Railay Beach (Krabi)

FYI: I added more pictures to yesterdays blog of Ko Phi Phi (at the bottom).

So, yesterday afternoon, I realized that my friends are in Krabi, not Ko Phi Phi, so I took another cruise boat for an hour and a 1/2 to get to where they are.

When we arrived at Krabi, the boat stopped really far from the shore, and we had the big wooden boats come and pick us up... but they stopped far from the shore too, so we walked in the water with all our backpacks! Only in Thailand!

This area of Thailand makes me think of Jamaica. Everyone loves Bob Marley, smoking weed (yes, smoking weed - you can buy it at the local bars - not that I did!), and it's a much slower pace than Ko Phi Phi.

Last night, I had dinner here (at Skunk Bar) I ordered the food from Mama's kitchen, next door, but ate it here with the manager of the bar. Apparently it's suppossed to be the best in the area. Beautful huh?! I layed on bamboo mats with pillows and there was a beatiful, gigantic tree hanging above me! Incredible!

My dinner mates! The one on the right is Bob (I named him because he has really long dreds, and looks like Marley!) He's the owner of skunk bar (next to Mama's kitchen).

After dinner, I played pool with this local kid. He's 17 and works at this bar. The pool tables in Thailand are HUGE and the balls are a lot smaller. I was horrible! For those of you who know Vinnie Gagliano... This kid was the Thai version of Vinnie! He was awesome!

This is the arm of a guy named Matt, who is visiting from Australia. He got this tattoo bamboo style (earlier that day), where they wrap needles around a stick of bamboo and just go at it! 18 hours of work!

... This is my hotel! It's called the Diamond Cave Resort and Spa and it was 16 dollars a night! My "mini house" is right behind this pool. You can see the yellow in the background.

Here's another picture of it. It's about a 2 minute walk from the beach. :)

Jess, Carlos, Kristen, Gino, and Maria are on a boat excursion until later tonight, so I'm still all alone. Although, I'll be honest... I'm getting used to it, and am being very brave! Today I'm going to a beach that's suppossed to be beautiful! ... not sure the name. I'm also going to see some caves, and hopefully some wild monkeys that live in them. Should be a great day! I'm off to have Thai Pancakes for breakfast.... mmmm mmmm mmmm!

Ko Phi Phi Island

glimpse into my morning! :)

This morning, I took a big cruise type boat to Ko Phi Phi Island and sat on the very front, with my feet dangling off! (Mom, don't worry... I was holding onto a rail the whole way!) It was amazing!

This is where I am RIGHT NOW! Ko Phi Phi Island (Tonsai Beach)

I took a walk along the beach this morning... The water is completely clear and bright turquoise!

Yes, this is a REAL monkey eating a piece of corn, sitting on my shoulder! Only in Thailand...

These long boats are everywhere! Aren't they awesome... and the water is unbelievable!

This is where I sat for a little while this afternoon!

Near the pier... I sat in a hammock here for about 15 minutes while I waited for my boat to take me to Krabi (Railay Beach).

Where's Kev?

Many of you have asked me where Kev is in this trip and why I'm traveling alone? Kevin actually decided he wanted to do this trip alone a couple weeks ago. It's always been something he's wanted to do (travel in another country alone), so he's making it happen! Luckily, I will have Jess, Carlos, Kristen, Maria, and Jess's brother to keep me company so I don't get too lonely! I should be meeting up with them in the morning if all goes well with transportation! We're going to be heading out on a boat for 2 days with 12 people to do some rock climbing, snorkling, etc... not sure all the details, but I'm sure I'll have many stories to tell when we return to land! :)

Proud!

I'm gonna be honest here for a second... I'm pretty proud of myself! I successfully navigated the 1st and 2nd largest airports in the world (by myself), managed to be invited to stay (for free) with some univ. students in a guest house in Hong Kong, rode a high speed train, took an adorable Hong Kong taxi, saw one of the most beautiful night scenes I've ever seen, ate at a mexican restaurant (finally!!!), stayed awake to see the city until 4:30am and woke up at 6 to make it to the airport where I caught my plane and slept the entire way! Can you blame me?! I'd call that a pretty succesfull past 16 hours!

My flight from Bangkok to Phuket will be leaving in 1 hour an 15 minutes. From there I'm going to have to figure out how to find a bus to get to Krabi (approx 2 hours), then a taxi to one of the ports, and then a speed boat that will take me to Tonsai Beach, where i will be meeting jess, carlos, kristen, maria, and jess's brother. I''m not gonna lie, I'm terrified! but, Ive gotta put my brave face on and just do it!!!

until next time....

I made it to Hong Kong!!

I made it to Hong Kong, and made new friends along the way. I met 5 Korean university students on my plane who are traveling to Singapore for a class project. They also have a layover tonight in Hong Kong and invited me to stay with them at the guesthouse they had booked in the city so I wouldn't have to sleep in the airport! We're here now and it's awesome! Hong Kong reminds me a lot of Korea and Japan, just a little more sketchy! We're gonna be getting up bright and early in the morning to catch a taxi and then take the high speed train back to the airport for our morning flights, so that's all for now!