We went to the beach at Ao Nang for the day, not realizing that it was a 45 minute sawngtao ride away. Krabi, itself (that is, Krabi Town in Krabi Province) is an industrial town, and there's not much for tourists to do. It is more of a jumping off point. Once in Ao Nang, we realized that we probably should've stayed in this area, but no regret. Just a note - "Cozy" Guesthouse was the first place that Kara completely took over in the decision-making, so I had a field day with this one. Ah, the joy of being sisters.
After the spoiling beaches of Ko Phi Phi, there was no way that Ao Nang Beach was even comparable. We were only lying on our sarongs for about fifteen minutes, when the rain clouds came. We pulled ourselves into the nearest bar - a Mexican Restaurant. And even though I've tried Mexican food over and over again, and swore it off in Thailand over and over again, I still can't bear to completely give up. We got some nachos. They were a bust. But, we also had a Corona, which was a heavenly taste to me, after solely drinking Chang - the Thai national beer, for months on end now. It turned out the rain wasn't going to let up anytime soon, so we decided to make a late afternoon/ early evening of it, and ordered more and more beer - Chang after the first, as it's significantly cheaper. We had a blast (and I can't believe I'm even using that word) to say the least. We finally decided to move on, despite the rain. We caught another sawngtao back to Krabi, showered, changed, and went out for some more at a local bar/ tattoo restaurant nearby "Cozy".
The next day - our last full day (sniffles) - Kara and I went on a snorkeling/ kayaking full-day trip with Sea Kayak Krabi. The first part of the day was all snorkeling. We headed off into open water in a longtail boat with the boat driver, A - our guide, and an older couple in their 50s from Australia, originally from South Africa. They were pretty hardcore. And they ended up doing the entire day tour with us, and proved themselves to be much more hardcore than Kara and I - and made Kara and I look like wimps. It was quite amusing.
It all began with this rock:
The longtail boat docked right where this picture is taken from. A then told us that this was our first snorkeling stop, and that the reef surrounding the rock was beautiful. The Australian/ South African couple jumped in first; we reluctantly followed. First excuse: it was still early in the morning, and out in open water like this, well, it honestly was quite cold! We had no fins or wet suits. Just us, a snorkel mask and this rock out in open water. We followed the elderly couple. They looked like they knew what they were doing. About 15 minutes into the snorkeling adventure, someone spotted a school of baracudas. Kara and I freaked out. Wait, let me explain this. I know and Kara knows that barracudas are harmless, but they were so close and there were so many! And they looked mean, and the water was so clear, and dark and creepy. And there was no one else around. The elderly couple had already moved on. I came up above the water to a slight panic, and then my panic set Kara's panic off. And then even though I knew there was nothing to panic about, I all of the sudden started laughing from panicking. I got the giggles. And having the giggles made me start to drown. Meanwhile, Kara spotted a huge jellyfish, came up, and said "Lia, their following us. The shool of barracudas and the jellyfish are following us. I'm going back to the boa." I quickly followed. The panic, giggles and drowning had cost me all my energy. We were back on the boat, and then we felt extremely silly and started making fun of each other. Meanwhile the elderly couple continued to snorkel for maybe the next half hour. When they came back, they couldn't stop raving about how "pristine" the reef was, and that it was one of the best they've seen in Thailand yet. Oh well, we missed it, us scaredy cats. It perhaps as one of those sister moments that you just had to witness to truly get it. Kara and I shrunk in our seats. I still couldn't stop laughing at myself, at us, at how ridiculous we were to be frightened!
Next stop: Kayaking through the lagoon. Originally, we were going to go there by longtail boat, but I made a comment about kayaking - which I regretted later. With Kara and I in one kayak, the elderly couple in another, and A in his own, we kayaked around some limestone cliffs, through a passageway, around the bend, and into this amazing hidden lagoon. It took our breath away. Speechless. The crystal clear, refreshing lagoon water was ankle high. And we were alone. It was beautiful.
A pulling his kayak along in the lagoon.
We then kayaked back. I only regretted it because we were to do so much kayaking later that day, and our arms were already tired after this expedition.
We then headed back to the longtail boat, and relaxed for an hour in Than Bok Khorani National Park - set on a little island with a beautiful inlet, perfect for paradise relaxation and snorkeling. To make up for the last snorkeing mishap, Kara and I spent most of the entire hour with our faces underwater, checking out the whole bay. The visibility was awesome!
After a stop back at shore for a feast, we headed out into open water in our kayaks with a new guide. We headed into the mangroves. Our new guide told us that the company just recently started taking tourists into these mangroves, and that it's still a new thing. So, we were the only tourists to visit today, and in a few weeks! The canals were narrow and muddy, and somewhere behind the mangroves were gibbons - though, we didn't see any. Our guide took us through a cave:
We then kayaked back out and into the open water to head for the big caves and cliffs. This is where all tourists go. It was unbelievable:
However, the trip from the mangroves to here was not easy, at least not for Kara and I. We had such difficulty kayaking that far through the rough waters, that we stopped and gave up mulitple times. We weren't frustrated, just feeling quite pathetic as the older couple had no problem keeping up with the guide. They had to stop and wait for us quite a few times. When we finally reached the towering, looming karst cliffs, a massive rainstorm hit. Because of this, we weren't able to grab to many photos. However, it lightened up every now and then, that I could get a shot or two. On our way back out, the storm really hit. We were now kayaking through open water, tired beyond belief, soaking wet and of course, I got the giggles again. I suppose Kara brings it out in me. I started laughing so hard, that I just couldn't paddle anymore. Our guide also fell into a laughing hysterically mood, and started a water splashing fight. We all participated and it was a glorious time. It took us forever to get back to shore. And it was still raining.
The van back to the hotel blasted the A/C... and Kara and I got a cold. Mine was to turn into pneumonia... but that post is to come later. Kara and I got back to "Cozy" drenched, happy and drained of all energy. We spent our last night curled up in bed watching t.v. It was such a wonderful day; and really hard to grasp in photographs and words. I love you Kara!
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