| 27th March 2006 A day spent on buses - one to the border, crossed into Thailand, then got a minibus to Hat Yai (raving to Rod Stewart and Boney M), waited there for an hour and then got another to Krabi, finally arriving at 8.30pm. Met an Irishman (Peter) on the last bus who now lives in Bangkok - he took us to the guesthouse he stays at and it was the nicest room yet and the cheapest!! Terry stayed up with him and an Aussie from the bus drinking a bottle of local rum - also very cheap! 28th March 2006 Peter took us to Railay beach where the limestone cliffs were beautiful - also had lots of bolted climbing routes. Got a bit frizzled in the sun walking around and admiring the many tiny islands and outcrops of limestone. Along one of the beaches on the headland was evidence of Tsunami damage - still a lot to be repaired and cleaned up. 29th March 2006 Decided to stay in Krabi another day and went back to Railay to do some rock climbing. Had a coupl of hours to spare before it started so sat in the shade watching two men bouldering and eating delicious bbq'd corn on the cob! The climbing in the afternoon was really good fun, but hard work and sweaty in the heat - covered in sweat, dirt and chalk!! It was also busy, so ropes going everywhere which wasn't so good, but we did a few climbs - Terry did one to 30 metres and my highest was 25 metres. Back in Krabi we went to the night market for dinner and tried a selection of different things for 1 pound 50 - bargain!! 30th March 2006 Left Krabi and caught the ferry to Ko Phi Phi - wow!! The water is crystal clear and aquamarine, the long sandy beach is white - I think we'll like it here! Got a room at Phi Phi Hill on Long Beach (away from the busy town) - a room (or rather shed) with a view across the ocean and quite a nice breeze up there, the only drawback being the steps up to it - gong to be a workout every day! Spent the afternoon on the beach and inevitably in the sea to cool off! Terry had his first Thai massage on the beach - looked a bit too scary for me, pulling him all over the place! Went back to our room and shared bathroom to freshen up - not sharing the bathroom with any guests yet, but an array of insects etc.. We have beetles on the ceiling, ants on the floor, mosquitos, geckos, biting flies, the odd cockroach.... just another new home for us - getting way used to it!! Had dinner watching the sun set over the hill in front of us - perfect! And then watched a couple of films before bed! 31st March 2006 Another day on the beach, but hired snorkels and spent a lot of time in the sea. Just off the beach by some rocks we saw reef sharks (my first ones) - totally friendly but still a bit nervy when they start circling you! Lots of different fish too - swimming all around at the surface! Gave up with the sun and heat at 4pm and climbed back up to get a cold shower - was not impressed to find a cockroach in my bag - Terry had to empty everything out and shake it violently before it would come out and then it was a chase round the room (sorry, shed) to kill it!! 1st April 2006 Thought we'd have a break from the beach so we went on a snorkelling trip which took us to Bamboo Island, around Phi Phi Don(the one we're staying on) and then around Phi Phi Lay. The first few stops were ok - not great visibility and the coral was all dead. Lots of fish, but again near the surface so no real need for the snorkel - one bit Terry and actually took a chunk - the boat driver was feeding them and Terry got a bit too close! We had lunch at a beautiful white sand beach - the sand was so soft! As we went round Phi Phi Lay we stopped in Maya Bay. This is where they filmed The Beach with Leo De Caprio and it is absolutely perfect. The water is the clearest either of us have ever seen and the beach is surrounded by limestone cliffs with just a small opening out to the sea! After dinner we watched The Beach just to compare with the real thing and apart from the water colour being enhanced - it was turquoise, but not that turquoise - it's pretty spot on!! 2nd April 2006 Extremely hot day on the beach - so easy to spend hours in the water. Terry snorkelled again and then we sat in the shade talking to Chrissie and Joe, a Kiwi couple from London on their honeymoon. We had lunch with them and a dip in their pool - of course they're staying at a much nicer place than us! They then joined us up on the hill for dinner and to watch King Kong - who knows why they wanted to spend their last night with us!! 3rd April 2006 Terry went diving all day, leaving me to frazzle on the beach! He went back to Maya Bay and somewhere else local and was impressed with the coral - on a par with Fiji - was very enthusiastic about it when he got back, but it doesn't really mean anything to me when he reels off names of fish etc... he gets frustrated with me, but I still don't think I can do the course and get used to being under for so long! 4th April 2006 He's got the diving bug again so went out again - even better than yesterday!! I coped better on the beach with a book and at dinner another couple we had been talking to said I'd have no problem fitting in in India with my tan!! 5th April 2006 Left Long Beach and went round to the town for a couple of hours before our ferry back to Krabi. Too busy compared to the peace and tranquility we'd had! The Tsunami damage here was awful - 95% of the palm trees gone, buildings gone - whole areas flattened! Back in Krabi we both got our hair cut and then went back to the night market for dinner! |