Krabi Is Full Of Surprises - Part Two

I was still feeling rubbish from last night. I'm not sure what was wrong with me. I wasn't sick but had bad stomach cramps. Dave whispered "have you got the aches" to me the night before. I couldn't stop laughing. No! I wish. I felt much worse than that. The guys were sweet to me all night and kept checking to see if I was ok. It was refreshing to be in the company of nice people, genuine or not, I enjoyed their company.

Due to me feeling lousy, I decided to have a bed day. I did nothing, zero, sweet fa. I had nothing but my TV for company. It was great! There was no way that I could face the heat. I still had a couple of days left in Krabi and didn't fancy going to the beach again. Joey (hotel owner) told me that he took some hungover residents to the local all natural hot springs. They were suffering from the after-effects of the full moon party. I know that feeling. I asked Joey how to get there but he said it's too far for a taxi, as in it'd cost a lot to go on my own. Damn my lack of Krabi friends. Dave and John headed out to Koh Phi Phi and would be heading back home before I had chance to see them again. They were only in Thailand for a three week holiday. I had no idea what the Americans were doing and didn't have their contact details to check. Joey showed me a tour I could go on that included the springs. It was only around 10GBP so I went for it.

It was another early start for the trip and, as usual, I had a terrible night's sleep. I wasn't too fussed as I thought I'd just snooze on the bus. I boarded the bus and there was one other girl on there. I was too tired to talk so grabbed a solo seat near the back. The dirver made two or three other stops and picked up the rest. Our guide, yo-yo or jo-jo (male) asked us to all introduce ourselves. The girl I saw before announced her name, Milou and said she's from Holland. Poor Milou was shifted to the front of the bus, right next to the driver, so the others could sit together. I'm glad they chose her as I wouldn't have been happy not having a proper seat. The rest of the passengers were all Malaysian and didn't seem to speak much English. Well either that or they were anti-social! Milou and I soon paired up and spent the rest of the day together. 

First stop was the Emerald Pool.

We swam around for a bit but, as beautiful as it was, I got a little bored. The pool was quite shallow and there wasn't that much to see. Milou and I headed out in search of another pool there. We were told we couldn't swim in it but we had nothing else to do. The other passengers were really slow at getting into the water. Most actually stayed out and watched from the sides. They do know that this trip is mainly water-based right? Milou and I giggled to ourselves and went off through the jungle.

The wooden slat pathway was unstable in parts! I had a few close calls.

We decided to get up close and personal with nature.

...and then we saw it. The Blue Pool. Wow. It was a great sight.

We took photos of the Malaysians so it was only polite that they return the favour. Look at how brown my arms are compared to the rest of me. Still pasty as ever though. I'm working on it people!

I managed to take a few photos of the rainforest when, naturally, it started to rain.

We moved on to the trip's highlight...the hot springs. It was bliss.

One of the Malaysian couples leaned over and asked if we had anything like this in our home countries. I'm not aware of any all natural hot springs in the UK. I know there are spas and hot springs in the UK but I think they're artificial. I could be wrong of course. I believe Milou stated the same about her home country. Our time at the springs was over far too quickly but it was starting to get a little crowded. I felt so clean and refreshed. Milou and the guide kept ribbing me about how tired I was. The hot springs certainly didn't help. I was ready to have a rest. We stopped briefly for lunch and moved on to the jungle trek and tiger temple. Milou and I were the only ones from the group not doing the elephant trek. I'd already been in Bangkok so was fine opting out of this one. Milou and I were left to our own devices so had a gander through the jungle.

There were caves similar to the ones I saw near the James Bond island.

There were giant trees which looked extraordinary. I'd never seen anything like them.

No shit!

We moved on when Milou spotted something. Can you see it?

Milou ran away which was expected after she previously revealed her fear of snakes to me! I wasn't that bothered so went in for a closer inspection (above). I couldn't fit the whole thing in one frame so thought I'd take a shot of it's face so you can see it's not a twig!

We thought the jungle trek would take longer but we were done within 20 minutes. By this point, it was late in the day and I could have really done with a nap. We then pondered the thought of trekking up the 1237 steps to the top of the mountain...

Tiger temple without the real tigers like Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

That looks like a lot of steps.

I was left with the options of either sitting down for over an hour until we boarded the bus and went home or tackle the mountain climb. Not only can I not stand sitting around doing nothing (cordoned off lazy days are completely different), but I saw this mountain climb as a challenge. Post Fuji-San, I felt I had something to prove. Milou was less enthusiastic as she was just getting over a bout of sickness. The other passengers wanted to take up the challenge. They said to me that last year they came and made it to the 960th step but couldn't go any further and returned. This story came from an incredibly slim and seemingly athletic girl. I wondered what pain awaited me!

Man these steps were steep! Every so often I saw a number painted in red on the blue posts indicating the step number I was at. It helped...a lot!

Wow. I wasn't even half way up and I wanted to take photos of the view.

The steps became even steeper. I wasn't necessarily regretting my decision but knew that there was no going back. I was exhausted but ploughed on.

About three quarters of the way up...

and higher still...

I made it. Cue the music - Tune! Gonna fly noooooow. What a song. I was singing this to myself (inside my head...there were people around!) as I circled the mountain platform.

Don't look down...too late!

What a view.

The Buddha.

A bit more of a perspective on how high up I am...gulp!

I glanced at my watch and realised I only had around 15 minutes to get back to the bus. Uh-oh. So began the descent. It was harder than I thought it would be. I couldn't run down the steps as they were so steep and the momentum would most likely send me flying. I almost fell off one mountain, that's enough scares for me! As I neared the bottom I saw some old friends.

There were these two girls with their mother. They were freaking out big time. I thought that if I walked through them and they saw how the monkeys are more scared me of me than I am of them, that they'd shut up. My intentions were actually genuine. I felt bad for them and wanted to help. I took the above photo quickly. My legs started to shake - I was tired and working on one small meal. My body understandably couldn't handle it. The girls laughed as they thought I was scared. Pah! I strolled down and the monkeys fled. The girls followed and the bloody monkeys jumped back. The girls went absolutely mental. They burst into tears, squealed and screamed as if someone was scratching their eyes out. One of the girls leapt forward like Superman. Surely she'd do more damage flinging herself down steps than being grabbed by a monkey. What a loon. I'd had enough and left the mum to it. I tried.

I made it just in the nick of time. I noticed that I didn't see any of the Malaysians or Milou on the way down. They gave up which means that I was the only one in the tour group to make it to the top. Wait for it...Yes! Pop the hip baby! I was happy, very happy.

I thought that our day was over but we stopped off at a souvenir shop. Pfft. I saw a cafe and thought they'd be able to provide me with a much needed sugar fix. I had a mocha frappe with rainbow sprinkles. It was awesome and dirt cheap. I was even happier. Milou and I decided to have a snoop around the souvenir shop. The shop workers thrusted cake and cookie samples at me. Hey, I don't need asking twice! Milou told me about how the guide had spent most of the trip persuing her. He asked for her number, Facebook details and wanted to meet her again. Crikey! Normally I'm the one who gets the weirdos!

I went a little crazy but I wasn't sure when I'd next find decent sweets!

The day was over and I was smiling. The next day I made my way to Koh Phi Phi. I was a little nervous like I always am when moving to a new place. I shouldn't have been as I had a great time but that's another story...