Awesome limestone cliffs all over the west coast of Thailand.

Lazy days in Krabi

I've spent over a week in Ao Nang beach, paying 300 BHT ($7.50) for a room with cable tv, a fridge, and fan. The tv is sucking my life away. It's so easy to lie in front of it and watch the world spin 'round and 'round. I keep tempting myself by going over to Rai Lay and Tonsai to see the climbers there, but the tv keeps drawing me back home. It's pretty sad. But hey, besides boozing and eating, swimming and running, I also took a cooking class. It was pretty good, and I can now make three types of curry and soups and stir fried rice and pad thai. Even more importantly, I got a copy of the recipes so I can remember what I learned. I've also gone hiking at Rai Lay to explore the view point and the lagoon. To get to the lagoon, you have to scramble up a nearly vertical trail (aided by big hand and footholds and ratty ropes), then descend down nearly the same distance. It gets slippery with the clay everywhere, and it's quite easy to fall, but I've been extra careful; I've been wearing fisherman pants and Tevas. Ah, how to describe Rai Lay? A peninsula with limestone cliffs jutting out of the ground everywhere...soaring a few hundred feet high. Dripping limestone crags that appear to be melting. Jungle life clinging to the steep cliffs. No roads in or out. Bungalows next to a five-star resort. It's a paradise with an awesome beach at Phrang-Nga bay. Lots of climbers and tourists find their way there for a few days, and the climbers tend to stay all season. It's an interesting mix of people.
Yesterday I went climbing a little bit (it's all I could handle) on a 6b climb at Tonsai. I top-roped it with little difficulty, but quickly peeled off of a 6c climb further down the beach on a pretty big flake. What can I say? I suck. Today my arms are a little sore, which is good. Pain is weakness leaving the body.
I think tomorrow I will go diving at Ko Phi Phi. That's where they filmed the Beach. It was also pretty devastated by the tsunami, and there are a lot of tourist-volunteers rebuilding the expensive tourist resort there. I think it's kind of silly, but hey, a thousand points of lights. Stay the course. It's sort of like people going to Las Vegas to volunteer rebuilding the casinos after a fire. I've seen some backpackers wearing t-shirts that say "www.kophiphi-org -- rising above the wave". Um...LAME. But it's supposed to be pretty good diving there.
I visited a Thai Emergency Room last week, which was kind of interesting. A dude had slipped while hiking to the lagoon at Rai Lay and split his scalp and broke a rib. I escorted him to the hospital and spent the afternoon presiding over things. The Thai medical system is pretty efficient. There was no waiting, and the nurses, as usual, did most of the examination and stitching. The doc wanted to admit David, the injured Swiss, to monitor for a pneumothorax, but from the look of the facilities, I suggested checking into a hotel. There were ants crawling over the food trays. Yum. But I can definitely say the actual medical care they practice seems to be spot on. They had a little girl (about 9 years old) intubated AND awake, being bagged by the nurse in the ER. That sure takes care of the need for any expensive monitoring. I'm not sure how she could tolerate the tube, but hey, I think the Thais are on to something. They brought people in quickly, treated, then streeted them. No silly colds or sore throats in their ER. After the xrays and stitches and medicines, the total bill for the visit was 1100 BHT, about $27. So what if there are ants on the food trays?!

waterfight!

During Songkran, loads of people ride around in trucks and scooters to take part in the nationwide waterfight. I don't know what they do in times of drought.

The streets were full of revellers during Songkran.

Washing away bad luck during Songkran.

Happy Songkran, the water festival!

Today is the water festival Songkran, marking the end of the year. If you've seen the DVD of "the Beach" I think they show scenes of Songkran in the deleted scenes. Okay, that may be a little obscure. Basically, it's a giant waterfight to wash away your sins or all the bad luck of the past year. People have garden hoses, buckets, water guns, bottles, basically anything that will carry water, and shower pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cars. They also put scented, mentholated baby powder on everyone. It's glorious fun! I was out there for six hours getting soaked.
An awesome time!

Thai army checkpoint in southern Thailand.

...entering Thailand.

Leaving Malaysia...

The river dividing Thailand from Malaysia on the east coast.

Passport control -- leaving Malaysia for Thailand. Surprising there was no line, no armed guards, no barbed wire, no security guards. I guess Thailand isn't afraid of an influx of immigrants from Malaysia. This was only where passports were stamped for departing Malaysia.

Volleyball at Coral Bay.

Coral Bay at the Perhentians. It faces west, so it has no waves and the beach is thin, but it has nice sunsets.

This was the view from my bungalow.

I think this is a bird of prey. It was hanging around on the beach for a couple days.

Pretty spartan digs, but the mosquito net was vital to my sanity. There was a little fan to keep cool. It was cheap, but expensive in comparison to my other places in Malaysia at 35 Ringiits, which is about $8 a night.

This was my bungalow.

Matahari Chalet, where I spent a few nights.

Long Beach at Pulau Perhentian Kecil. It is pretty deserted.

Back in Paradise!

After many hours on the road, I made the trek from the northeast corner of Malaysia to the west coast of Thailand. I am now in Krabi. I was here back in 2001. It's good to be back.
From the Cameron Highlands, I took an overnight bus to Kota Bharu. A taxi ride and fast boat later, I arrived at Pulau Perhentian Kecil, or small Perhentian Island. There was not much at that place. It was covered with a jungle, a couple steep mountains, and some beautiful beaches. The sky was partly overcast for the three days I was there, and the surf was pretty big, so I didn't do any dives. I did watch the "lifeguards" rescue two girls (separate incidences) from the strong rip currents during my time there. It was fun bodysurfing in the waves, fighting the rips. It was definitely a pretty place to be.
It took me about 12 hours to get to Krabi from the Perhentians. Travelling is definitely easier now that I am out of Indonesia. I just tune out with my headphones and earplugs (earplugs to shut out the high pitched drone of the motor and the Thai/Malay music). Thailand is a lot more developed than I remembered four years ago. The roads and cars are new. In fact, I would guess that Toyota has built a new plant here recently as most of the cars are one or two year old Toyota pickup trucks and SUVs. In the south, where the Thai army continues its battle with Muslim rebels, we had to cross several checkpoints. An army dude just wanted to checkout the male occupants of the vehicle. That included me, but they quickly lost interest when I could speak English.
I think the second largest minority group in Thailand are the Swedish tourists. Holy cow, there are loads of young Swedes here. I think the most casualties of tourists in the tsunami were Swedes. It's baffling how the Swedes more than any other nationality come to Thailand.
Anyways, I am beat, so it's time for bed now.