The three of us ventured to Railay Beach for the day by a longtail boat ride through crystal clear, turquoise blue waters to an unbelievable beach. The limestone cliffs edged the beach waters providing a great cliff jumping opportunity for the thrill seekers that we are (a 25 foot drop into the water). We lounged in the sun and swam in the warm water all day absorbing the beautifl atmosphere around us. We enjoyed fruit shakes and papaya salad for lunch from a kitchen off a small boat before we headed back to Krabi for dinner and nightlife.
The next day we headed to one of the most popular locations in Thailand, Ko Phi Phi Island. Picture Hawaii's clear waters times ten. We took a ferry boat there and were pleasantly surprised by the coral reefs practically poking through the green-blue water we were about to enjoy for the next 3 nights.
We stayed in hilltop bungalows on a private beach at the Viking Inn. The only people around were the guests at the resort so it was extra relaxing and peaceful for us to soak up sunrays there. We would walk into town for dinner and then enjoy the town's nightlife or a Muay Thai boxing match, before heading back to our private sanctuary for peace and quiet. Ko Phi Phi had great nightlife to offer, including late night parties on the beaches where some of the most talented fire dancers we've seen performed with poi or a staff. They even lit a jump rope on fire and people from the bar were jumproping on the sand with the lighted rope. Very cool stuff.
The next day, the three of us took a sunset snorkelling cruise around the various beaches of Ko Phi Phi. We saw monkeys at Monkey Beach, we snorkelled at Ko Phi Phi Le where we saw amazing puffer fish and coral, and played smashball on Maya Beach (where they filmed the movie, The Beach). After that, we enjoyed a buffet dinner on the boat while watching the sunset create gorgeous colored patterns in the sky.
Seth had to return to Bangkok to meet another friend so we said goodbye to our honorary guest and helped fill his bag with a few things that were weighing us down. Thanks Seth, we'll be sure to pick those up from you when we return. :)
Since the weather was hot and Todd's 'fro was out of control, he decided to chop it off bald. I was pretty happy with that decision because I was competing with his big hair in the photographs we took. His scalp was WHITE. It had never seen sunlight as you could tell. It looked like he was entering the military. Now we're used to it and he enjoys not having to use shampoo.
From a traveller's recommendation, we next ventured to the island of Ko Lanta for a week. It was supposed to be more mellow and quiet than Ko Phi Phi and offered some great beaches so we were excited to unpack and make a home for ourselves there. We found a great backpacker's village of bungalows called the Funky Fish Resort. We had a very clean, large room with hardwood floors and a hot shower and we were a 2 minute walk from the beach so we decided to settle in there for the week.
We rented a scooter and toured the island. One day we toured the Mai Mai Caew Cave with a small group and a guide. We crawled through tight spaces, climbed ladders inside and walked over bamboo stick bridges to explore. A headlamp was definitely needed as well as grippy sneakers. At the end of the cave was a room filled with bats. Most of them were sleeping as they are nocturnal, but a few flew over our heads which was an authentic experience you don't get at the zoo.
We filled another couple of days beach hopping, hiking to waterfalls and zooming around on our scooter. Todd visited the Island's National Park one day and got surrounded by some mean monkeys which ended his trek short. They hissed at him and blocked the path so he decided to return to homebase. Good call Todd, I don't want to have to inject rabie shots on you. :)
Our most memorable day on Ko Lanta would have to be the day of SCUBA we treated ourselves to at Ko Bida Island. We dove with Blue Planet Divers which was a great company with trustworthy equipment and staff. They offered to put our tanks together for us but we needed a refresher so we did it ourselves. Neither Todd nor I are seasoned divers yet, so we were not anticipating anything too large in the water since we've never witnessed anything bigger than a sea turtle. However, we were pleasantly suprised by one of the most amazing underwater experiences either of us have endured.
We started our dive and descended down about 35 feet where we explored the area's coral reefs, colorful fish and good visibility. All of a sudden, I looked up and saw what I thought was a large boat above me. To my surprise, it was actually a whale shark! The SCUBA instructor pointed to it and gave the underwater sign for amazing which means we were seeing something stellar and unexpected. The whale shark was an adolescent so he wasn't full size yet, but he measured about 20 feet long and had incredible stripes and white markings. He was peaceful and eats plankton, so there was no danger by being near him. He swam 15 feet below the surface so he was above us for a few minutes circling around while we ditched our SCUBA route to hang out with him. Even the SCUBA instructors were high-fiving underwater because it could take hundreds of dives before you see a whale shark, yet we only had 10 dives under our belt to witness this great sight. The whale shark hung out with us for a total of 30 minutes underwater and our group got some great pictures and video of him that we will have to share when we recieve the evidence. But until then, you'll have to take our word for it. The shark was large and in charge and we were very lucky to catch a glimpse of him. Besides the whale shark, we also saw two leopard sharks on the ocean floor, but after seeing the huge shark on our first dive, nothing could compare to his grace and size. It was a great day for diving and we all smiled on our boat ride back to land because we knew we were lucky that day.
Our last destination on our Thailand island tour was Ko Tao. We had a full week there as well and found a great bungalow built on the cliffs just yards away from the bay. We had a balcony overlooking Shark Point which is a great snorkelling spot to swim with black tip sharks only a few feet below. We did find sharks there and swam with 6 of them for awhile along with many other schools of fish. Besides snorkelling, we scootered around town beach hopping a couple of days, hiked to Liam Thian's hidden beach, and laid in the sun at Independence Beach on hammocks. Ko Tao is known for inexpensive dives and SCUBA certification in Thailand so Todd decided to get his advanced certification so he can SCUBA deeper than 60 feet. He went down to 100 feet on one dive, practiced his buoyancy on another, learned about fish recognition on his fourth dive and did a night dive in the dark with a torch to light up the underwater life after the sun had set. It only took him two days to complete and now he can dive to great depths to see ship wrecks and caves next time we're at a SCUBA destination. I on the other hand, opted to work on my tan instead and stick to the depths of 60 feet and above, especially now that I've seen a whale shark looming at shallow dephs. :)
Our last couple of days on Ko Tao, we ran into some of our British traveller friends we had met in Vietnam of all places so we hung out with them and learned a few fun games we can bring back to the States. We also woke up early on Superbowl Monday (time difference) to catch the 4th quarter of the Superbowl. We both had a feeling the Steelers would take it and sure enough, they did. Sorry Arizona fans.
After 3 weeks in the Thailand beaches, and our visa coming to an end, we made our plans to head to India next which we had heard so many interesting and amazing stories about. Since India is completely different from all of the other countries we had visited, we were excited to be culuture shocked and switch things up a bit. Todd can update you about Northern India in a few weeks once we settle in and have some good stories to share with you all!
Stay tuned...
T&A
