Krabi, Thailand
We saw the movie “the Impossible” which documented one family’s ordeal surviving the 2006 Tsunami that devastated the beach communities in southern Thailand. We decided on the region of Krabi which is northeast of Phuket and fortunately it was not damaged as severely as Phuket. We expect to spend a few nice relaxing days of snorkel and kayak to recover the 30 plus hours of traveling from the snowy Columbia, MO to the hot (90s) and steaming Bangkok. The Golden Beach Hotel is located on a tree lined beach and the whole area is packed full of European tourists. After a meal of mango salad, mixed sea food and rice in a coconut shell and a traditional full body Thai message plus a good night sleep, we are ready to enjoy our activities in the Andaman sea. We booked tours to Koh Phi Phi and Koh Hong, two islands that are 30-45 minutes by speed boat from Krabi. This areas, with its sculptured rock formation, white sand beaches and blue and green water had been featured in many movies including James Bond and Leonardo DiCaprio “Beach”. The rocks came straight out of ocean which reminds us of Hay Long Bay in Vietnam and even the Kirsten mountain in Guilin, China. We snorkel in several area, the water is fairly warm and although there are still some brilliant colored fish to be seen, most of the coral reef is a grayish color showing the bleaching effect of Tsunami. Local guides said that the coral is on the mend and we wish them a good recovery. In addition to the rocks, we also saw some unique stalactites hanging from rock wall. The Kirsten rocks dissolved a lot faster than stalactites formed by the cave, hence the exposing stalactites on the rock. There is one swimming lagoon which is the favorite of many people, the depth of water is about 10 meter and it was cool and pleasant. From the pictures you can see how much I enjoyed the water. The Koh Hong tour was to a different direction. The snorkel was not much but the kayak around the island was quite a workout. Along the way we stopped at a cave where the precious swallow nest was guarded by two security guards who lived on a 10 by10 feet bamboo platform hanging high above the cave wall. They stayed up there for 3 months at a time while foods and necessities were brought to them by boat. Given the fact that one lb of swallow nest cost more than one pound of gold, no wonder the security is so tight. There are quite diverse nationalities in our tour group, with several couples from Malaysia, India, Thai, quite a few Europeans but we are the only people from US. I guess the distance is a big deterrent. We met up with Dejan, our new friend from Vienna for dinner. The Dean’s restaurant has a very western name but the food is all Thai and very fresh seafoods. We will be back to Bangkok and plan to fill up street vendor foods at the famous Siam Center before leaving the tropical Thailand and heading to the high mountain of Bhutan.