Onto Tsunami-land

Location: Patong Beach, Phuket Island
Weather: Warm and sunny

Well after returning from Langkawi I stupidly got the ultra-slow bus to Batu Ferringi to buy a blow-pipe for a friend of mine, but I ended up having to get an expensive taxi all the way back to Georgetown. Basically I waited at the bus stop for 45mins, till 11:30pm when it was obvious I'd missed the last bus, because of course having a timetable on the bus stop would be a crime wouldn't it.
Anyways, the following morning I got the first bus out of Malaysia and into Thailand. I was quite pleased to leave - I'd had enough of everything being half-done and/or generally confused there. Many of the people were ok, it was just everything else that wasn't, I dunno maybe I've been drinking too many fizzy drinks and not getting enough sleep or something, the whole place just annoyed me in the end. The one good thing about Malaysia was the Post Office, it must be the cheapest place in the world for sending stuff by ship.

Anyway, after 8 hours or so I got off at Krabi - a small town which is the gateway to the southern islands of Thailand. I was a bit concerned at first, because this is where the tsunami struck and what with all the newspaper hype, I didn't know what to expect, but it seemed ok. I got an open ended taxi to Ao Nang beach, which is the real centre of the area and stayed there a night. They had a Tsunami Fund Raising Street Party, which was great fun. The next day I met up with Mark & Kara again and got a longboat to Tonsai beach. Tonsai is next to Railey beach which is famous amongst climbers, because there are some big rocks there. The place was deserted except for us and well, a lot of climbers. I liked Tonsai a lot, we stayed in a bamboo huts in the forest(there were a few insects about but the hut had a cool mosquito net) and it was very relaxing - a strange feeling after travelling so much. The restaurant(the Freedom Bar?) there was also exceeding good.

One day we hired kayaks and paddled all the way to Chicken Island, where there is a truly white beach with crystal clear water. Chicken Island was good, getting there was not! In fact it was a nightmare for me, since I was in a single kayak and rowing that thing against the current and wind reminded me a lot of sugar cane planting. Next time Steve Redgrave or that Matthew Pinsett bloke can do the rowing.

After a couple of nights, we moved back to Krabi town. I stayed at the Grand Tower Hotel. This place was well quality - great bed, big room, ensuite bathroom - and very cheap,cheap. In the arvo I took a bus to this Buddist Tiger Cave temple known as Wat Tham Sua, this place was amazing, the temples here are like monastries back home set out upon large parkland areas. It had many statues and a couple of temples in it. One highlight was the hundreds of stray dogs lying/barking around, I think Thailand has a stray dog problem actually. Another was the Tiger Cave itself, which had a lucky Buddah footprint in it, as well as a scarily real looking waxwork of some monk in a glass case(I thought it was a real monk meditating or fasting, until I read the book). But the best part was climbing 1237 very steep steps, this was very exhausting, I would have collapsed had this been earlier in the day, to get to the top of a mountain. I was greeted by a small black & white cat, a very large Buddah statue, a golden object with 7 levels and a staggering 360degree view of the countryside. It was deserted except for me and the cat and I watched the sun go down, which ruled.

That night I wandered around town and just looked at the markets and stuff - had the best noodles & shrimps I've ever tasted from a street stall. This was Friday night and on Sunday, Thailand was having a general election and all the candidates were making speeches in central Krabi, I couldn't understand a word though.

The next day Mark & Kara decided to go to Bangkok, but after hearing a few people, I decided I'd like to go see the islands.

By JamesReed on 07.02.05 @ 02:55 PM GMT