My mood picked up exponentially after leaving Koh Phangan. The only fond memory I have of that place is Nira's Bakery. Anyone heading there should pay a visit. Almost all of the food is homemade and the prices are reasonable. There's free wifi and two computers which are free to use for customers. I only made this discovery a couple of days before I was to depart Koh Phangan so wasn't able to take full advantage...not that I had much to say about the place anyway! The journey itself only took a few hours and I was that drained, I slept most of the way. The transportation and transfers in Thailand never gets old for me, I find it hilarious. With the boat trip it really is an every-man-for-himself type situation with your baggage. Try and keep an eye out for where it is thrown and as soon as the boat begins to meet the port, run. I'm usually in no rush to depart planes, buses or boats, but here it is wise to get in and get out as quickly as possible or you'll end up being stuck behind the ditherers looking for their indistinguishable luggage.
The next bout of fun comes with the buses. Always take the arrival time with a pinch of salt. I was told that I'd be arriving at Chumphon at 6am but ended up there at around 4am! It's best just to follow everyone else - they move, you move. This is where the stickers come in handy. For each boat and/or bus ride you take, you get given a sticker to attach to your shirt which is actually a good idea. I'd much rather someone glance at my shirt and usher me on than having to faff around with paper tickets! The stickers are usually brightly coloured so I just follow people with my stickers. There's no going wrong there, although I do find that everyone else is just as clueless as I am, but still, comfort in numbers.
Then on to the hotel transfers. This is where it gets really confusing. Multiple bus/boat loads of backpackers, travellers and families on their jollies descend upon the deluge of taxi drivers. We always conveniently (for the drivers) get placed in the middle of nowhere so even the most gifted of orienteers would need to get a taxi. I have free transfers to my hotels so I need to find the guy that won't charge me a crazy amount to drive five minutes up the road. Sometimes there are signs with my hotel on, sometimes there isn't. For the latter, I have to repeat my hotel name several times. For Krabi, I stayed in a place called Orange Mansion for which I got "Ao Nang?" as the response. The hotel is in Ao Nang but I don't want to go to the beach, I want to go to my hotel.
After the madness, I finally arrived at my hotel. The taxi driver parked outside a supermarket and announced jovially, "Orange Mansion". The other passengers stifled a giggle. I was thinking the same thing so decided to air my anxiety - "well, it looks like I'm staying in the local 7-Eleven!". I was the temporary comedian. In my shock, I left my bag with my hiking boots and dirty washing behind. I ran back only to find one of the backpackers had taken possession of them. Oh NO you didn't. I'll take that and mumbled something about them having my dirty washing if they wanted it. Cheeky bastards. That happened in Japan too when I had to store my luggage in reception. Sometimes you really do have to have your wits about you when it comes to fellow backpackers.
I was greeted by the incredibly friendly (but not in a creepy way) owner of Orange Mansion, Joey. He put me at ease straight away with a couple of jokes and told me he wanted me to feel like this place was my home, which was sweet. I was left to my own devices and Joey said he would be around if I needed any help or advice. I grabbed a load of tour leaflets and went to my room. My jaw dropped. This place was a luxury compared to where I'd been staying previously.
Bish - a fan
Bash - a fridge!! Air con too!
Bosh - hot water. Holy moly!
I was in love with Krabi already and that was just because of my room. I had bed sheets too which were welcomed with open arms. I'd not seen them since...wow, since Bangkok! I was in such a good mood I decided to treat myself. You're probably thinking I went out and bought myself something nice or had a slap-up meal. No, by treat myself, I mean to buy the things I haven't had for a long time. It was the simple things that I missed. I bought some Colgate toothpaste - I've been using travel tablets to save on room in my toiletries bag and I miss that minty fresh taste. I also wanted shaving foam as I was sick of having to use soap suds. I had no such luck with that one. Instead, I bought some fancy soap.
Wait a minute...this is no soap! Looks and tastes just like Galaxy to me.
I had a great shower and felt super clean. It's not nice walking round with a film of suncream topped with DEET mixed with the day's sweat. Cold showers just don't shift that clammy feeling. I wrapped myself in my orange (how apt) towel and spent the remainder of the evening watching TV and thinking about what trips I should do.
The next day I decided to book a trip to visit the James Bond island which includes a canoe trip in the caves. Joey offered me a discounted rate to what was listed in the leaflet which was nice. He booked it for me and told me to come to reception at 8:30am. I therefore decided to take it easy (like I need an excuse!) and visit one of the beaches. Joey kindly gave me a lift there rather than walking or paying for a tuk-tuk.
It was a nice clear and sunny day on Nopparathara beach
I had the beach almost to myself. I walked out to the shallow island area you can see in the previous photo
That is pretty much all I did that day I think...yep...beach bum. The next day I got up and started thinking about the trip I was about to go on. I hadn't had much luck with meeting new people in Koh Phangan so that day I went in with the attitude of "sod you all. I can't be arsed trying to make friends with people." I wasn't quite as outwardly stroppy as that but had it in my head that if the mountain won't come to Muhammad then it's probably not worth the effort anyway. Isn't that how the proverb goes? I know it's a bit catchier than that though. Well it actually turned out that the mountain did come to me. Ok, I'll stop speaking in proverbs or what-not. As I opened the door and entered the taxi, I looked up to see a familiar couple. In that instant we both pointed and recognised each other from the Bangkok to Chumphon bus. I mentioned the lady who I sat next to on the bus in my Just Keep Swimming blogpost. Her name IS Heidi by the way but she wasn't with her husband. They're engaged. Close enough! What a fantastic surprise. We all chatted to each other non-stop throughout the journey and was only interrupted briefly by Root, our guide for the day. It was another chance for passengers to swap tour guide stories. The Thai tour guides are very sweet and their English is usually good but they always repeat things and emphasise things. It is one of those you-have-to-be-there moments.
Jon and Heidi both confessed to experiencing problems meeting and making new friends too and pegged it down to being a couple. I guess most people would not approach a couple for fear of intruding. I certainly felt that way to begin with but, upon hearing this and their delight at having somebody new to speak to, I latched on to them for most of the trip.
Errr...James Bond Island?
Koh Pannyi - Sea Gypsy Island. I was told around 1500 people live in this floating village.
After talking the ears off of Heidi and Jon, we were offloaded onto a long tail boat headed for James Bond Island (The Man With The Golden Gun - Roger Moore). The boat ride was bumpy and we were surrounded by life jackets. We weren't sure whether to be worried or thankful. Heidi and Jon regretfully (on their part) did not sign up for the canoe trip so we split up. It was here that I met Anne and her two friends Jenna and Sarah. They were all American and work as teachers in Hong Kong. Anne asked if she could go in the front of the canoe. I didn't object but was shoved into the front by a local. I apologised to Anne and gestured to the shover proclaiming that I had no choice. I don't think Anne was convinced.
The caves were an intriguing sight and kind of spooky at certain points.
A nice view
Anne and I
It was at this point that we struck up conversation with our rower Jack. I'm not sure if that is his real name or if it is a shortened part of his original name. I grew even more suspicious when his friend Max turned up. Max was steering Sarah and Jenna behind us.
I took this just before I was almost got head injury number two!
Walking fish!
Sarah liked to sing...alot. Even more than me I think! Here Sarah is singing Hotel California.
It was time for lunch. I didn't have time to grab any breakfast so I was incredibly hungry. The food was good but one of the waitresses duped Heidi, Jon and I into thinking that soft drinks were part of the meal. They charged us double the price of what they are in the shops. The sweet fizzy drink was deliciously refreshing but the annoyance of its origins left me with a bitter aftertaste. I was also the only one who noticed the frosty demeanour of an Israeli couple sat next to me. It was only little things like not saying please and thank you, demanding a second dish and not sharing it with the table on top of their general monotone deliverance. I shook it off as a bad first impression and got on with my day.
No silly, this is James Bond Island! I look quite tanned here...no wait, that's just the shade :(
Me on a rock next to James Bond Island. I was too hot and bothered for the novelty "it looks like I'm holding up the island" photo.
The beach itself was too crowded and I wasn't too fussed with getting a photo full of random people and a bit of sand, even if Roger Moore graced it with his presence. I was quietly enjoying my Magnum when a couple asked me to take their photo. I said through gritted teeth that I would after I'd finished my ice cream. They then proceeded to have an argument about something relating to their child and waited for me to finish my ice cream. They then walked off so I had to go and find them. I wasn't going to walk off in case they shouted after me and created a scene. Again, it's too hot to argue. It was the hottest day of my stay in Krabi and I was sweating so hard. Once we had our fill of the island it was on to the monkey temple. Root kept repeating "no food, no monkey." He then went on to tell grand tales of how five monkeys climbed onto an old lady who had bananas. Everyone grinned with pleasure at the thought. They wanted monkeys!
On the bus ride over I got chatting to two Brits...two YORKSHIRE Brits. Flipping heck. It's been a while. John is from Manchester and Dave is from Chester. Despite their proximity to York, they still proceeded to make fun of my accent. How rude. I kind of liked it though. For everyone else, my accent is a novelty, but back home I get ribbed by my southern friends. It reminded me of home. The conversation was dominated by cake as, surprisingly, both guys are obsessed with cake. They tried to convince me that they love cake more than me but...well you all know full well what my feelings are on cake. They have a pretty tough battle on their hands if they want to win that crown. We swapped cake stories and discussed other things we had in common. It was so strange how similar we seemed to be. But then something happened. Something terrible. Something so grotesque, I'm not sure whether to mention it. Dave handed me his camera so I could see his photographs taken at the tiger temple. I flicked too far to the right and was greeted by the biggest pile of shit I have ever seen...literally. Apparently this is what guys do. They take photos of their poos and text them to mates. Not just any poos. Only the massive ones or hangover ones or ones after a bad curry...you get the picture. They both proudly told me their poo stories. I didn't know what to say. That is where the similarity ends of course. Obviously I don't know anything about guys as I wasn't aware of this poo party. I think I should move on...
Root announced that girls need to cover their shoulders. Arse. I had nothing but a towel. Dave kindly offered his shirt. Both guys were gentlemanly and helped me up and down the steps in the temple. The poo trauma fell to the back of my mind and I carried on having a laugh with these guys. Everyone wanted in on the monkey action. I wasn't too fussed really. Dave and John bought a heck of a lot of bananas and offloaded some on to me.
John and his new little friend.
I thought I'd get in on the action. The little ones are scrappy!
John thought it would be a good idea to put a banana on my head. Everyone watched aghast, as if a monkey was going to jump out and decapitate me. Instead, one sat on my lap and I fed and stroked him. Nobody else had gotten as close to the monkeys. I was pleased with myself.
Then John stole my thunder. Pah.
The day wasn't over just yet. We had some waterfalls to swim in. For some reason the guys didn't bring their swim stuff or a towel. I went with the girls into the first waterfall. The water was so cool that I didn't want to leave. We soon got bored and went to the second waterfall. We saw people jumping off the side. The rocks at the side of the waterfall jutted out quite far. I wouldn't want to jump in from that high anyway but if there was a group of us I'd have done it. I was already nursing head injury number one and, after seeing those rocks, I certainly wasn't willing to risk it for a chocolate biscuit. I didn't want to die so I left it to the nutters. John and Dave had fun...ahem. Sarah jumped in after many attempts to psych herself up. Sarah only just made it over the rocks. Crazy. I awkwardly climbed across to see Dave and John grinning mischievously. I'm guessing they already jumped. We stood and watched others propel themselves off the mountain ledge. Some chose to cannonball, some chose to jump with all their might and one rather mature chappy dove in head-first! I jokingly dared John to dive in and, without hesitation, he said he'd do it. I know what you're thinking, and I too thought, if an oldie can do it then I'm sure John won't have any problems. One large and, what looked to be rather painful belly flop later, John made a bashful return to the group, torso reddened with defeat. Dave was still rolling around in the water in hysterics. I couldn't stop laughing at both John's dive and Dave's reaction. I'm still not sure which was funnier. It was only then that John told us that he can't actually dive. We both said in disbelief "If you can't dive then why did you try?" For which John hopelessly replied "Well the old guy could do it." Haha!
Happily drenched, we all went back to the taxi for our ride back to our hotels. Overall, the day was awesome. I made some great friends and met up with those I never thought I'd see again. John, Dave and I arranged to meet the Americans at the Hippy Bar in Krabi. The guys were not helpful. At first they couldn't remember the name of the bar. Then when they did, they couldn't remember where it was. Luckily for me Joey was on hand to give me a lift across. I nipped out for some supplies.
You can never have too much water!
Everything looked set and then, out of nowhere, the heavens opened and it chucked it down. Not only that, but there was a massive scary thunderstorm. The cracks of the thunder were so loud, it felt like they were striking on my balcony. It's the scariest thunderstorm I've ever witnessed. I had nobody to cuddle up to either. There was still an hour until I was set to meet the guys. The thunder settled and it was just heavy rain left to battle with. That I can handle. Joey looked concerned but I wanted a night out dammit! The guys confirmed they'd be there so off I went. I was far too early but was thankful for the shelter. I was the only one in the bar. The guys warned me about the live music they play there. The singing is awful. At that point I only witnessed what can only be described as the worst piano intro to Maroon 5's This Love ever. Oh dear.
The cocktails came with flowers.
The Americans strolled into the bar all dressed up. I felt like a scab. We played card games but I wasn't up for much drinking. After our meals I started to feel ill but persevered. We had such a good night. We played a game called spoons which involved five spoons. We each have four playing cards and the aim of the game is to get four matching cards (same number from each suit). This is achieved via the passing of the cards from one person to the next from the dealer who is picking up from the deck. Once a person has the matching set they pick up a spoon. There are five spoons and six of us all together. The loser is the one without the spoon. We then moved on to Ring Of Fire or King's Cups. I'd be here all day if I explained the rules - Google it. This game caused the most laughs as you can see below.
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Dave had to sing a song on stage as a dare.
Unfortunately the Americans grew bored and stopped playing half-way through so nobody had to down the King's Cup. Lame. The night continued at some weird bar in Krabi Town. As we entered, all seemed ok. People were dancing to some shite techno music and everyone seemed happy. We went in and I tried my best to dance to it, but unless I'm drunk, I have no idea how to dance to this! I can't shake my booty to oom-tsk-oom-tsk-oom-tsk wooooo. As another song rolled out the dance floor cleared and these scantily clad Asian girls started gyrating everywhere. Everyone else started dancing as if this was normal. Maybe it was the alcohol! There were the odd tunes I could dance to so I didn't look too stiff and out of place. At one point I did feel like a granny at a rave! John went off skinny dipping apparently and Dave escorted me home.
If you're still with me, well done. I think now you can understand why it took me so long to post this update! I have one more trip to tell you about in Krabi before I move on to my time in Phi Phi.
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