Thailand - Day 5

Monday, December 3, 2012

Today we were up bright and early for a tour of the Phi Phi islands.  Our first stop was Bamboo beach. Some of the most beautiful blue water I've ever seen.  The main beach was a bit crowded so a few of us trekked over some rocks to a more private area.  We didn't have much time here, only about 40 minutes and it went quickly.  Back at the boat, I took a dip in clear water, it was so refreshing!

Next stop was a place they called the Room.  It was an area enclosed by the large rock mountains.  Absolutely gorgeous and we all jumped off the boat.  The water is so salty, it keeps you afloat easily.  We stayed about 30 minutes there and then headed over to Phi Phi Lay where the Beach was filmed.  Talk about crowded!!  You could barely see the sand!  We left quickly.

The boat was rocking..hence the tilt!

where The Beach was filmed...doesn't look as crowded here but it was insane!

When non-photogs get ahold of my camera!  Love this anyways!

The bride took this shot....see me and Michele up front!

Next stop was Phi Phi Don, the larger island for lunch.  We ate and I got an ice cream and beer and ended up back in the clear water for a long time.  So relaxing.  We had one last stop, snorkeling.  There wasn't much to see, a few pretty fish.  I kept getting stung by something. Michele was throwing bread in the water near me and the fish were swarming - I reached out and touched a few and one nibbled on my finger.

We got back to land about 4pm and took a bus home.

Just after getting back, Ashleigh asked if I wanted to go see the monkeys down the beach.  A group of us headed down there. They are just roaming around on the beach!  They aren't afraid of people, one came up to me and pulled my skirt! Keith was sitting on the wall and they stole his beer and proceeded to have sex almost on top of him. Funniest thing ever!!

Keith's new buddy

Oh my!!

Jeff, Pari, Keith, Jackie & Ashleigh

We all went back to freshen up and we met up later for dinner and drinks.  We went back to that Indian place again and Pari (who is Indian) ordered up a feast for us to share.  Fantastic food and I tried new things!

After we ended up at Popcorn Bar again.

We had a few rounds of drinks and then a few of the guys wandered off to a bar a few doors down.  Eventually the rest of the group either left or met up with the guys at the new bar.

There was a lady boy there (Tina) that we came to find out was pre-op (i saw with my own eyes).  She had a crush on Pari and of course he was not having it.  She stripped him of his shirt and climbed the stripper pole and placed his shirt at the top.  Pari had to climb up and get it (very impressive, Pari).  She kept teasing him, wearing his undershirt.  We stayed pretty late laughing and drinking lots of beer until Jackie and I decided it was time and we went home to sleep.

Jackie, Tina & Ash

Tina trying to assault Pari

Thailand Day 4

December 2, 2012 - Ao-Nang, Krabi, Thailand

My last blog ended with the sun rising after a night of drinking.  Ashleigh and I rushed down to the ocean (which we discovered was the Andaman Ocean) and watched the beautiful sunrise knee deep in warm water.  It was truly magical.

Ashleigh!

We went to the breakfast buffet after that, where Ash promptly popped another Chang beer.  We were cracking up and still a little drunk.  After, we planned to meet down by the pool for some rays, but I never made it.  I needed a nap!  I took about a 3 hour nap and Michele and I went down by the pool to relax.

I got a 3 hour massage, manicure and pedicure that day (spent 400BHT - about $15).  That night the planned activity was the Night Market.  We all loaded in to two taxis and took a trip in to Krabi Town.

Ash & Dan in the taxi

The Night Market was fun - very crowded.  Lots of things to eat, most of which I didn't recognize.  I had my first young coconut and fell in love with it.  I also had some pad thai, fried rice and deep fried ice cream!

me and my new favorite drink!

Making spicy papaya salad

handmade soaps for sale

The group went out again that night (of course) but this time Jackie and I called it early and went home before most everyone did.  Ok before Pari, Jeff and Ash. haha  Hey, we had an early morning boat trip to the Phi Phi Islands to attend!

Thailand Day 3

December 1, 2012 - Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand

We woke up at the same time as the sunrise this morning.  It was quite beautiful and I could see most of it from bed, once the curtains were wide open.  We didn't have to be anywhere until 9:30 so I just relaxed and struggled to find decent Internet.

At 9:30 was the welcome brunch for the wedding guests.  The activities leading up to the day were optional but since we didn't know the area - we were all for meeting everyone and doing what the group did (and Donna, the bride, graciously included us in everything).  We took a tuk-tuk (a motorcycle like taxi) down to Ao-Nang Villas for about 30BHT each ($1).  The Villas were gorgeous! An obvious difference from the motel we were staying at up the road.  Breakfast buffet was great and this was the first introduction to most of the guests!  Everyone was so nice.

The front of Ao-Nang Villas - the beloved King's photo is everywhere! 

After brunch, Michele & I decided to switch hotels.  It ended up costing us a little more out of pocket but it was worth the upgrade.  We settled in to the new hotel with a view of the pool.  --->

We were getting hungry again so we ventured out and came to this Indian/Thai/Italian restaurant nearby (this is pretty common especially in tourist areas, to have multiple types of food).  I had a beer and tikka masala and Michele had pad thai.  It was very tasty!

Yummy Tikka Masala and garlic naan

Our view from lunch, you can see a tuk-tuk behind the motorcycles

We did some exploring of Ao-Nang after lunch.  Walked down to see the Long Tail boats (water taxis), had a nice beach massage at our hotel, laid on the beach & explored our hotel grounds.

I tried to make friends but they were scaredy-cats!

I didn't want to go to bed early again so I made plans to meet up with some of the guests for dinner and drinks.  Little did I know what I was getting myself in to!  A few of the guests had already found Krabi's "Red Light District" which consisted of one small street with a dozen tiny bars.  Girls (and lady-boys, some more obvious than others) would stand out front and try to entice you to come in.  If you were male and alone they would physically entice you by touching and grabbing.   The night before they had settled at the Popcorn Bar so that's where we headed again (and would become our regular hangout the rest of the week).  

We drank, chatted, played Connect 4 (all the bars have games like this) and people watched.  This red light district was pretty mild in comparison to the rest of Thailand, but super fun.  Slowly people started headed home until it was just me, Ashleigh and Jeff (husband and wife).  Ashleigh and i had totally hit it off since we discovered we had matching cherry tattoos!  We talked the night away.  At one point this young drunk Russian guy came over to us and started talking.  He had ulterior motives (had a bet with his buddies he could get me to buy him a drink) but was super funny and super drunk so we all talked to him awhile.  He kept gushing over how pretty Ashleigh was.  We called his equally drunk friends over (6 of them total, men and women) and did a round of Vodka shots with them.  Then the one we called Russian Cowboy whipped out his harmonica and serenaded us. So random and so funny. 

Ashleigh and the Russian Cowboy - whose dream was to visit the USA, buy a Harley and drive up Route 66

We shut down the red light district around 3am.  It was dark...just our bar open for us!  We stumbled back to the hotel and decided we weren't tired yet.  So I went back to their room and we continued the party on their balcony.  We drank and talked until the sun rose!  Which will have to be the start of my next blog since it's the next day!  :-)

Thailand - Day 1 & 2

Nov 29 & 30, 2012

We left for LAX on Wednesday night, our long flight leaving just after midnight.  We got lucky with no person in the middle seat so stretching out was easier.  I was asleep 30 minutes in to takeoff.  I slept 10 hours straight! I could not believe it when I woke up.  Poor Michele slept about 4 off and on.  I watched a movie with my remaining 4 hours and also some TV.

We landed in Hong Kong airport - so nice and clean.  And very high end.  We found our way through transfers and to the gate.  Hooray for free wifi!  We got a small snack and boarded shortly after to Bangkok.

Flying in to Hong Kong

Our flight to Bangkok was uneventful.  We landed and got through immigration and bag check with no hassle.  We stood in line to check in to our flight to Krabi when Michele realized our plane was leaving in 20 minutes. Oops...should have planned more time for the layover!  Of course we were standing in the wrong check out line...when we got to the correct one, she had to call the gate to make sure we could still board!  We ran our asses all the way to the gate and made it just in time - huffing and puffing!


It was a quick one hour flight but they fed us this hotdog thing that gave me heartburn.  We landed in Krabi and were hit with a wall of humidity.  Our bags weren't as lucky as we were...they did not show up on that same flight.

<------ After 24 hours total travel time, waiting for our missing bags in the Krabi airport.

Donna + Matt (the bride and groom) were generously waiting for us outside the airport.  They welcomed us with hugs and goodie bags and drove us to the hotel. They had to pick up family members at the airport later so they graciously grabbed our bags then!



We got to the hotel and finally got up to the room.  It's a cheap room (about $40 a night) but comfy enough. I hope the construction next door doesn't start at the crack of dawn!  We lounged around the room (okay, checked internet) for a bit and then went outside to find money and food among other things!

View from our room

It was raining slightly when we got outside.  It was a welcome feeling mixed with the warm air.  We found a bank ATM and scoped out the places nearby.  We decided an oil massage was  great idea and both got an hour long one for about $10.  Awesome.  Relaxing with a bit of pain, just what I like. I plan on getting one every day i'm here.  We stopped at this hole in the wall called Ton Sai Restaurant and got beer, pad thai and soup.  Quite yummy and the whole meal for 2 was only 290BHT (around $8 or so).  Loving how cheap Thailand is!

It was getting dark and we still aren't familiar with the area so we went back to the hotel to shower and see if our bags arrived (they did).  Michele was still exhausted so she passed out early.  Seems silly to be going to bed at 8pm but I am tired too...alas!