Following some hectic and unreal scenery in northern Vietnam we felt we were leaving having experienced the best it had to offer in our couple of weeks. Due to political unrest in Myanmar we scratched that plan and thought of Laos next, due to crazy bus Costs and visa costs we thought hey we can catch a flight to Thailand for the same price! We caught a flight to Bangkok and pretty much straight away caught another flight to Phuket south of Bangkok near the islands. Paddy and leah only been there last year had a pretty good knowledge of the place too which was a bonus!
When we found our hotel in kata beach we hit the ground running and rented some scooters to explore the coast! We did some geo caching and couldn't wait for the next pit stop to enjoy the lovely Thai food! It definitely trumps the rest of Asia in terms of using fresh ingredients and maximising veggies in a dish! We visited the big Buddha and some crazy beautiful beaches along the coast! Although the weather wasn't too hot we didn't mind, any time it rained we would take refuge in a pub and play cards or a word game! After some major relaxing days in Phuket we took a ferry to phi phi island where we'd up the drinking, sunsets and beach time!
We landed on koh phi phi an hour or so later and were pleasantly surprised to see they had paved the little streets since we had last been here! Still the best thing about the little island is there's no cars or motorbikes. Just a maze of little lanes bustling with shops, bars, restaurants and little guest houses! We had some breakfast and were so impressed we ended up staying in the house of the person that owned the place! We made our way around the little island and at one point you can see both sides of the island with its beautiful beaches and turquoise waters! We couldn't wait to get into the sea and relax, unfortuantly the rain had followed us from Phuket and a lot of our outings ended up in ponchos and running into a pub for cover! Phi phi really comes to life at night when buckets are sold on every corner filled with alcohol and mixers and I'm sure a lot of bacteria which all mixes nicely with a sunset for a good time and a hell of a hangover!
We took a day trip of snorkelling around the bay and visited maya bay where the film the beach was made. The tourists were been charged outrageous "army tax" fees for entering the national park. We thought it all sounded like low season bogus and said lets go swim and find our own free beach! So we left the boat and swam until we found a beach all to ourselves leaving the throngs of life jacket tourist behind us to enjoy their own company! We enjoyed the snorkling but some of the rubbish and pollution was just so upsetting to see.
After a couple of days in phi phi it was time to move on to bigger and hopefully better so we caught a boat to krabi east of phi phi about 2 hrs, back on mainland. Famous for its huge limestone karst cliffs it's a rock climber haven here and known for been a bit more low key than phi phi we were looking forward to a final bit of relaxing in the holiday. When we got off the boat in krabi town we caught a very squished bus to ao nang a more beach resort type place! The views on the way in were breathtaking but when we got out of the van it was raining heavily and all we could think about was food and finding a bed somewhere! After some dodgy Indian we splashed through the rain and found a nice budget hotel. Ao nang was a cute beach resort and small enough you can walk around to all the restaurants and beach. We ate some amazingly traditional Italian food and went to bed totally stuffed!
In krabi we did a few geo caches which brought us on a cool cliff walk where we were surrounded by monkeys and private beaches and lavash resorts! Wean aged to use the shower in one and that's as close as well get to staying in one of those crazy expensive places!
We decided to get all proactive and booked ourselves into a Half day of kayaking, we could have done the full day but we were very realistic about our energy levels in this laid back holiday location! We bumped along in the back of a van which resembled a chicken crate for an hour or so before we reached ao thalan where hundreds of tourists were donning their il luminous life jackets and bumping into each other with their oars! We laughed at people's uncordination, it wouldn't be the last time that day! Finally when we got into the water we were paddling through the mangroves. Kayaking is a good test for any relationship as it involves so much teamwork, coordination and communication, after wr ironed out our initial frustrations we led the pack of sideways floating clueless paddlers! Sarah got paired with our tour guide who was strong enough to paddle on his own so Sarah could take breaks if she wanted...but she didn't! It was funny as we passed through the narrow mangroves surrounded by huge limestone cliffs that some people were still managing to paddle backwards and bump into trees and hit each other with their paddles! As long as your not stuck behind someone crashing into trees or taking selfies it was hilarious to watch!