lady. He was content to lug their suitcase the 200 meters to their hotel but she wanted a ride. Well she got her wish for a ride only now they were going for a 30 minute ride to another town. Lol. It was kinda funny but also sad as he was so frustrated with her. There is a Krabi Resort in Ao Nang and that was what the driver understood was their destination, not the Krabi Riverfront Hotel in Krabi town. Another couple also passed their destination. I think the driver was having a bad day. In Thailand you must be very diligent to make sure they understand what you mean or want. Often they just smile and nod their head while saying "yes" when they have no clue what you want. I think they are trying to be polite and not offend anyone. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSIHkR5Qa6x4fCsVbKHvsUHzWOc6iRCr1dtKgDgtmBT21ARJTarbOKkla4_BMO6Y3Ul5zrDKQSijuKLT9kgh4ZECiGb161WipyWCAt8ZKklMzmAGx38rXZiS5HTNIl7tUzZSAo1qVafCD/s640/blogger-image-545410898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSIHkR5Qa6x4fCsVbKHvsUHzWOc6iRCr1dtKgDgtmBT21ARJTarbOKkla4_BMO6Y3Ul5zrDKQSijuKLT9kgh4ZECiGb161WipyWCAt8ZKklMzmAGx38rXZiS5HTNIl7tUzZSAo1qVafCD/s640/blogger-image-545410898.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRo9L1WbwJjHNDOggjRGLrUABPIY-sxrGeiNHBsrsY8EuDwrZruivlfs7K32tkq8JgllVUcpx14CvfRFJLXCFoLIX044stHagM_dkwz8j7KhyD22DvLG8v0THoMdodQjp9u11hvytjfjVS/s640/blogger-image-688129113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWzixUv9UgrHWBF1pKPlgbZPxnkM9B2fQ_voC8J7TmtC9RzZIZUm3bFa3hPYOQ-zCtIYTsKB_x_7D6Br8RG87wbedn0hubyIRuInRYl_qiX7EkBio8Ui30m2zlqLXu7xhFOtHEAIXny_c/s640/blogger-image--307185155.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-55621153015450389902013-02-18T21:46:00.001-08:002013-02-18T23:18:18.542-08:00Krabi TownOne of the few attractions in Krabi town is the Wat Kaew Temple. It is fairly new and situated on a hill overlooking the town towards the water. The rails of the concrete stairs are adorned by dragons. Inside the temple the walls are covered in beautiful artwork. The doors and shutters display intricate relief carvings. Sitting at the front of the temple is a magnificent Buddha. The photos explain the detail.<br />
On the landing before the Temple we were forced to step our way gingerly around a ferocious guard dog creating some very tense moments.<br />
While touring the town we were approached by three Muslim girls. At first we weren't sure what they wanted but it soon became clear they were surveying tourists as some sort of school project. They had a questionnaire that we had to fill out, describing our what we thought about Thailand. It was fun and after completing the questions they asked to take our photo. We also took a photo of the girls with Marie.<br />
The night market is only a block from our hotel, an obvious choice to go on the prowl for our dinner fare. As with all markets there were endless numbers of places to buy "fast food" to take with you or sit and one of the plastics tables for a quick meal. Some looked edible and even tasty while a lot made my stomach turn. The is always a smell of fish sauce in these markets, sometimes overpowered by the smell of sewer, which tends to disrupt ones dining experience. Lol. In spite of the varied odours we managed to eat some fried rice, certainly not one of our better meals. Check out the spicy condiment! That could hurt a guy! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8qBAkyj0n6sgBjPyuWYa_MxhOT0r7QfiU_NQrYv-ryy6bJvJRmXM-DPZP0Jo1sN5I2gL6cTnQuuZfAyd2lEVBoyOtZUlgmTPQh47yeqkm9mH55f6RZYA0GSPnUE9jf_27ZVIEJd0B7Ph/s640/blogger-image-1015137093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8qBAkyj0n6sgBjPyuWYa_MxhOT0r7QfiU_NQrYv-ryy6bJvJRmXM-DPZP0Jo1sN5I2gL6cTnQuuZfAyd2lEVBoyOtZUlgmTPQh47yeqkm9mH55f6RZYA0GSPnUE9jf_27ZVIEJd0B7Ph/s640/blogger-image-1015137093.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ8A61PBk97pqoGz3ZV5GdHAgFh_r_kIK-jAtV2yhZVCBc94sw-GTifQ5iEOgR9wuseCVw2xUSIXMgS62aU1rEibmS2yVgM5qXv8UI3tkyjaCFw0BDSOlm4Tvna30zP42-K4BlYkDKP0B7/s640/blogger-image--1333366926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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The bike had to be back by noon requiring some time management.<br />
Once the bike was gone we visited our other favourite spot, Monkey Bizness and while sitting there along came our chicken man. He drives a Tuk Tuk as a mobile kitchen with a BBQ on the back. That BBQ'd chicken legs are yummy! Add a serving of sticky rice and lunch is complete.<br />
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Early to rise in the AM, throw the last few items in the backpacks and away we go to meet our van. Talk about perfect timing, just as we arrive at the lobby the van driver gets out to grab our bags.<br />
A few stops later and the van is full, some German fellows crammed into the back seat. Surprised they fit. Lol. To get off the island we must make two ferry crossings, the first one lasted all of 5 minutes and the second as much as fifteen. The crossings are quick but we were told sometimes the lineups can create quite a lengthy wait time. Thankfully that was not the case. Within two hours the van was dropping us at our hotel.<br />
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While the morning started out like any other, by early afternoon the sky was patchy and overcast. We were enjoying our afternoon coffee when it actually started to spit a few drops of rain. Being that it was still relatively warm we scurried back to our room, put on our swim suits and headed to the beach to walk in the light rain. It hardly rained at all but was really nice to stroll along the beach with the sun tucked away behind the over cast sky. We stopped in at the Sunset Hotel to visit with a couple from Sweden and then headed back to our veranda to read. It is now 4:30 PM and the bluster has turned into an almost cold wind, causing Marie to wrap up in a towel trying to keep warm. I too am feeling the chill, especially after two days in the mid thirties.<br />
The last couple of days have been rather routine starting with our walk along the beach in the morning. After the beach we try to entertain ourselves by picking different places to breakfast or for coffee. I read of a restaurant cafe called "Peak" with good reviews for coffee and fresh baked breads. Having decided it was worth a try we jumped on the scooter and headed north. About a kilometre from our destination the scooter started to feel a bit wobbly, oh oh I thought, we are getting a flat. We pulled over and sure enough a low front tire. We started to look around at the shops to see if any of them had an air hose. I went I to a hardware store and after a few minutes of playing charades the woman directed me across the street. In this shop another lady came out with a hand pump, probably because my charade routine was me puckering my lips and blowing while moving my torso up and down with my arms straight, as if I was working a tire pump. lol <br />
The first lady (no not First Lady) was shouting at the second lady and then pointing to the shop next door. After much confusion I spotted a dirty yellow compressor sitting in front of a laundry shop. Next door was a mechanics shop with a lot of bikes around that looked like they needed a lot of TLC and some new parts. I pushed our scooter, now with a completely flat tire, (the tire was ready to roll off the rim) up to the compressor. The laundry lady, dressed in muslim garb, grabbed the air hose and proceeded to try and put air in our tire without much success. There didn't appear to be anyone in the mechanic shop and the only thing we could decipher, after more charades and a bit of strategic sign language, is the shop is closed. We just then remembered it is Sunday. OMG. Okay, we decided it was best to leave the scooter at the shop and they could fix it first thing in the morning. There just happened to be a phone number for the laundry shop on a sign out front. Our brilliant minds quickly realized it was probably in our best interest to remember where we were about to leave our scooter. Click, we took a picture of the number and shop name with our camera.<br />
Since our scooter failed us we were determined not to have the day be a total loss and walked to our original destination, the Peak Cafe. At least we could relax and unwind over a fantastic cup of coffee and some great home made bread. A rustic little cafe emitting the heavenly aroma of freshly baked bread. Yummy! We sat at a table and our hostess came out, not only to greet us but to crush our excitement. Bam! She told us "bread done for today", to which I stammered,<br />
"but I can smell it baking and it smells so good", taking an exaggerated a deep breath at the same time. She just smiled and said the bread was baking for tomorrow. Marie and I looked at each other and said, "ok let's just have a coffee". But that was not going to happen either. "No power", she said. What the heck, our day is jinxed. Defeated, the only thing left to do was tuck and curl our tails and head home.<br />
Back at our beach we stopped in to share the story of our adventure with the rental guy. He seemed unsure about our thoughts but when we assured him we were Okay about the incident, he called the number and within minutes had arranged for the tire to be fixed. The shop wasn't actually closed, the mechanic just went to town but would be back and could have the tire fixed by five. Two hundred and fifty baht later and we were mobile again.<br />
Next morning we decided breakfast at the German Bakery was a good idea. After carefully checking to make sure our tire was still fully inflated, we drove into town. Roughly 12 kilometres door to door, a pleasurable ride, rewarded with a scrumptious breakfast. We were lucky enough to get a table out front as the bakery can get very busy with almost no place to sit.<br />
Waiting for our breakfast we watched a lady pull up to the driveway. We thought she was going to turn in, however, instead of braking she suddenly accelerated, driving across the driveway and into the deep V ditch on the other side. The scooter dove into the ditch and she was catapulted in after it. OMG! The ditch was deep enough she disappeared from our sight. Several people, myself included, rushed over and thankfully, other than a few bumps and a bruised ego she was ok. The bike survived as well. This lady (probably in her 60's) is not the first tourist we've witnessed wiping out on their rented scooter. There are a lot of minor crashes/wipeouts mostly because a lot of the tourists have no experience whatsoever on a motorbike. The evidence are the bandaged knees, elbows, hands, and even faces, some displaying scrapes and others limping about. A common error is turning the throttle instead of applying the brake.<br />
The fellow in pink on his pink bike, we thought, was very fashionable and worthy of a place on our blog.<br />
We ventured south one more time to roam the beach in the bay and stop in at a couple of places we spotted on our last ride. The photo of the beach was taken from a small shanty restaurant built on stilts allowing it to hang out over the cliff and look down to the beach.<br />
We also wandered up a side road, just to see where it went, and ended up at a spectacular resort. Baan Kan Tiang See Villa Resort is more than amazing. Situated on the crest of a hill with an infinite view are several very attractive and comfortable two bedroom villas, complete with kitchens and living rooms. A very inviting infinity pool is in the middle of the villas. A mere 7000 baht per night ( divide by 30 for Canadian currency). <br />
The last place I wish to mention is called The Drunken Sailor, a cafe with food in Ba Thiang. It is a very cozy atmosphere with the bean bag or hammock chairs. 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Marie and I both were quite impressed by the Thom Yam soup and Pad Thai we shared. So much so, in fact, that I asked to meet the cook, a local gal by the name of Louis. Louis had agreed to teach me how to cook the two dishes so here I was ready to go.<br />
The kitchen is relatively small, three burners for cooking, a sink for clean up, a fridge, a cooler, small counter space and a lot of spices and ingredients for the dishes on the menu.<br />
She gathered up some garlic and a shallot, placed them on a cutting board and handed me a clever. I smashed the garlic, diced it up and did the same to the shallot. Louis handed me a quartered cabbage and told me to cut two slices. The other ingredients for the Pad Thai were already portioned and prepared; sliced carrot, bean sprouts, green onion, some sort of salted pickled vegetable matter and the ground peanuts and all spices.<br />
With the small sized wok shaped pan on the burner she poured in a huge swig of corn oil. Yikes! I didn't realize there was that much oil in Pad Thai, at least a quarter of a cup. I try to use as little oil as possible when I cook but here they all use liberal amounts, nothing ever sticks in a pan. LOL. Remember my stories about the fried eggs, ugh! Anyways, the oil got hot quickly and she threw in the garlic, shallots and carrot slices cooking them for about thirty seconds then adding a handful of cubed raw chicken. Next came sweet chilli sauce, Thai chilli paste, splash of fish sauce, sugar(everything here gets sugar), the salted pickled stuff and some of the crushed peanuts. Stir it all around cooking the chicken. Louis put a handful of white rice noodles in the pan, added a splash of water ( needed to soften the noodles) and mixed the works. She cracked an egg onto the side of the pan letting it cook for a bit before stirring it into the mixture as well. Throw in the bean sprouts and voila, put it on a plate. She dressed the plate with some garnishes and it was ready to serve. The whole process took around 5-6 minutes to cook. I always wondered how they could serve the dishes so quickly.<br />
I had expected the broth for the soup was prepared earlier but Louis said she makes it all from scratch. Well sort of, out comes the bag of chicken stock powder (cheater) and 2 big tsps go into about two cups of water. Bring to a boil and throw in all of the pre-prepared vegetables; onion, baby corn, galangal slices and lemon grass. Add chicken, juice of lemon and lime and chilli paste to taste. Now her secret ingredient, condensed milk, about 3 tbsp (it's sweet so you don't need sugar). When the chicken is cooked add bean sprouts and tomato wedges. Cook briefly and pour into a dish. Marie and I always ask for a side order of the white, rice noodles and add them to our soup.<br />
Dishes complete we chowed down our creations. Just as tasty as the first time! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe20R0adROSM14VHrZEP_cW_-nlujqq0WoWUZxDr_qL4dTUOWjIbEV_xrueZY5jh1gKFu0Rf7u_1kUilobNCMMDm9YCBIPabzVdL1kLxbwnQKBoK-_7hXqtXoejYSm22SH2MWY_0_xR0_/s640/blogger-image--417925935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe20R0adROSM14VHrZEP_cW_-nlujqq0WoWUZxDr_qL4dTUOWjIbEV_xrueZY5jh1gKFu0Rf7u_1kUilobNCMMDm9YCBIPabzVdL1kLxbwnQKBoK-_7hXqtXoejYSm22SH2MWY_0_xR0_/s640/blogger-image--417925935.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH68hStWfHzwo10GibEel35c4Kq3Mo-qCfkeUUZOUKctIe3bW2aZ0OZ5ARthurG5LZ4xuq6D0ovMsDkfQAtQNjUFZwdcdamrdUtvr4mkNT8i1bg8e5tOBwUjEgfkrCBIe3Cquz8g3n6Xv1/s640/blogger-image--615635707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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We are beginning to like touring on this bike. Not the most powerful of the beasts but it gets us up most of the hills. At a whopping 35 km average speed, Al Unser I am not, but we do get around and do get to see the sights. This side of the island definitely exceeds the other side in beautiful panoramic vistas, interesting beaches and quaint villages. A long and windy road (sounds like a song) with a lot of hills making our motor chug as we climbed and then idle as we coasted down the other side. Up one hill there was a pull out with several parked bikes and a pickup truck unloading water. Curious as we are we pulled off and parked. There was a steep path leading down to a secluded beach and a shack made out of drift wood advertising itself as a restaurant, like something from a Robinson Crusoe movie.<br />
We stopped at the turn off to the waterfall and elephant tour. There we noticed the elephant station with a mounting platform and an elephant next to it tethered by a chain around his ankle. He was saddle and ready for customers. There were a group of tourists feeding he elephant pineapple and fruit. Sadly he elephant had a very sore looking open wound on his trunk. On e hill behind the platform was another elephant, with two large tusks, feeding on some long large leaves. He grabbed them in his trunk and then would swing his trunk around mashing the leaves. We assumed it was to break them up so they were easier to eat. A few meters up the road was another elephant, enjoying a bath by his handler with a hose.<br />
We weren't interested in riding an elephant as we have heard a lot of stories about them being mistreated. <br />
Back on the bike and we continued along the road. We came across several very scenic viewpoints, stopping to take pictures. At the end of the road was the gate to the National Park. Here it cost 200 baht per person to enter. Marie asked if we whether or not would be able to see much wildlife. The lady said we might be able to see some monkeys, the Macaques. There is a hiking path which is supposed to take an hour to complete the loop. Earlier, Marie had talked to a gal that did the hike and she said there is virtually no wildlife but the area is quite nice. Being the thermometer was again creeping towards 35 C, we opted to head back to one of the viewpoints for a refreshment. <br />
We pulled into the Noonn Sunset Lounge, a restaurant with three separate gazebos perched upon the side of the cliff over looking the sea. The view was stunning and more! The pictures speak for themselves. A refreshing breeze made it easy to sit and enjoy our lunch. It was so relaxing we were reluctant to leave.<br />
A short distance along the road down the hill were two more restaurants, one with several small bamboo gazebos on the edge of the hill and the other made of rustic wood was itself on the edge. 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The only thing holding us up was trying to find a scooter rental place with big sized helmets, for Moi. We gave up the other bike because I had to ride without a helmet, which made me uncomfortable, not just because they have helmet laws (which most of the time are never enforced) but because a lot of the young people here drive like maniacs. This is our third morning searching and I'm so frustrated I could spit! In and out of endless scooter rental places, when Marie spotted one we hadn't checked for helmets. Just as the last 30 times I went in and started trying on all the lids. Imagine my surprise when one actually sort of fit. OMG! Marie grabbed the helmet, prepared to fight to the death to keep it! LOL. Plus one helmet, minus one bike. Hmmm. The guy said most of the bikes were gone but showed me one he had available. Yikes, what a beater! Before renting I learned to check the tires, brakes and basic condition. This one had tires, bald ones; it had brakes, well almost; and the basic condition was, well lets just say basic. Aside from a couple of deficiencies the only thing wrong with it was the front brake lever was bent (somebody obviously dropped the bike) and it did not work. I graciously declined the bike, of course our guy was eager to rent us a scooter so after a quick cell phone call we walked across the road to look at another. This one, although well used, appeared to be in reliable shape, had good rubber and working brakes. After the paper work was complete and my passport relinquished as a security deposit, we were set to go. Marie was getting fitted for a helmet so I took mine from her hand and was horrified when it didn't fit. OMG, what the heck. Marie laughed at me and pointed to the one outside on the bench, "that's yours". Each with a helmet securely fastened, we were finally ready to start our adventure.<br />
We mounted our trusty motorized steed and headed west to the other side of the island. The road was paved, the traffic very light and the scenery infinite. We wound our way along he blacktop enjoying the landscape of gentle hills covered in trees and acreage plots with houses along the roadside. We came to a steep windy hill which delivered us to the intersection of the highway heading south which more or less followed the coast.<br />
Old Town is small, basically a main street lined by the sea front shops on one side and more shops on the other. The buildings are a mix between old and new with a lot of restaurants and souvenir/clothing shops. We walked through several shops to the pier restaurants on the other side and in one where several other tourists were sitting we decided to stay and have a Thai soup. After our quick bite we wandered about the shops. The sun was sitting high and we were getting cooked. Very hot today!<br />
Driving to the south end of the town our attention was drawn to a Fish pond in front of a small boutique cafe called Shanti Shanti run by a young man from France. We parked the scooter and as we often do we left our helmets on just to have a quick peek. A very distinct French accent sounded out, "come in come in, have a look around", "Take off your helmet zee sky will not fall". It was quite funny and our host was interesting. While Marie was browsing the clothes on the racks I snooped around at the menu and the kitchen through a small opening in the wall. The French man, Luke I think, was enjoying a freshly made crepe, the fragrance still lingering in the air and along with the aroma of an espresso, the thought of having the same was very inviting. Okay, this guy is not playing fair! On the other side of the kitchen was a small deck extending out over the ocean. It didn't take much to convince Marie it was time for our afternoon coffee. We sat on the mats on the floor, sipped our cappuccinos and nibble on our delightful crepe while gazing out over the ocean. A specialty of the cafe is homemade ice cream and sorbets. Luke gave us a sample, quite delicious!<br />
Thoroughly spoilt we got back on the scooter to head further south to a "Gypsy Village". After several kilometres we stopped at a restaurant (no not to eat again) on a viewpoint, just long enough to snap a few pictures and continue on. We found the gypsy village, a small stretch of town on the edge of the sea. Not much here so being that the sun would soon be setting we decided to head back. Just before town we stopped at the market for some limes, mangosteens and mangos. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDkSDlbdALle6Bl1XdHiBfB7xiKnUqBCUUIiU1yX1bloQe3-i3ehGuKBaLYAgETZy0mqaqetp0pV1tbS8h96JaJotCZ82Wq906cny-zJTLrFa9zMmNsnLFcsFQFDCtXg-IpX8Z2R3j4-M/s640/blogger-image-1974118759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDkSDlbdALle6Bl1XdHiBfB7xiKnUqBCUUIiU1yX1bloQe3-i3ehGuKBaLYAgETZy0mqaqetp0pV1tbS8h96JaJotCZ82Wq906cny-zJTLrFa9zMmNsnLFcsFQFDCtXg-IpX8Z2R3j4-M/s640/blogger-image-1974118759.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhE1M3ydTmSlUCYjWegsF3VTT8wqcOp2nrMt-lyWVdzlgKVk_A3vWxQ5x6zt8rtGrhyphenhyphen9TvJ-h46dLBjQ-NmzZeria6yO-bJ6qRNT1wIEynlt233OehjxDPWF1ib5JDdzY4c6tGGsilDjRd/s640/blogger-image-1881252452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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Sitting on our veranda is nice and relaxing, perfect to sit and read a book, play some cards or write on the blog and avoid the heat of the afternoon. <br />
Yesterday we power walked our beach in the morning, stopping every so often to dip in the crystal clear sea. No harsh waves here, just a gentle lapping at the sand. We started early to avoid get blasted by the hot sun, temperatures reaching to the mid thirties and beyond. After our walk it was breakfast on the veranda, then time to read. The thing about getting lost in a good book is that time has no consequence, leaving the reader oblivious to the passing minutes, hours, words, and chapters.<br />
We aren't sure what brought us back to reality, but a quick glance at Marie's watch confirmed we had been reading most of the day. Time for another beach walk and dip. With the sun easing its way to the horizon we decided to sit. Perched on the sand, about 10 meters from the waters edge, in front of a beachfront pub, it was only natural to order up a pint for me and juice for Marie.<br />
Refreshments in hand we sat in awe of the paradise around us. We spotted an eagle above us, riding the spiral of the thermals, exposing the reddish brown underside of the expanse of its wings. A beautiful bird, still close enough to display his white hooded head and curved bill, floating effortlessly above the sea. Rising higher and higher eventually just a silhouette against the bright blue sky spotted with wispy thin vapours of cloud. We lay back on he beach staring upwards at the vast blue expanse, lost in the tranquility of the moment. Sitting up we embraced the colours of the setting sun sliding down over the horizon a canvas of yellows, oranges and reds with a slight brownish hue. A pair of swallows were flitting about, catching bugs in mid flight. Truly a spectacular setting!<br />
With empty drinks and a retired sun our thoughts were brought back to one of our true passions, FOOD. Where to eat? What do you/I feel like having tonight? These have become seemingly difficult questions. There are a multitude of restaurants, but not all have equally gifted chefs. We have found our "favourite spots" which we frequent however our taste buds still seem to crave trying something. Strangely enough, and against logic, we have experienced the best food from the small, out of the way, cheap restaurant. The fancier, beachfront locals have not impressed our palates. Number one on our list so far is "The Hut", a restaurant off the main road and associated to low budget accommodations. A simple menu but fantastic food!<br />
Another favourite is Monkey Bizness. I'm sure I've mentioned this one before. The only negative is its on the main road so the traffic buzzes by the tables. Even though we go for our cappuccinos , and recently tried something called "Dukkah". An Egyptian delight, a mixture of spices and nuts accompanied by a variety of toasted bread and olive oil. Dip the bread in the oil and dab the spice, Yum Yum. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh60NFeYBBcojqMPh4sdZLTLVxdTX1NtoMMrxsAuN4vMjhfS-Fy1MagP1eFNCbhed8idUtRYkJcP3xhcPXVIEr_9OAiPnnNtHz8ZWNs2ViI_Me5eFMuArhJeLWp1Pr-CQgNPTD5NJNClO4/s640/blogger-image--144827480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh60NFeYBBcojqMPh4sdZLTLVxdTX1NtoMMrxsAuN4vMjhfS-Fy1MagP1eFNCbhed8idUtRYkJcP3xhcPXVIEr_9OAiPnnNtHz8ZWNs2ViI_Me5eFMuArhJeLWp1Pr-CQgNPTD5NJNClO4/s640/blogger-image--144827480.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQBWY2rdlLS-DLhBL8HzvbmtUVzI5MlGLzVinSO0wLV_gbF6xFgLIgAoXcEmwNTPZ8TcWr4KAAryZrYErf_G3dADllRvcw8ceYVFjd90XM4B1vIhi6BAKYSDOMAoXcOX3FUrRAFgb-P2Mq/s640/blogger-image--343719253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQBWY2rdlLS-DLhBL8HzvbmtUVzI5MlGLzVinSO0wLV_gbF6xFgLIgAoXcEmwNTPZ8TcWr4KAAryZrYErf_G3dADllRvcw8ceYVFjd90XM4B1vIhi6BAKYSDOMAoXcOX3FUrRAFgb-P2Mq/s640/blogger-image--343719253.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVhXp2COLJ3NcOmEIukzhLiTxishs8VdTInOCRvI8B-zMcHxpDRgTBQ2BDYegplhzyhnAJpQ9PCX7QPuGnGdPT_1jKT8ZXcoZ0TBLDjs0avDQCwXl39I7U37xITL4Q-m_7lTIHkKFl3B1/s640/blogger-image--1845552362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVhXp2COLJ3NcOmEIukzhLiTxishs8VdTInOCRvI8B-zMcHxpDRgTBQ2BDYegplhzyhnAJpQ9PCX7QPuGnGdPT_1jKT8ZXcoZ0TBLDjs0avDQCwXl39I7U37xITL4Q-m_7lTIHkKFl3B1/s640/blogger-image--1845552362.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0xvcdkVWIRR4SyDm1Oy5Rlk0Uw4lTaizhlh_AkVprEq55EpT3Mvx4eNmP66fFqLlj14VSyVbiPbLanOu7Z4vMgj7TKzNzTswTVwECnav3OsBBZgnifeKuo7Pqg2K0MegJQUCqnf0zI90/s640/blogger-image-242759532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0xvcdkVWIRR4SyDm1Oy5Rlk0Uw4lTaizhlh_AkVprEq55EpT3Mvx4eNmP66fFqLlj14VSyVbiPbLanOu7Z4vMgj7TKzNzTswTVwECnav3OsBBZgnifeKuo7Pqg2K0MegJQUCqnf0zI90/s640/blogger-image-242759532.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JrwX72UBohqx_CIGiNn7sB3H11Eo87kfSEwWMg3TM0wabubNWP1XrNUH3IekpgNOoPw26V2Q_d68vSaUv5Owo93c4Ju41mfQNu7f0JZrM71jWCnCLLT7GgG-TVJJhhr9cxFCm8l6lQrV/s640/blogger-image-1499542926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JrwX72UBohqx_CIGiNn7sB3H11Eo87kfSEwWMg3TM0wabubNWP1XrNUH3IekpgNOoPw26V2Q_d68vSaUv5Owo93c4Ju41mfQNu7f0JZrM71jWCnCLLT7GgG-TVJJhhr9cxFCm8l6lQrV/s640/blogger-image-1499542926.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivcAbW-6I_3RqPqYyYlw276nHzJ20mXkBHkk4bsNb2S4c0HXEEiSW97A7JY1y0Y4bpDTdTwZMigt2s2GIxvcvdSwVf6FbLOmEAJ9ZglFIsKgfRESZmJ1jFcSZzqMj-CUW1teTJP16uwo8g/s640/blogger-image-1435731893.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivcAbW-6I_3RqPqYyYlw276nHzJ20mXkBHkk4bsNb2S4c0HXEEiSW97A7JY1y0Y4bpDTdTwZMigt2s2GIxvcvdSwVf6FbLOmEAJ9ZglFIsKgfRESZmJ1jFcSZzqMj-CUW1teTJP16uwo8g/s640/blogger-image-1435731893.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-62482919443261322802013-02-02T05:45:00.001-08:002013-02-02T07:05:23.838-08:00February 2nd. Remembering the German BakeryToday started with our first walk on Klong Nin beach. There two young boys collecting shiners, probably to use as bait, as we saw them on the walk back on a longtail boat. Low tide exposed some very beautiful rock/coral formations. Budget breakfast in our room, muesli and milk and then off to town on the bike. We had hoped our rental spot had located a bigger helmet for me but no such luck. Onwards to Saladan for the German bakery. Never give up! We ended up almost at the pier before we realized we must have passed the bakery. Man! Turned around and headed back, sure enough, there it was in all it's glory the tables and chairs full with customers. A young girl sitting by herself, Emily, graciously let us join her at her table. We bellied up to the glass cases displaying all the baked creations, licking our lips and salivating with the anticipation of how divinely the cake was going to please our taste buds! Two cappuccinos complimented the apple cake quite nicely. With the cake devoured we focused our attention to the girl typing away on her computer. She was from Florida but works as a financial account manager in Beijing, where she also had studied Mandarin for five years. I am always amazed by the people we meet. I love their adventurous ambitions! <br />
With our treasure, two very fresh croissants, safely stashed away in the compartment under the seat of our bike we headed back. Later, in the mid afternoon we took our treasure to a nearby cafe, Monkey Bizness, and savoured our second order of cappuccinos for the day. Usually it is only one coffee in the morning but today being such a special day, having conquered our quest of locating the infamous German Bakery, we felt we could justify a second sitting of sampling some roasted beans. A Thai coffee and a Laos coffee, actually two quite distinct flavours. In the Monkey Bizness Marie was reading a glossy tourists guide booklet and in it was the Neanderthal cartoon you see below. <br />
Searching for a place for a bite for dinner brought us into a place called the Roundhouse. There was a lady sitting by the bar so I asked her if she was eating there; I usually ask people in the restaurants if they are enjoying the food and where they're from to get a feel for whether or not we should try the menu. She replied that they are from Belgium and she with her husband, literally, just purchased the hotel and restaurant, the finalization just today. She was having "buyers remorse", wondering if they had made the right decision. We decided to stay and yes the food was delicious. More of the same but different, yellow coconut curry with noodles and chicken and a chicken curry with rice. Free wifi to work on the blog, a big Chang beer for the author and a beautiful sunset to keep our photographer entranced made for a perfect evening.<br />
The lights you see on the horizon are from all the boats fishing at night. The ones searching for squid have green lights. Mark said it was the same when they first started vacationing here ten years ago. <br />
The web site for the Roundhouse has some very nice photos of the area. http://www.lantaroundhouse.com/ <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1viCgD5FpxXj1yYcQen4v2bMK3JT7A9U2J4v40F9FNdNhHy8X-X1zpesdZ3_2wjCugk58kAfs_VUbES7LQcykpR7nj6GvU_V0Wg4F_CHLGMnEdzHpOuFzrcFr_N42UpSZt-XfptARdmp/s640/blogger-image--1188394550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1viCgD5FpxXj1yYcQen4v2bMK3JT7A9U2J4v40F9FNdNhHy8X-X1zpesdZ3_2wjCugk58kAfs_VUbES7LQcykpR7nj6GvU_V0Wg4F_CHLGMnEdzHpOuFzrcFr_N42UpSZt-XfptARdmp/s640/blogger-image--1188394550.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0sL9F0zMFPSUSvqRexeuBBIQ-YBQ6XOnqc_KB7qPcztOaNCUy2ugUl7DB06fPQQumBSldyBAMLEHDMzqyA-KnPifv7k_xrUo9YvUqrECX3RUxRg1aBN1LIYaMakykn1JmCcx9m_DuS3L/s640/blogger-image--1316090942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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Three years old already! OMG. Hard to believe, the time passes so quickly. Wish we were there to celebrate with her and the family. Miss you guys a lot! HAPPY BIRTHDAY. <br />
Most of our day was spent enjoying the porch of our hotel reading a book. Lunch was at another roadside stand about 3 km from home.<br />
For the evening we headed over to the Sunset Resort to watch the sunset. We met Lotta, our Swedish lady and her husband Robert. Lotta introduced us to a the other annual vacationers that visit the Sunset Resort. Susan and Mark from the lower mainland by Vancouver, Lil from Denmark, Frederick and family from Sweden, and another Swedish couple of whom I am guilty of not remembering their names. We sat and visited for several hours, much to my delight. Marie took some nice photos of the beach. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln-WZDQ1UIknBk2kjkD-dNVZY4YSGx1u5BN-qD_wThJiE1qyJcl2DIAbCKHvO3jFZef25v_BJiPeJIx5BZNpIb3RWCpZMH0mICdXBFTJK4ckSrT-9DfNH-W3SXYWusJzyixbSpWQuJlAG/s640/blogger-image-1667896446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln-WZDQ1UIknBk2kjkD-dNVZY4YSGx1u5BN-qD_wThJiE1qyJcl2DIAbCKHvO3jFZef25v_BJiPeJIx5BZNpIb3RWCpZMH0mICdXBFTJK4ckSrT-9DfNH-W3SXYWusJzyixbSpWQuJlAG/s640/blogger-image-1667896446.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJQNIV_FeTr3eK2vMRARiBojULyphyphenhyphen8DlRTQvV_p7etU4d5iCDGNA7NuxhIgzHMnAXuEyfORDOA9nxaViaiy-YHXIBdTBMdZqn9_J7-Zm1iERsWSeaJY4v1MoErGIpozVZyP5dL-9ciNY/s640/blogger-image--450815936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwQx5Zhqfb_rP1ynfiAAjIiLml43oMiosTEoIkjMULPgRd6rbD61oHqcHChzh0gKy7wAplIpewVeE-VBtkf5fig311PFWn4NHQvhJQx91oaMejwV-37fQcHOkBPyE3hKmAHwz6hxTopJp/s640/blogger-image-2140527496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwQx5Zhqfb_rP1ynfiAAjIiLml43oMiosTEoIkjMULPgRd6rbD61oHqcHChzh0gKy7wAplIpewVeE-VBtkf5fig311PFWn4NHQvhJQx91oaMejwV-37fQcHOkBPyE3hKmAHwz6hxTopJp/s640/blogger-image-2140527496.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-6917152100409664202013-02-02T04:04:00.001-08:002013-02-02T06:02:33.083-08:00New home, White RockOur scooter from the day before was gone so after negotiating with a lady across the road we started on our quest to find a more economical hotel, preferably with a pool. Koh Lanta has a lot of named beaches, from north to south Klong Dao, Phra Ae, Klong Khong (across from hotel Lanta Just Come) and Klong Nin our destination because it is supposed to be free of rock/dead coral. We viewed several beach front hotels/resorts and the nice ones at a reasonable price didn't have vacancies while the expensive or not so nice did have rooms. We opted for a nice bungalow amongst palm trees in a garden like setting and pool with a view of the hills and trees. I would have said jungle but that is long gone.<br />
We also asked around about bicycle and scooter rentals, with bikes being almost as expensive as the scooter. In the end the best deal was the one we had, typical for sure! Only problem is none of the rental outfits carry a helmet to fit my fat size 8 head. LOL. And NO it's not that I have corners, "square head", is just a term. Hopefully they find me a helmet size XL. Marie has the opposite problem, most of the helmets are too big. On top of that, the one she chose unknowingly, was full of ants. Neither of us noticed until the next day when we stopped in at the rental outfit to see if they had a bigger helmet. The lady got excited when she noticed the tiny ants crawling about Marie's hair. So that's why her head was so itchy. LOL!<br />
We were hungry and driving by a lot of eateries not knowing whether or not we should chance a stop. Rule of thumb for us (and seemingly other tourists) if you see a tourist seemingly enjoying a meal then it's probably a good place to stop. In other words tourists attract other tourists. We spotted a gal eating in a nice, clean and tidy looking road side place so we pulled in to see what is on the menu. We stayed, on her advice, and enjoyed a vegetarian Pad Thai and glass noodle soup. Cheap and delicious!<br />
Leaving our hotel we met a couple from France, the fellow, a very interesting musician. He had an instrument we had never before seen, called a "Space Drum". He bought it in France for a $1000 and waited 7 months to have it made. It took him around a month to learn how to play. A great sound. Too bad I could not post the video. We checked google which took us to YouTube but the artists were not as good as this guy.<br />
We hauled our backpacks with our rented scooter, two trips, to our new home.<br />
The pictures of the Sunset Restaurant is a place across the road and two doors south of our hotel. We checked this place out on the word of the Swedish lady Marie was talking to on the boat ride from Krabi. We saw her there and she introduced us to the owner. Marie decided the rooms were a bit too dark so we stuck with our choice of the White Rock. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BsRAJjlx-ey-j6GtU5x5HcvRtDCmid53BfBJmqcTEEyyoTQ78ywsT6iBCrmLrOah9cBW2C9FR21P_tEfRGFIty2RLS-QZWqVeIgcuMh_pxCWgNyjzy4XDVGzMqA72i4Pqanrj3AAPjyl/s640/blogger-image-778944255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BsRAJjlx-ey-j6GtU5x5HcvRtDCmid53BfBJmqcTEEyyoTQ78ywsT6iBCrmLrOah9cBW2C9FR21P_tEfRGFIty2RLS-QZWqVeIgcuMh_pxCWgNyjzy4XDVGzMqA72i4Pqanrj3AAPjyl/s640/blogger-image-778944255.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqcVXzwa4qEW1nLvJEP6sOfzTLHcyVT-OE7UGq31GGZQnH8DghQIdNPyGHMaquKt1mZ6ywCq3EsLnj4NP0RdgEY8yr4EF7XZW_1ScmnBvnYvFpLPH6EBwJb7xccfWZAVhwQtmDnN5RsKH/s640/blogger-image--142806162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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It is off the main road by about a km, a nice rural type setting. Hey it's Thailand, a guys gotta see the Muay Thai, let some of my testosterone run wild.<br />
After seeing the gym we headed back as the deadline to return the scooter was 10:30 AM. <br />
W spent the better part of the rest of the day at the beach, reading, sunning, dipping and repeat as needed. It was a lazy day so for the evening I had this brain storm the we should walk to the German Bakery we had heard so much about, for a treat. Off we went, me oblivious to the ensuing darkness, especially the stretches of the road without lighting, and Marie grumbling along the way. After several kilometres it struck me that this was probably one of those exercises of futility so when a Tuk Tuk driven by a Muslim Lady came by and turned to follow us, asking if we need a taxi I buckled, much to Marie's delight, and negotiated a ride to the bakery and back to our hotel. No, I am not a tyrant forcing by beautiful wife to walk along dark roads! We actually agreed to an evening walk before dinner, it just was more than expected and a lot darker.<br />
Our Muslim lady obviously was sent by our guardian angel as the bakery was a lot further, probably 6 kilometres further, than we had anticipated from the info we got from some other tourists. The final insult being that the bakery was CLOSED! Our saviour took us back to our hotel, me very humble the entire way.<br />
We stopped into a restaurant just before the hotel. We actually were in this for lunch. It has only been open for 17 days, opened by a Swiss man and his Thai wife. Previously they were in Chang Mai, but after two consecutive seasons of floods they decided to move south. At lunch we were treated to several samples of exotic fruit we had never experienced as well as interesting Thai appetizers. At supper after another excellent meal our hostess showed decorative carving of fruit for a great presentation. She told us the fruit art was part of her food studies, nutritional food, at the university. She was extremely friendly and with our interest eager to show some of the tricks of her trade. She offers cooking classes so perhaps it was a way of peaking our interest. Nonetheless it was fun. We sampled "Sapa" the red spiky fruit, rice with red grape left to ferment for three days, and the carved up pineapple. Also a tapioca and bean paste in banana leaf. All very unique and tasty.<br />
A sign at the hotel pretty much explains ownership of these businesses is 51% for the Thai women and only 49% for their foreign spouses. <br />
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We went with a Tuk Tuk towards Saladan to locate the gym. Actually, we were looking for the Muay Thai gym. The driver dropped us at the fitness centre and we soon learned there were two gyms, this one with weights and machines for fitness and the other for training in Muay Thai. We over shot the Muay Thai gym by about three kilometres. Perhaps a good thing as weights I was familiar with, Muay Thai not really.<br />
We saw a small side road which led us to a community of beach shacks along he ocean. Some were called resorts. A nice area, mostly a lot of youth in their 20's. We met a gal from Sweden and asked her how she liked the area (remember we were looking for a long term stay). She told us about the place and also that she was staying here with her Thai boyfriend. We asked her if she was heading back to Sweden to which she replied she now has a nine Month old baby with her unemployed Thai boyfriend. We wished her well and headed back to the main road. We came across a roadside food stand where a Thai guy (hey it rhymes) had a pot full of boiling soup broth.<br />
Check out all the smudge marks on the glass where the noodles are kept. Yuck! We decided to give it a try and ordered up chicken soup with glass noodles. It was quite tasty and for 40 baht did a good job of satisfying Marie's hunger for Thai food. Full we took another Tuk Tuk home. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQiTR0TZ1zWKZKOFRzacJGivy4GubBpCw1vI-ueI8fDqFF2zowZ7_RCFUMpFo3Io3TQGWfttYPC5on4IlgcrTx3iZ2LFjv8IEusIJAM7fBSKNXQW90273VgBe8x6WDIysnQmrI9X39E0X/s640/blogger-image-1804030611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQiTR0TZ1zWKZKOFRzacJGivy4GubBpCw1vI-ueI8fDqFF2zowZ7_RCFUMpFo3Io3TQGWfttYPC5on4IlgcrTx3iZ2LFjv8IEusIJAM7fBSKNXQW90273VgBe8x6WDIysnQmrI9X39E0X/s640/blogger-image-1804030611.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVjdmdF45AiubLDeSUyC3EL9r0c60go2EbLehgMvGnQPq0Ao-i-i_j4IPv62e6qHrhBDjzMZIxp0nl3WnluWcfdogAxL5-rHf80NsbykIvY3YTrp9Y2LoqWj5gXhuiXYYZI0aJj_d7och/s640/blogger-image-1992673210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLVjdmdF45AiubLDeSUyC3EL9r0c60go2EbLehgMvGnQPq0Ao-i-i_j4IPv62e6qHrhBDjzMZIxp0nl3WnluWcfdogAxL5-rHf80NsbykIvY3YTrp9Y2LoqWj5gXhuiXYYZI0aJj_d7och/s640/blogger-image-1992673210.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskoo9CRWh26e8sHetoUj__a_pGYsFMs7eVi15inUXP7-S42l7kHOJ50ebyfY0BmWFhGGoTlqlHXwyV_JYKCZpY9PdRWexTuoq_T0FTRsExyFT21PIm7lOvtvcVE4XdzT-pl7UbtCL6nI3/s640/blogger-image--780744404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskoo9CRWh26e8sHetoUj__a_pGYsFMs7eVi15inUXP7-S42l7kHOJ50ebyfY0BmWFhGGoTlqlHXwyV_JYKCZpY9PdRWexTuoq_T0FTRsExyFT21PIm7lOvtvcVE4XdzT-pl7UbtCL6nI3/s640/blogger-image--780744404.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvLzJHjrok2xHh8KZUbSgdOkH0igxdNFnC4u9jJJ6oPzzVExYlzM9_5EgSWO2gyayIGbWOmztd0oqpwHnqqEolm0A19a9QsZJE73ULnM9FQAZA_R_20qVJzjZcG3BvytCwVfd5QgtjnLY/s640/blogger-image-771638362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvLzJHjrok2xHh8KZUbSgdOkH0igxdNFnC4u9jJJ6oPzzVExYlzM9_5EgSWO2gyayIGbWOmztd0oqpwHnqqEolm0A19a9QsZJE73ULnM9FQAZA_R_20qVJzjZcG3BvytCwVfd5QgtjnLY/s640/blogger-image-771638362.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYV1HqrfNTkpUMuVxiyP0NdNpGGjbwnSGjSEY0yTWa_6JiUSGEr_4z7p-Q-f21cXW3K-FOT7AFCz3Rf1BxenRQtmWo0LKlnhXQ_kdcsA9N21P-XGS0J1K_jsvySa4MzpH1T9FI4OcrFuw/s640/blogger-image-837449030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYV1HqrfNTkpUMuVxiyP0NdNpGGjbwnSGjSEY0yTWa_6JiUSGEr_4z7p-Q-f21cXW3K-FOT7AFCz3Rf1BxenRQtmWo0LKlnhXQ_kdcsA9N21P-XGS0J1K_jsvySa4MzpH1T9FI4OcrFuw/s640/blogger-image-837449030.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnFQA9dqyRgbH1sdA9JaQHBosa81dLUGQgmARl1RKAanTrRGjs3wQtC8DtWf2WNvQ5e2NEgJctUA0IUv1yqUN_Q0_yRbMksQv6MvCucjDFCNQmscxn2UEm1lmqNGHdErFgTdN3AdVrCt4/s640/blogger-image--1254461360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnFQA9dqyRgbH1sdA9JaQHBosa81dLUGQgmARl1RKAanTrRGjs3wQtC8DtWf2WNvQ5e2NEgJctUA0IUv1yqUN_Q0_yRbMksQv6MvCucjDFCNQmscxn2UEm1lmqNGHdErFgTdN3AdVrCt4/s640/blogger-image--1254461360.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-43276463266392398282013-02-01T06:17:00.001-08:002013-02-01T06:20:31.090-08:00Moving to Koh LantaJan 29th and we are heading to Koh Lanta. We are on a good size boat along with a hundred or so other travellers. The boat is two levels, of course everyone wants the upper level for the view. We were directed below but that only lasted until the ship was underway as we also wanted to smell the sea air and have a view. We stood on the rear deck with a bunch of other travellers. Marie was into a conversation with a gal from England so I headed up to the front and sat with a small group on a small planked area of the bow. It was very breezy to say the least, but the air was warm, the sun was shining and the views were spectacular. The bow rode the waters gentle waves,moving up and down ever so slightly, every once in a while meeting a wave that would spray over the bow soaking us with salty water. It actually was rather refreshing.<br />
Two hours at sea and we made land. At the pier we were greeted by an anxious flock of drivers each eager to get our attention, offering a ride to our hotel. Most were asking a lot more than we were told a ride should cost, so we turned down one after another, soon nearing the end of the gauntlet where we agreed to a ride for a more appropriate fee.<br />
We arrived at our hotel, "Lanta Just Come" meeting our host, Rob (an Aussie), his wife Mem (local) and their daughter Stella. We got settled into our room and headed to the beach. The hotel is on the main road, rooms are big and bright, very clean and tiled. Ours is on the second floor with a balcony looking over the road at the ocean roughly 200 meters away. <br />
The beach is nice when the tide is in, however at low tide the massive clumps of dead coral are exposed for all to see. To go into the water you must navigate your way carefully. In the morning the low tide reveals small pools amidst the dead coral where a variety of sea creatures lurk and hide. Marie watched some locals scour the pools for fish and making off with their bounty, some of which were up to a foot in length. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWwEp9vnIa68eeScy-Tr2ogJ1vyw7kdwk8IPcbQRyyyXLSNYiIJsm5KgUkVN5SG41cmUMsNmYJBVrYlKdJFt3WjnshLN7-1iO2869Jr3rMupRpguII7zAxVsS9O3YCNlxCjx66tMJgnfB/s640/blogger-image-1972113606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWwEp9vnIa68eeScy-Tr2ogJ1vyw7kdwk8IPcbQRyyyXLSNYiIJsm5KgUkVN5SG41cmUMsNmYJBVrYlKdJFt3WjnshLN7-1iO2869Jr3rMupRpguII7zAxVsS9O3YCNlxCjx66tMJgnfB/s640/blogger-image-1972113606.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFCwzmgnNdU6FGGXy-7vF-GZpbObljp7L75kBHFTGAN7JetCBcbl_sU9udZMrf_7xiIl1OLK_HKaLX0d2YGjLcaZIf-c0DEAguQruaEdREYcdXrvP36wSveB_9SEy-Guj8BMHZ3MvtA37q/s640/blogger-image--1513429652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUat9E2x-2jM-aOv6wQTki_ti-x7_KJPpsF08-PHDaMAAQdJ9FHDbSRbGorU4_JFL3IPpZSk6_CcrTVBdmjEmP_t1PxOqwKGwxHNHJTRSwFZl3czwscL1wVQPvATgQt1CgYql-BBj8OEWD/s640/blogger-image--1901317386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUat9E2x-2jM-aOv6wQTki_ti-x7_KJPpsF08-PHDaMAAQdJ9FHDbSRbGorU4_JFL3IPpZSk6_CcrTVBdmjEmP_t1PxOqwKGwxHNHJTRSwFZl3czwscL1wVQPvATgQt1CgYql-BBj8OEWD/s640/blogger-image--1901317386.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-89286401830279559462013-01-31T19:28:00.001-08:002013-01-31T19:28:15.828-08:00Krabi TownBacking tracking a couple of days, the 28th was spent exploring a bit of Krabi Town. Riding in the back of one of the local tiny pick up trucks for 50 baht each gets us into Krabi. It is a much bigger centre than we thought. A meandered into a travel agency on the corner to get a map of the town. Within we met a fellow from the US that moved to Thailand in the 70's. Tom was a welcome sight for sure and it was reassuring to have someone fluent in English to talk to. While most of the Thai's tried to be helpful the language was always a barrier further complicated by the fact they would always smile, nod and say "yes" whether they understood us or not. <br />
Tom told us a bout Krabi and about Koh Lanta, even suggested places to stay and sights to see. We told him we had to leave to try for a Visa that flying was too expensive. He disagreed and told us getting to the border, across and back was complicated, time consuming and stressful. He did a quick check and located a flight to KL, out and back the same day for around $200. Doing the math and considering the time savings we booked the flight. We followed his other suggestions, booked a hotel in Krabi went for a bite and a quick walk along the river. We actually spent several hours getting information and booked our 2 hour boat ride to Koh Lanta. I had thought of taking the bus but Tom explained it wasn't very reliable, and we may end up waiting t the ferry crossings for the tide to be high enough for the boat to run.<br />
Although the day seemed uneventful, we accomplished a lot and still managed to see a bit of the town. We will be back in Krabi for a few days later in the month and will explore more of the area. Krabi town has some interesting figures on the traffic lights and lamp posts. Not sure of the history but will let you know as we get the intel.<br />
The Tatoo shop was our fav for Cappuccinos and good wifi connections. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WNZxJGGUfiflR6hATEUbRN6xuGvo7Uuphecg1KhhCIq6lycSzz_QU_4gmBtRxjsGnBjt6nPFGZiw3XXn6baJdTUjYXmD2LusS_FH8dqoF2Xz2HN4SH-PTV1cylclQx-OPhABdI8K6oaN/s640/blogger-image--532469237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WNZxJGGUfiflR6hATEUbRN6xuGvo7Uuphecg1KhhCIq6lycSzz_QU_4gmBtRxjsGnBjt6nPFGZiw3XXn6baJdTUjYXmD2LusS_FH8dqoF2Xz2HN4SH-PTV1cylclQx-OPhABdI8K6oaN/s640/blogger-image--532469237.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjJ6ECqFXaToQz6fMdZWCFtPaRmEfnubz4Q4f0XUJD77iVUBdlCAbgXrZ0e2IIW4O6YdaCP7PyaKNExlIOvCbc87d6PsjFJBLRAY5GdlwjCMb0ZilnVjCCGF7O-atYXXaYAhODkviU_L4/s640/blogger-image-979791976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjJ6ECqFXaToQz6fMdZWCFtPaRmEfnubz4Q4f0XUJD77iVUBdlCAbgXrZ0e2IIW4O6YdaCP7PyaKNExlIOvCbc87d6PsjFJBLRAY5GdlwjCMb0ZilnVjCCGF7O-atYXXaYAhODkviU_L4/s640/blogger-image-979791976.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEfpK28SiJM9fqlk62R0MA86FpaO1dUdaN5aBxKIfZzofIZtNrM-gfiRY6Gj3zFi6tzm7xnnSIjmUN4ckxNvlaLXQsxrCGFqjYASC3URdQHKGSwxLY-ta6G2u79PyNuVjHimUvFFtc7y1/s640/blogger-image--1278254164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEfpK28SiJM9fqlk62R0MA86FpaO1dUdaN5aBxKIfZzofIZtNrM-gfiRY6Gj3zFi6tzm7xnnSIjmUN4ckxNvlaLXQsxrCGFqjYASC3URdQHKGSwxLY-ta6G2u79PyNuVjHimUvFFtc7y1/s640/blogger-image--1278254164.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wgYbjLmHt-xuJ-LESY5Kld7YnXve3gwklnSuVT2-l7ofncAj8kqsua7ysNv6WKdwbRzzNXwS8eB019LB1QvBzri55v0TrZmdl9D0q0_M7qiLlbRCwX-5BX2iqN57h9vZJmMfzOuE6Mac/s640/blogger-image--556754879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wgYbjLmHt-xuJ-LESY5Kld7YnXve3gwklnSuVT2-l7ofncAj8kqsua7ysNv6WKdwbRzzNXwS8eB019LB1QvBzri55v0TrZmdl9D0q0_M7qiLlbRCwX-5BX2iqN57h9vZJmMfzOuE6Mac/s640/blogger-image--556754879.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfquSxG1Owvhuf4LLhOnFvzxSBVTHZMfmYkKRvTIAu-xdLAaJm90Mkqnu8rZEEPwIDexgopMlV8vLcuqKGPyHgYCGumNulSv8CHcqqgrcvr62915jx9WupNclRV5ziM4hVLBCI-8u95BW/s640/blogger-image--1615710762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfquSxG1Owvhuf4LLhOnFvzxSBVTHZMfmYkKRvTIAu-xdLAaJm90Mkqnu8rZEEPwIDexgopMlV8vLcuqKGPyHgYCGumNulSv8CHcqqgrcvr62915jx9WupNclRV5ziM4hVLBCI-8u95BW/s640/blogger-image--1615710762.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1H5nZ34v0MCsUECh-7iSoAv8zd0G5_SaojiED1nnbRlPPuHTYBMRCL5wIa8yF5mp3v7bKclGWuXm99-c1H6mdvrh3nOTBP-80UKuzo64pwFPECQsviycSvaYZW9NqVWzb_DyJ-xUHNf2G/s640/blogger-image--663382076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1H5nZ34v0MCsUECh-7iSoAv8zd0G5_SaojiED1nnbRlPPuHTYBMRCL5wIa8yF5mp3v7bKclGWuXm99-c1H6mdvrh3nOTBP-80UKuzo64pwFPECQsviycSvaYZW9NqVWzb_DyJ-xUHNf2G/s640/blogger-image--663382076.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLpLaQDPHvmXvd0oRDM2dM6W4-0MhomEU_cVAxOecyJjMIvGyjDoPrY11D85c_aSdq6vvYdzJ4XViZBWorpY7pEwaYmLxy1WlSu69uxMN-BWN372CMvXmxdA0S7tgXTir7Fma95n9UwmJ/s640/blogger-image-2032866431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLpLaQDPHvmXvd0oRDM2dM6W4-0MhomEU_cVAxOecyJjMIvGyjDoPrY11D85c_aSdq6vvYdzJ4XViZBWorpY7pEwaYmLxy1WlSu69uxMN-BWN372CMvXmxdA0S7tgXTir7Fma95n9UwmJ/s640/blogger-image-2032866431.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-43926419047528905272013-01-28T05:10:00.001-08:002013-01-31T19:03:47.071-08:00Kayaking tourTime for a change of pace, kayaking. We were rounded up with eighteen other tourists and herded into the back of two pick-up trucks known as "songthaews". Our guide, Loi, introduced himself and forty five minutes later we were at our destination, Ao Thalane. Instructions and formalities out of the way, everyone clambered into their kayaks and "a paddling we went". <br />
Bobbing about on the sea was more than exhilarating, with amazing backgrounds of the gigantic limestone formations. We paddle around the rocks to a cave that Loi claimed was a site where the gypsies would leave their dead. Loi scaled the rock to the cave, disappeared, returning with some bones. Apparently, a time ago, the cave held a lot of bones, but now most are in a museum of history of the region.<br />
Next stop was at a tiny beach surrounded by the rock. We had to wait to access the beach as there was a bit of a traffic jam with the group in font of us. While waiting, a young Asian couple managed to capsize. Both ended up in water, fortunately it was only shoulder deep.<br />
The rocks around the beach and trees above were home to a tribe of Macaques. One guy came down to greet us. LOL. Actually, I think he knew he was about to get a handout. This is where our guides served up fresh fruit snacks. We were then given the peel of the pineapple to feed the Macaques. It was fun. I held a piece out for one and he was quick to grab it and run. Others, more used to tourists, would take it gently.<br />
We paddled our way around the rock and down a channel with more rock on either side ariving in an area of mangroves. The forest above and around was alive with the sound of a mass of insects. We surmised the insects flourish because of the lack of any signs of birds. There all seems to be a lack of visible signs of fish. Monkeys and bugs were the most visible. We paddled into a cave known as crocodile cave. According to Loi, many fisherman had been lost to the crocodiles over the years so eventually the crocs were exterminated from Thailand altogether to eliminate any threat to the fisherman and the cave is now called mosquito cave! It was a worthwhile trip though! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3A5-nA1srBr23_k7MswRIDnDkbUdt91U6obM3VpOn3A5YISPcjVUq6aHYiGDezKlXqTbhHMcx2NDknlFwlsTihEAnWZDr8h3mDK65fQlW7is365X7JHJcwulgefpht8Mv61rDi5isBZku/s640/blogger-image-1854155053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3A5-nA1srBr23_k7MswRIDnDkbUdt91U6obM3VpOn3A5YISPcjVUq6aHYiGDezKlXqTbhHMcx2NDknlFwlsTihEAnWZDr8h3mDK65fQlW7is365X7JHJcwulgefpht8Mv61rDi5isBZku/s640/blogger-image-1854155053.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1LtCm_ihQ4ww3vBi7l4Uxn0L40YX1z1_Z4XRR1FdzgCD1RytSLXwDXx9HemJm-dBKSwkWpwzLGXmh_30hiWb7DrM42y_dEqUxkREjNGhXjWrRvJG7FWPza7rjK-KlrxraA6JHSE7E3vR/s640/blogger-image-1051008995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsUiv7AcC87aRhdHZ1xKdu-zRTXUjNMTvPslPqd99o_5GBp78CskiLgjfSh-e5UnN_KBI8_0z3x7kahGJz-mRjohwYlknrhSTCWVvt53y6KzpDHxLzZMkHyiAciH_QOTqPCbaNdnmW3I9/s640/blogger-image--1768897731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsUiv7AcC87aRhdHZ1xKdu-zRTXUjNMTvPslPqd99o_5GBp78CskiLgjfSh-e5UnN_KBI8_0z3x7kahGJz-mRjohwYlknrhSTCWVvt53y6KzpDHxLzZMkHyiAciH_QOTqPCbaNdnmW3I9/s640/blogger-image--1768897731.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-79654190816248306752013-01-26T08:23:00.003-08:002013-01-26T08:49:33.302-08:00Noppharat BeachTime for another, not so early, beach stroll. Today we decided to walk over to the not so great divide, a small sand bar enabling us to walk on water. <br />
Noppharat, no idea how to pronounce it, beach is the quiet one as I mentioned previously. This morning was no different, only a few people around. We virtually had the mile of beach to ourselves. The sand was quite compact and easy to walk upon. We scoured the continuous line of shells laying at the end of the waves reach. Most were small and uninteresting, however, Marie was able to spot a few that were unique. Picking shells is very soothing for the mind.<br />
There are hundreds of little sand crabs creating miniature burrows in the sand. The debris they remove as they make their way into the sand, is scattered about in tiny mud balls as the sand is so very fine. The result is a magnificent work of art with the beach as the canvas. Each mud ball appears as though it were intricately placed as part of a masterpiece. Obviously that could not possibly be true as they are only crabs looking for a place to survive, or? LOL. <br />
The length of the beach was decorated with beautiful trees offering shade for the beach goers. A park setting with a winding concrete path for pedestrians<br />
We etched the end of the beach where a channel allowed the tour boats to gain access to the public. Most were just docked on the sand. A sand bar outlined the channel and allowed people to walk to a small island. Not much there but as we are adventurous we had to go to the other side.<br />
Back on the beach we came across a lot of young people belonging to a group called "Projects Abroad" working at cleaning up the beach. They come out every Monday and Friday morning to pick up garbage. What a great bunch of kids and great organization! They explained to us what a problem Thailand has with garbage, not only at the local level but at the government level as the country is not able to handle all of the waste.<br />
On the way back we stopped in at the "Coffee in Love" shack for breakfast. Fried eggs and bacon for Moi, Marie with a healthier choice of yogurt and cornflakes. As we were sitting chatting to an interesting fellow from Sweden ( turns out he is married to the owner, a delightful Thai woman) a small gecko launched a sneak attack on my plate. At least he thought he was being sneaky, so funny. He crept along the table top to the edge of my plate and then bent his body around the rim, grabbed a mouthful of the remaining egg yolk, and ran. We tried to get a picture but I think he was on to us.<br />
The fellow from Sweden told us he lived in the hills with his lady and her family. He said it was not very safe to live there since he was white (whites are thought of as having money) and therefore a target to be robbed and even killed. His wife's father told him that for his safety he was not allowed to go out and smoke in the evenings and the old man would walk the perimeter of the property looking for intruders. Apparently a land/home owner can legally kill an intruder. Yikes, what goes on up in them thar hills? On top of that he claims there are a lot of poisonous snakes lurking about in the jungle. <br />
Swede was very interesting. He said his lady had had enough of him and wanted him to go back to Sweden for a break. Made us laugh. He told us that after the tsunami hit Phuket most of the businesses were wiped out and most did not have insurance. This opened the door for foreigners, namely the Russians to invest. According to Swede a lot of corruption ensued with a lot of prostitution and the likes. Everything is very expensive, a lot of clubs and a lot of girlie bars. Other people have also told us they hated Phuket because it was so busy with a lot of girlie bars and prostitution and vendors in every tourist's face trying to sell something. <br />
A little lizard with a red back caught our attention so Marie snapped a photo. On the way back Marie almost stepped on another lizard sunning himself on the path. After bolting just before Marie's foot was about to crush him he stopped to pose for a photo. Show off!<br />
The rest of the day was a designated lay and relax by the pool day.<br />
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We sat at one of the small tables by the rail, a perfect panoramic view of the sea, trees and town. The buffet was a magnificent spread of literally, as the expression goes, everything from fruits to nuts. Dried fruits, fresh fruits, nuts, cereals, yogurts, breads, croissants, cheese, olives, cold cut meats, juices, eggs any style cooked fresh, pancakes, bacon, chicken sausages, fried potatoes, soup and on and on. On top of that there were a variety of Asian dishes. NO we didn't sample everything, almost though! LOL. It really was grand to enjoy a breakfast and coffee on the terrace. We even had a visitor, feathery little guy, stop by to enjoy a few crumbs from my croissant. Must be French. LOL<br />
Our journey, to date, has landed us in 13 different hotels/locations. Having lugged her pack around equally as many times, and with a future of six or so more stops, Marie decided it was time to lighten the load. I get to stay but 8 kilos of stuff, some brought from home and some newly acquired, suddenly was marked as "not required". We loaded up and took our haul to the local post office. Now Marie carries an empty backpack while mine gained weight. What's up with that?<br />
I/we, so very unfortunately, did not acquire visas for Thailand while we were in Kuala Lumper. That would have been too easy and would have allowed us to stay for up to 60 days. I was under the impression we could get a "quick visa" on arrival at the airport. Wrong, so very wrong. When arriving in Thailand by air you are allowed to stay for 30 days without a visa. Arriving by land gives you 15 days. Your passport is stamped with the date when you must leave. If you stay past the date you will be charged a penalty for everyday you stay. Immigration can give an extension but only for seven to ten days. One solution is to go to leave Thailand, then return and have your passport stamped under the same conditions previously mentioned. Since our passports only bear a stamp until Feb 17th we have a dilemma logistically and financially. Leaving and flying back, while giving us the 30 days we require, is too expensive and complicated to get to the destination we desire, Hua Hin. Leaving and returning by land, also complicated destination wise, only gives us 15 days, leaving us ten days short for our return flight to Canada. After several hours of searching the web our solution is to make a "visa run" to Penang, Malaysia. It is the least expensive option; an 8 hour minivan ride to Penang, three nights in Georgetown waiting for our visa application to be processed at the Thai Embassy, a minivan ride back to Hat Yai and an overnight train to Hua Hin. I'm still not believing this even as I write it now. Logistically, the problem is our location; we are in Krabi Town and flights connecting to other countries usually require connections via Bangkok.<br />
On the positive side we get to visit Georgetown, Penang Island Malaysia. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NAl5KHDlnbcqf3RlPIYBoDL5b3-lLu68PRRY56i6xoV2C-leLjsofrSDuX6aB6lO5qVgnXk2pDr1gM0_1S4KGfK9KMBJqyLOfoEN3HqOb6A2IQrQ-ygnpKhZJEkmDPlK2j7skPc7R-fN/s640/blogger-image-685756717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NAl5KHDlnbcqf3RlPIYBoDL5b3-lLu68PRRY56i6xoV2C-leLjsofrSDuX6aB6lO5qVgnXk2pDr1gM0_1S4KGfK9KMBJqyLOfoEN3HqOb6A2IQrQ-ygnpKhZJEkmDPlK2j7skPc7R-fN/s640/blogger-image-685756717.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OBiAxmP_4mDmnUKGWDdLwBJrjVZNMpjhJ5F_5hJMAOzL2EqduJFb6oBlfFjHCeXdFd9OZL-mFm-zymCuzF5PSbXe_P2HslitYfwQWDqyHPoMHCMLJMLcZBb_Xj3tii24RSwYKsylKw6t/s640/blogger-image-945451988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OBiAxmP_4mDmnUKGWDdLwBJrjVZNMpjhJ5F_5hJMAOzL2EqduJFb6oBlfFjHCeXdFd9OZL-mFm-zymCuzF5PSbXe_P2HslitYfwQWDqyHPoMHCMLJMLcZBb_Xj3tii24RSwYKsylKw6t/s640/blogger-image-945451988.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNlh49l9Puu-cmoB4HlpjDXp7tlu3iZvkhe64v8c9zLuNiTJQGq0bk5hJuPkLQuQ4b436BRXjnuwQNCwQGcAHZesY_JIalakjN2QiXswyGuTeUM9sR5PER7Y4BS0n90El6_sKInIio6aE/s640/blogger-image--363652959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNlh49l9Puu-cmoB4HlpjDXp7tlu3iZvkhe64v8c9zLuNiTJQGq0bk5hJuPkLQuQ4b436BRXjnuwQNCwQGcAHZesY_JIalakjN2QiXswyGuTeUM9sR5PER7Y4BS0n90El6_sKInIio6aE/s640/blogger-image--363652959.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmegHh73857WpzykrKJAtTn9Qxfv2HCNDfUKCz0G4AMgPLkXadKRWMm6c6HLuWaRHYH0zEBOM9dow2A9V9TF7Uewc-Zy1bOsnfKv-HcNEdzDgRUa7whlVpcFIY7ZckLY69CPSbgJnBawa/s640/blogger-image--327602390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmegHh73857WpzykrKJAtTn9Qxfv2HCNDfUKCz0G4AMgPLkXadKRWMm6c6HLuWaRHYH0zEBOM9dow2A9V9TF7Uewc-Zy1bOsnfKv-HcNEdzDgRUa7whlVpcFIY7ZckLY69CPSbgJnBawa/s640/blogger-image--327602390.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkSaxuXmytQLnxH6zLwa0kJbOLYOiTJCnSWwzhsBPUxNXIzQEss50afNafkwnsTOCY_byNEqAR0-4Tjd9eAFVa7IHPJI-tVM6DrV1vms4GvwFvByBfCNd-uj5SwAPuRpTbU8AaoA4N95m/s640/blogger-image--1004259319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkSaxuXmytQLnxH6zLwa0kJbOLYOiTJCnSWwzhsBPUxNXIzQEss50afNafkwnsTOCY_byNEqAR0-4Tjd9eAFVa7IHPJI-tVM6DrV1vms4GvwFvByBfCNd-uj5SwAPuRpTbU8AaoA4N95m/s640/blogger-image--1004259319.jpg" /></a></div>WiredforAsiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14496391039506328210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-960924709303046685.post-5609607113154728322013-01-24T22:43:00.001-08:002013-01-25T06:26:34.212-08:00On the Beach at Railay and PhranangOur destination today is Railay Beach. This morning we were up by 7 and out the door by 7:30 as we wanted to start the day with a walk on the beach. There is only one way to town, a 400 meter hike to the Main Street and two hundred more to the beach. Seems every morning we have the typical coastal skyline, somewhat greyish and clearing by around 10 AM. When we reached the beach there were a few joggers, some walkers and locals picking shells, probably ( we surmised ) to make jewelry to sell.<br />
A quick pace down the beach and then it was time to find a place to satisfy our hunger pangs, especially Marie, that girl is always hungry! LOL. When it comes to choices for breakfast there are the big buffets from $250 baht and up or smaller local cafes serving ala carte items like muesli with yogurt and fruit for $120 baht plus a coffee for around $70; translation a somewhat lighter and healthy breakfast for roughly $6.35 CA. Our pick was the lighter fare as we found a nice street side spot with wifi, so it is breakfast and the news via Internet and of course email. Our hotel has free wifi in he lobby but charges to have it in the rooms. Weird! <br />
After breakfast we had to return to the hotel, another km to equip ourselves for Railay beach, basically towels, water and books. Then, one more time walking the same km to get back to the ticket booth for the long boats. Get the picture? That's already 3 km, but it is so much fun! <br />
Minus 200 baht (each) for a return trip we marched across the walkway where the dispatcher took our tickets and assigned us to a boat with 6 other people (they need 8 to go). All aboard and off we go, in a long tail, an interesting wooden boat powered by a motor on a pivot to steer, with a long driveshaft and a propeller on the end. Noisy but interesting! Our boat carved a shallow path across the calm seas, the deep V of the bow hurling a salty spray into the boat. Only slightly damp we first arrived at a very inviting sandy beach, Phranang. Everyone bailed, leaving Marie and I to continue on to Railay. Railay was equally as beautiful. Our longtail beached along side 20 or so other longtails. Barefoot across the white sand we went on a mission to explore the beach. We had hoped to find affordable accommodations on the beach, but who were we kidding? A paved path with shops and restaurants on either side led us away from the beach. We followed it through a treed area, with some very "rustic" eateries and eventually came out at another beach, although not a pretty sight. Railay is divided into East and West beach, the east showing low tide exposing a rather murky muck amongst the mangroves. The path fronted by hotel resorts followed the edge of the sea. We could only think how disappointing it would be to book an expensive luxury beach front resort only to find out the beach was just a mud pit with a foul fishy septic smell and laden with garbage. Even at high tide it was not a place where you would want to swim. Of course this is only my opinion.<br />
I read there was a scenic view point to which one could climb and we could see the cliff in the not too far distance. There were climbers (this area attracts a lot of rock climbers) scaling the side of the cliff and others suspended by ropes. The path to the viewpoint veered away from the climbers. Shortly we came to the site where we would have to scale the steep rocks to access the viewpoint. Seeing the ropes hanging from the near vertical cliff side, Marie opted to sit out. I abandoned my sandals and started a barefoot ascent up the rock face. Some were sharp and hard on the feet and others very slippery. A latched onto the rope and pulled myself upwards. Suddenly it occurred to me, perhaps this isn't such a good idea, especially not barefoot. I abandoned my efforts after a mere 30 feet and upon trying to descend was met by a line of other climbers. From the bottom we watched ten or so tourists all eagerly making their way up the steep cliff hanging on to the rope. My only thought was; "I wonder if this rope is ever tested"?<br />
Several young sweaty foreigners descended and told us of the spectacular panorama from above.<br />
Along the way the cliffs hovered over the path, stalactites hanging precariously above us as we made our way. At the end of the path was the Phranang beach we originally stopped at, as was a couple from Denmark with whom we shared the boat ride. After socializing for a bit our foursome headed towards the cliffs and rocks cascading into the sea. We scrambled over, under and around the boulders to see where they would lead. Dead end! We retreated to explore the other end of the beach. More longtail boats run onto the beach, however this time there were several with sandwich board signs advertising food and drink. Having walked for the better part of two hours we very suddenly became hungry. LOL. With a small BBQ on board and a wok or two, the vendors were cooking up a storm. We chose the chicken in a pita (first we ever saw in Asia) and yummy, it was extra delicious. Chased by by a cold fresh pineapple juice and "Bob's your Uncle"!<br />
Back to the west side where it is less crowded we lay out our beach towels and set up beach camp. Into the water we went, crystal clear and warm like a bath. Heavenly, for sure!<br />
Two hours of reading, baking in the sun then splashing about to cool off was enough. No sooner had we packed up than a cloud floated over letting loose with a warm shower.<br />
Dinner was at a local restaurant which, as we quickly found out, was home to several vendors trying to pedal their wares to the diners. They were actually quite respectful and did not bother anyone when they were eating. I took some interest in a Thai hat and soon was trying it on. First price was $250 baht, I countered with $100. The lowest she would go was $150 baht. Then the guy came by and we started again, same scenario, however this time we made a deal at $120 baht, which at 30 baht to the dollar means "good price"! A couple from Denmark we met the night before were sitting a few tables away and enjoyed the entertainment we provided, so much we got the thumbs up for my ever so stylish hat! I tried to convince Marie to get one as well but without success. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkZpGsJmCkOlKzVSbbAVDrfZYLKIArzGFn6fTRDZyW-ScP3ByKiZ1LozdzedXhyBnBTiB3Sd71955Mfu5O6b-w55g2TLOPZTfE4Gq5-KWLMgOHuSLPGv5mlrNNI7J8eZq3hKsZjZa59mJ/s640/blogger-image--137708139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkZpGsJmCkOlKzVSbbAVDrfZYLKIArzGFn6fTRDZyW-ScP3ByKiZ1LozdzedXhyBnBTiB3Sd71955Mfu5O6b-w55g2TLOPZTfE4Gq5-KWLMgOHuSLPGv5mlrNNI7J8eZq3hKsZjZa59mJ/s640/blogger-image--137708139.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgErbLa7rgou9fiPCC4LKUcQYmaRhEiDuthfkIERCSCwISN6-tMFy_l8DALn-HQH4SXGSpZqNN3R7kwU4K3qAf9ez8d9Uur0PI4Oyn5m4zdqj3MDWAtpNu02Cx9bEuWeZzf1MXXTndEoDWL/s640/blogger-image-76198910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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