Krabi, Thailand

We are in Thailand now! We flew into Krabi a couple days ago and have just begun exploring the area. Yesterday we had a failed attempt at visiting Khao Phanom Bencha National Park, which are supposed have some pretty waterfalls. We rented a motorbike and started our 20 km journey with the sun shining brightly in the sky. We were about 10 km along on the road when we realized that we were riding into a rainstorm. There were grey clouds above us and everything was misty in the distance. Then, without much warning it started pouring down on us full force! The drops were so big and hard that they stung my face and I had to close my eyes. Luckily, Leslie was wearing sunglasses, so he was still able to keep his eyes open as he drove! We pulled over under a small shelter on the side of the highway, where other motor bikers were also seeking protection from the downpour. We were hoping to wait it out, but the rain just wouldn't stop. Finally, after a last brave attempt at driving through the rain, we reluctantly turned around and drove back to Krabi.

Just before we leave for the tour


Today we got a lot luckier with the weather. It was beautiful and sunny all day long. We took a tour of some of the islands surrounding Krabi, including Bamboo Island and Ko Phi Phi. The tour was fun, but a little rushed and very touristy. We were packed into a small motor boat with 36 other tourists and shuttled around from one location to the next. At each spot, there were about 10 other tour companies doing the exact same thing, so you can imagine the masses of humanity that were all hoping to see what we wanted to see. And I don't blame them, because it definitely was beautiful! The islands are huge limestone formations jutting out of the water in all different shapes and sizes. The limestone is partially covered with lush vegetation, creating a breath-taking contrast between the beige rock and vibrant green plants. The beaches themselves have some of the whitest, softest sand that I have ever experienced and the surrounding water is turquoise and crystal clear.


An old bird nest collecting site. The nests are prized for swallow nest soup

One of our stops was Maya Beach, the famous beach that was used in the movie The Beach. It would have been quite picturesque, had it not been crawling with half-naked tourists. It was also sad to see that people had been littering trash into the water. It really angers me that some people don't respect such rare natural beauty. Even one of the staff members from our tour threw his cigarette butt in the water!

The view from Maya Beach

The last stop was the middle of the ocean, where we got to do some snorkeling. This was actually my favorite part because the coral that we saw was really neat. I have never seen so many different species of coral...there was coral that looked like large smooth mountains, flat red coral that spiraled upward, coral that was tipped with blue edges, brain coral, and much more. Besides the usual tropical fish, there were also a lot of different-colored giant clams. Leslie and I had a lot of fun playing with them, because they would shut there shells whenever you stuck you hand too close.