the adventure continues...

SO... we are currently in Krabitown, on the western coast of Thailand. The trip has been the adventure of a lifetime, and we are on our final countdown to the end... only one week left! We are both exhausted, but not ready to come home... we are loving life on the road. But responsibilities can't be put off anymore, so we will be back in the good ol' SLC next week. While we are here, though, we are determined to make the most of our precious time... and we are definitely doing just that!

We arrived here late Saturday night, after a LONG day of traveling... about 9 hours between boats and buses to get us from the island of Koh Tao to Krabi. Thankfully we had already booked rooms at a local guesthouse, so we didn't have to deal with the touts shoving pamphlets of information in our faces about their "special deals." Our guesthouse, Good Dream, is run by an American guy, and we are quite grateful for him and his American perspective. Didn't realize how much I appreciate American sense of humor either... haha. Our little fan-cooled room is a perfect little escape for us, and we feel quite comfortable here. And, an extra bonus that we weren't expecting, we get 1-hr free internet for every night that we stay here! We LOVE that part. And they have movies here every night, so if we aren't out around town, we hang out in the common area and watch the featured movie with other fellow backpackers. We love this environment.

Our first night, we wandered down the street to the local night food market -- delicious pad thai cooked to order for only 25B! That's less than a dollar... we can't get enough. That or the delicious banana pancakes. My favorite is the banana cinnamon chocolate... or banana coconut. Both are amazing. And only about 30B. SO CHEAP. And SO delectable. :) After wandering around town, we decided to come back and crash... get some sleep before hitting up the beach the next day. Sunday morning, we awoke refreshed and ready to get some sun! Not that we haven't had enough already... but we caught a ride on the longtail boat taxi to Rai Leh beach... one of the most gorgeous beaches in Thailand. And I'm not exaggerating. It was idyllic. We made it out there around noon, and spent the afternoon relaxing on the white sand and swimming in the aquamarine water. It was wonderful. We had to leave before the sunset, unfortunately, to catch the boat back to our little town. I've heard the sunsets from that beach are unreal. But once we get to Koh Phi Phi on Thursday, we'll have a few more to enjoy. Sunday night we spent watching Slumdog Millionaire (LOVE that movie) and relaxing in our guesthouse. We love it here!

Our guesthouse also serves as a tour agency, and they book various excursions for other companies in the area. And they get discounted prices for all the tours, so we've been taking advantage. Yesterday, we decided to take a speed boat tour of Koh Phi Phi and the surrounding islands... unfortunately for us, the weather was not cooperative. Our speedboat was FULL - probably about 25 people on it... and then the wind picked up, making for a VERY bumpy ride. Julie and I claimed seats at the very front, and we were so grateful that we did... as the boat was tossed across the sea, those who were seasick could not hold back... we looked back to the rear of our boat periodically and saw a few people with their heads in trashbags. We couldn't handle it... the sounds and smells we are bit much, so we kept our heads forward and focused on the trip ahead. I felt so bad for the people that were stuck in the back though... I'm sure that put a damper on their experience. Our first stop was a lagoon... forgive me, I can't remember the name... but it was gorgeous. We had to stay in our boat, but we putted our way through and admired the towering limestone cliffs that stretched up about 300 feet above us, and then peered into the crystal-clear water below and counted the multi-colored little fish that followed our boat. We also got to see "Viking Cave" (apparently named for some old paintings on the walls of the cave of a viking ship - we were unable to see it) which is now home to Thai men who care for swallow nests. I guess "Bird's Egg Soup" is a chinese delicacy, and they use swallow's eggs. Interesting to see and learn about. Our next stop was another bay, where we were able to get out and snorkel... amazing visibility, and the variety of fish in these waters is so much more diverse! We've had fun trying to find all the fish from the movie "Finding Nemo"... we have yet to find Nemo though. That's our goal when we snorkel tomorrow :) After snorkelling, we made our way around to Maya Beach, where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. Also a spectacular beach. Idyllic. I can't get enough! If only beaches like these were more accessible back home... guess I'll just have to travel some more! haha. We ate lunch in the town on Phi Phi's TonSai Bay, which, for those who remember, was devastated by the tsunami in December 2004. It is still in the process of being rebuilt, but is mostly up and running. The Thai people of that area are resilient -- they did not waste any time to get back to work and rebuild their lives. We will be staying on that island from Thursday-Sunday this week, and we are excited to explore the town and do some shopping... as well as relax on the beaches there :) After lunch, we went snorkeling at Monkey Beach, aptly named for the numerous monkeys that inhabit the trees in the area surrounding the sand... they have claimed that little strip of sand as their own, and therefore we watched from the water as they chased each other around and played with various left-over items from careless tourists. Our final stop was Bamboo Island... a beautiful little gem in the middle of the Andaman Sea. We were exhausted from the day's activities, so we found some shade and enjoyed some time to ourselves to read. It was a nice break from the masses that we had been following the entire day (seems to be that most tour groups in the area follow the same itinerary, so we were with multiple boats full of people for the duration of our tour). Our return trip was definitely not smooth... probably worse than we had experienced all morning. We didn't mind so much, as long as we were away from those sick in the back. It was quite the roller coaster ride though! We laughed and shrieked the whole way back to Ao Nang (the beach town our boat left from). A long and exhausting yet enjoyable day.

Today we decided to test our rock climbing skills on the limestone cliffs of Rai Leh. This area is known around the world to be a rock climbing mecca... people travel here specifically to scale the massive cliffs that tower high above the quiet bay below. We went out with a local guide and had the opportunity to climb 5 different routes up some tricky walls. It was gorgeous scenery, and the rocks were NOT easy to ascend! But we conquered them, with a little will-power and a lot of sweat. Our guide was impressed with us and our prior experience, so he definitely gave us a challenge. We appreciated it though. After 3 hours of climbing, our arms were spent, but we never gave up! The last climb was the longest and probably the most difficult... and it made reaching the top that much more rewarding. We thoroughly enjoyed our day, and are now taking time to let our bodies recooperate. I'm thinking a massage is in order... :)

We still have a couple more days in Krabi before we make our way to Phi Phi... we are savoring our remaining time here in Thailand, and still have many things left on our agenda to see and do. So, until next time... cheur gun mai!