So leaving Phuket and karon beach after four days we were bundled, at 7 in the morning, into a minibus that would take us to the harbour and onto a waiting boat that would take us over to ao nang, near Krabi.
The previous four days had been spent in a kind of twilight zone. On one hand, sitting on a beautiful beach, watching the world idle by was definitely on our to do list whilst being away, we plan to do much more, but being here amongst the hoards, I felt I had been whisked back to Mallorca for a few days. The beach was simply stunning though, you can see why Phuket retains such a draw for people but I don't think we have felt as out of place as much for a while. But hey, for a few lazy days it was beautiful and the super abundance of western food made a welcome change to 'going native' or at least helped you feel less guilty for not doing so.
Although you try to read everything about a place before you go there, nothing can prepare you for the eventual reality. Phuket is just so busy, not full of that frenetic city energy you might get in Hanoi or Saigon, but of scores of western tourists and the effective cottage industry it naturally creates. I guess in some respects it's like a synthetic Asian experience. Fantastic beaches, great weather, a smattering of local Thai business but without any of the potential obstacles like, say, local cuisine or culture.
Anyway, the boat journey itself was unlike any other we have had anywhere in Asia, on any form of transport. The whole process had more the air of german efficiency rather than Asian trial and error. As soon as we rocked up in the minivan we were rounded up, slapped with colour-coordinated stickers and hoarded on the corresponding boat. You can kind of understand some people's predilection to travelling, of it being quite a daunting challenge. Well not here, even if you only survive on scratching three and a half braincells together or if you know, you read the sun, you can pretty much travel all over this region with your eyes closed. Even if the sun did quote a recent report that said closing your eyes can cause blindness.
The boat journey promised to be gorgeous, and up until we got into deep sea, that was the reality. As soon as Phuket was in the distance the boat started to ferociously rock in the same way that our journey to the gili's did back in September. needless to say, shell's face said everything. Not quite blind panic but definitely not 'what a lovely journey this will be'. About half way in and thankfully the sea became much calmer and we were treated to the sight of ko phi-phi to the right of us, Krabi some miles in the distance and a few small deserted islands to our left. As we approached Krabi and the beaches that surrounded it, we couldn't wait to get off the boat and top up our ever-increasing tans.
Ten minutes later the minibus dropped us off pretty much in the middle of nowhere at a place which shell had found on the net. Although it was a 'resort' in name it was pretty much just several bungalows surrounded by a pretty pool and trees. It was lovely, just a strange old set up. Anyway, we pretty much just threw our bags down and hailed a tuk-tuk to take us back into ao nang, the nearest resort, where we laid down our towels on a perfect bit of beach surrounded by even more large, vegetated karsts. In fact where we were was just around the bay from Railay beach, somewhere we intend to visit at least once whilst we are here.
We spent the whole day there, basking in the scorchingly hot sun and people watching, shell does this so well. In fact let's face it, she stares at everyone. Almost like a meerkat, maybe a meerkat that gives me running beach commentary on whoever walks past, 'Tommo, look at that mans hairy back' or 'isn't that woman wearing a strange looking hairpiece' or something along those lines.
The sea here is a tad calmer than Phuket but not quite as clear, but the scenery more than makes up for it. By 5pm my forehead and shells nose had almost turned to crackling so we made our way back to the hotel where Gerhard, the owner was waiting to give us instructions for the room and our 6 days there in general. As shell had also managed to lock the bathroom door solidly shut he had to come up to our room and help us out already. In the room he gave us the usual spiel about how to work the shower and the safe before picking us up on our first flaw, we had the air conditioning too low. Normally this would be a fair request but when coming from the mouth of this man, in dead-pan German accent, devoid of any humour, we instinctively cowered onto the bed. All this before he demanded our passports...(when will this stereotype stop???)
That night we ate at the hotel which although we had read good reviews about, didn't really live up to expectations. Maybe due to the fact that it was late but the yellow curry and the massaman just did not deliver. We even had yet more hair (we counted that to be eight times-twice we had clumps!) and and a random piece of plastic (amazingly that's the second time). In fact, and we have to be honest here, we have had nothing but poor Thai food since we got here, which is a shame really as we had such high expectations before we arrived. (bring back the Vietnamese food!).
The next morning I woke feeling terrible, in fact scrap that, truly horrific. For the past six days I had been on an almost endless run of tramadol, which had made the pain post-tooth op just about bearable. After stopping the previous morning I spent the whole night in a constant phase of half-sleep, shaky legs and walking around the room. It almost looked like a scene from Trainspotting. Anyway, over another truly horrific meal for breakfast (think eggs that have been cooked in a pan full of onion flavoured lard) we decided to rent one of the hotels motorbikes so that we could explore some of the beaches and scenery. Gerhard had given us an excellent lecture full of the sights and activities we could be doing during our time here. With this in mind we winded through the countryside and visited several secluded beaches. We even waded through a piece of sea shallow enough to make it to the island across the water, it was bliss. Almost true perfection.(see video at the bottom).
We now type from the beach over looking the islands with the sun setting overhead. Another perfect day in paradise.
All that's missing now are two beers. I guess driving whilst drunk and recovering from cold turkey would probably be a bridge too far to explain if we were to be pulled over....
Love to all, Tommo and shellby xxx
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