Krabi, Bangkok and Home – End of the Dream

Weather – Dry and Sunny

Woke early, really early about 4 hours too early for being on holiday. At 6.45 a.m. I was out on the streets of Krabi Town on the search for some 7-11 and a dose of chocolate milk for breakfast.

The streets were practically deserted, well what sensible people would be up walking around town so early apart from the foreigners. It was a good chance to get a look around without the crush of people and standing in the middle of the road without, much, fear of getting ran over by a speeding taxi driver.

Later we had breakfast proper and with a few hours to spare headed over to a morning market a few streets away. The place was full of everything imaginable here. Vegetables of all kinds, fruit and flowers along with a good sampling of fresh fish and seafood. It was a shame we had breakfast as there was also quite a bit of cooked food on offer.

Weather – Getting much Hotter

Decided to have a little walk along some of the roads and double back to the hotel to freshen up before heading to the airport. Using our excellent navigation skills of angles of the sun to gauge our direction everything was going fine until we realized we were lost.

It was turning out to be a good morning, forgetting to take our hats, the sun getting hotter and the sweat making us look like we had just stepped out of the shower clothed and the impending realization of not getting back to catch our flight.

Buddha or whatever must have been looking down on us and on the most deserted of roads sent along a little motorcycle and sidecar. Thinking this was a taxi we waved it down and it passed looking like it would never stop. Turns out it wasn’t a taxi but just some locals and their intuition that we were lost in Krabi Town. Despite us not speaking Thai and them not speaking English (how do you say “oh no another lost foreigner” in Thai) they took us back to the centre of town and relieved we walked the familiar streets to our hotel.

If that was not enough, Buddha also made our flight late just in case we somehow were late at the airport. The delay, unknown, at this time would call for a bit of skill by the pilots once we reached Bangkok.

Finally taking off and leaving Krabi and Koh Lanta far behind we had some nice view of the East coast. Gulf of Thailand where a few more island paradises. In the distance was Koh Samui and the memories more sandy beaches, great food and sunburn.

Weather – Monsoon and some more.

Approaching Bangkok and the reason for the delay was appearing. The blue clear skies of krabi were replaced by dark grey clouds as we slowly descended to land. It was difficult to catch any glimpses of the ground but the plane carefully tried to line itself up for the runway. It was not to be, the clunking of the flaps going up and the screaming of the little Boeing 737’s engines indicated an aborted landing. It was hard to see how close we got but I’m guessing a few feet more and the wheels would have touched the flood that was once a runway.

Luckily after a bit of holding and a break in the rains we landed. The thickness of the clouds must have helped obscure the dangers from the passengers as they mostly seemed unconcerned.

A short stop over in Bangkok and then boarding the flight back to home and reality. It was all over and the warming sun was gone, no more getting up in the mornings and lazing on the beach. The speed of life was about the change and the time on the clock will begin to rule our days again.

Afternoon at the River in Krabi Town- Day 10

Weather – Wet, Wet, Wet

Having arrived in Krabi Town and settled in to the hotel a look around town was needed. The first time we were in Krabi it was already dark and not really ideal for taking in any sights. It was also raining all those days ago, so far the town for us is wet.

We had brought just one umbrella for emergencies and the hotel gladly offered us an extra one. It wasn’t really needed for long, the monsoons eased and eventually stopped. Some food needed again and keeping in with the Thailand style we had pizza and chips.

The town is not really big and most things seems localized on the one or two streets running along side the river. That included the banks and currency exchanges. These were getting badly needed as our Thai money was running out and unknowingly we were also running out of time. The bank we approached had already closed and the money exchanger had already done her calculations for the day so we realized we were left to scrimp and save until the morning.

Having a walk along the river to pass the time and take in a bit of the Mangrove views we were approached by a rather large gentleman. He was a fisherman touting for some business, offered to take us on a trip up the river. We had a little and large conversation about our cash flow and our need to wait till tomorrow for the banks to open. It was then he dropped a bombshell about tomorrow being Saturday and the banks being closed.

Tonight's dinner was looking like seafood, fish and crab, with a little cigarette to finish the meal off. In our 24 hours a day life we have been to complacent.

The views up the river were quite pleasant although the tide seemed to be out and the river banks were exposed with mud. At least it wasn't cluttered with thrown away shopping trolleys.

Away from the river there was a night market happening. This was taking place in the square behind the hotel that we spent our first night in. It appeared more of a fun-fair atmosphere with a few rides for the kids along with lots of home made wares and food. Extremely busy with lots of people in very small space. But we managed to get hold of some deep fried ice cream.

Sometimes events take place that come completely unexpected and have quite dramatic consequences. Needless to say one of those events happened to us and completely filled the rest of our evening. To skim over it quickly we were treated completed free of charge to the spiciest meal we have ever had in Thailand. Spread over 6 dished of delicious food specially prepared for us both. The earlier wondering of how to catch dinner in the river seemed much like a silly idea now.

Leaving Koh Lanta on the Ferry Crossings – Day 10

Weather – Brilliant

Woke to sunshine peeking under the curtains and it felt particularly crystal this morning. This was our last day here on Koh Lanta and we arose together and not much conversation was had. It might have been the sadness of leaving or maybe the more than healthy amount of beer consumed the night before.

Whatever the reason it didn’t last long once we were out on the veranda gathering the heat and the occasional pop back inside to pack another t-shirt. Somehow the bags became full and the beach hut returned to the tidier condition in which we first found it.

Pool towels returned to the reception and turning for a last look at the resort we sat down to wait for the mini-van to arrive. And we waited…And waited. After about half an hour later it arrived fully laden with other passengers that were scooped up from all corners of the island. I guess waiting in the shade of reception was probably much better than waiting inside the stuffy hot bus for other passengers to arrive.

Bags loaded and we were soon off to the first ferry crossing. There was very little waiting to get on here but a little wait for more vehicles to fill up the vacant spaces on the ferry. The second ferry was similar with just a short wait. The longer stretch of water gave a little time out to take some pictures of people taking pictures.

It was a busy little strip of water with at least four ferries chugging back and forward. Fortunately the water would be warm and the distance to the shore looked swimmable, I mention that for no particular reason.

Weather – Monsoon

About 15 minutes after crossing the two Koh Lanta islands the heavens opened and the rain came down in buckets. You could say we were lucky with the weather apart from the first few days. The journey of a couple of hours, which felt more like four, gave a little bit of time to remember the things we were leaving behind on the island but Krabi Town was nearing and soon we would experience a little but more of Thailand's hospitality.

Passengers were dropped off at the airport and some at a ferry terminal in town, we were getting dropped off at our hotel. One passenger had booked an onward journey only to find there was no onward connection. The driver offered to take him to a tourist agent to buy another ticket so we all piled back in the bus expecting to go at least a few blocks. Unexpectedly the driver just did a U-turn to the opposite side of the street and there was the destination. We all looked at each other with smiles that indicated we were laughing out loud inside. Here we were asked where we were going and offered a taxi to the airport tomorrow – we declined (can`t fault them for asking for the business).

The excitement over and dropped at our hotel and while checking in the reception asked where we were going and offered a taxi to the airport tomorrow – we declined (somehow that sounds familiar).

There was still some light so after a shower it off to do some adventuring in krabi Town.