Monday 16 March 2009

Krabi

Firstly, these daily posts are purley because the place where im staying; KR Mansion - a really good guesthouse - offers free internet to guests. Thailand, the land of contrasts.

So i've had two amazing days, the kayaking in Ang Thong National Marine Park off the coast of Ko Samui was a blast, met some nice people on the boat and spent most of the day paddling through caves and around picture perfect islands. It seems this sort of thing still amazes despite how many "picture perfect" visuals i've seen. I didn't explore much of Samui so I dont really know what it had to offer, I settled in a place called Na Thon, near the pier from where all the ferries left. Decent food market but post 8:00, it went dead. I didn't mind, had a few good books and there was a nice resturant. My 200B room even had a TV (which I haven't seen in a while) so settled down to watch The Devil Wears Prada :-/ plus BBC Worldnews. How i've missed the economic downturn.

Sea kayaking was my new favourite sport.... until today. Rock climbing in Krabi was Awe-some. Very challenging, with adrenalin pumping like I cant remember, like your life was on a knife edge - and this was only 5 metres up. I had a great tutor (I say "I" because it seems nobody books climbing on a Monday morning so had me some 1 on 1 tuition for 4 hours) called Ip and he taught me all about handling the rope, specifically knots and how to supervise whilst he climbed up to set the route via pegs. After lunch we were joined by 4 other guys and we moved to another location which culminated in a 20m climb that was super intense, but I made it, the shakes in your heart running through your arms & legs. And you never look down, eyes always on the rock for your next hand hold and next foot hold. I did 7 climbs and conquered 5. Feeling this alive never felt so close to death.

Krabi itself seems a humble sort of town, but all the good places are spread out over lots of bays which are only accessible via longtail boats (the climbing was in Laem Phra Nang surrounded by huge cliffs) but because of the whole 2 day stay policy I haven't seen it all. I think climbing and snorkeling are the 2 big draws but other than that it's just expensive resorts on so-so beaches. Tomorrow I leave for Ko Phi Phi which I understand is crazy expensive but im willing and able because it's too good to miss. Think I need to rest a few days though. Oh my arms. X

3 comments:

  1. Hi Mr Activity Man that all sounds pretty cool,it's good to get all the parts working you feel you have achieved something.I did get stuck once climbing across a big drop, it was all pretty embarrassing at the time just lost my nerve or something not like me. At last the weather is starting to improve here but not to your standard. Should forget about all the world news its all very boring or depressing just get on and enjoy the adventure.Really enjoy the reads and keeping the map marked up have learnt so much from this so far a real eye opener. Take good care love Christine and Malcolm

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  2. Hi me again just looked at where you have been staying see that the Banana Flambe was rated did you try it? malcolm

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  3. Hi Tom, wow what a busy 2 days ... i bet you are exhausted, sounds good though .. ;-) as ko phi phi is expensive we wont pannick if we dont hear from you or if any strange messages appear... benny,s ok he,s been sunbathing over the last weekend as the weather,s been lovely, but coz it was quite warm he,s also had 2 baths in about 3 days coz he was so hot at the park he found a muddy puddle to lie in to cool off :-( enjoy a rest for a few days , we,ll look forward to the next post.. lol mum,dad & benson x

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