With our time coming to an end in Thailand, we travelled to Ao Nang and arrived in the middle of the ‘world’s biggest water fight’ called Songkran (Thai New Year). Songkran is a water and flour festival where the Thai people kit themselves out with water pistols, barrels of water and bags of flour/talcum powder and then set about getting everyone as wet and floury as possible.
Trying to avoid getting our bags too wet, we quickly checked into a nice guesthouse, got changed and set off to join in the watery fun. The purchase of two water pistols later and we were all set for the action. The atmosphere in the town was fantastic; the streets were filled with pick-up trucks laden with people and there were smiley faces everywhere. The whole day was really great fun and we couldn’t have been more wet and floury if we had tried.
On our second day in Ao Nang, we visited nearby Railay beach where a speed climbing competition was being held. The competition turned out to be a bit more low-key than we had expected, but it was still amazing to see just how fast some of the top competitors scaled the cliffs. After watching the climbing for a while, we had a quick swim in the sea and then headed back to Ao Nang.
One of our main reasons for coming to Ao Nang was to go kayaking. We spent the morning paddling through the mangrove forests around Ao Thalene, stopping in a sheltered cove to feed the monkeys and then visiting crocodile cave; which had no crocodile. The whereabouts of the crocodile remained a mystery due to the poor English of our guide; it turned out that he seemed to know every English word except ‘why’. After a long tiring paddle against the current, we arrived back at the jetty for what turned out to be a pretty average lunch. After lunch, we were driven to Emerald pool for a swim and then headed back to Ao Nang. We had a good day, which was made even better by meeting some very nice people; especially two Kiwis, Debi and her son Sam (hope you had a good trip, hopefully see you in New Zealand).
From Ao Nang we had a bit of an epic journey to Koh Mook; it involved standing up in a bus for 2 hrs because it was full (this is what happens when you don’t book ahead). We then failed to find the travel agents we were looking for in Trang, so ended up making our own way to the island; first by ‘tuk tuk’, then a local minibus and finally by boat. It was with some relief when we finally arrived at the island; it was just a shame that I fell over in the sea while leaving the boat, soaking my ipod & wallet (everything still works, fortunately!).
Meeting up with Sarah, we checked into a very basic beach hut and had a quick tour of our part of the island; basically a few small resorts a shop and a couple of restaurants. Tired from the travelling and suffering from a full blown head cold, I settled in for an early night. Meanwhile, Sarah and Debs spent the evening catching up.
The next morning we had planned to visit nearby Morakot (emerald) cave that you can only reach by swimming at low tide. Still feeling dreadful, I gave it a miss and tried to catch up on some sleep. From Debs’ description, the cave visit sounded like it was good fun. They had to swim 80 meters through a pitch black tunnel encountering a sea snake on the way and finally arrived at a beautiful bit of beach. I spent the remainder of the day resting while the girls sunbathed and swam. Later that evening we went to ‘Mookies’, a bar and camp ground ran by an extremely friendly Aussie called Brian. We had a good meal of Pork chop and mashed potatoes (before anyone says that’s not very adventurous, we were getting sick of rice & noodles) and a few cold beers.
It turned out that Brian owned a yacht and he was quite happy to take people out for a small fee, so the next day, with my cold easing slightly, we boarded Brian’s yacht and headed to the nearby island of Ko Kradan. On arrival at the island Brian pointed out a good snorkelling beach and armed with bananas for the fish we set off to see what we could see. The fish feeding was hilarious, within a short amount of time we were absolutely mobbed by hungry fish. At one point I turned around to see if Debs was ok, only to turn back and find a large fish was attempting to make off with the whole banana. Having had a thoroughly entertaining time, we set off to the bar to meet Brian and the others, had a bit of lunch and then boarded the yacht for the journey back to Koh Mook.
As it was Sarah’s final night in Thailand we had a nice meal, more than a few beers and played several silly games with the guys from Mookies. With our time on the island over, it was time to board the boat back to the mainland and then catch the minibus back to Trang. Sarah booked her transport to the airport and we arranged our journey to Malaysia in the morning. After a meal and a quick look around the shops, we said our goodbyes to Sarah and went back to our hotel to settle in for the night.
We have had a really good time in Thailand and feel that this time we have at least done it some justice and have some fantastic memories to take away with us. Next stop Malaysia.
Next blog Georgetown, Penang
Trying to avoid getting our bags too wet, we quickly checked into a nice guesthouse, got changed and set off to join in the watery fun. The purchase of two water pistols later and we were all set for the action. The atmosphere in the town was fantastic; the streets were filled with pick-up trucks laden with people and there were smiley faces everywhere. The whole day was really great fun and we couldn’t have been more wet and floury if we had tried.
On our second day in Ao Nang, we visited nearby Railay beach where a speed climbing competition was being held. The competition turned out to be a bit more low-key than we had expected, but it was still amazing to see just how fast some of the top competitors scaled the cliffs. After watching the climbing for a while, we had a quick swim in the sea and then headed back to Ao Nang.
One of our main reasons for coming to Ao Nang was to go kayaking. We spent the morning paddling through the mangrove forests around Ao Thalene, stopping in a sheltered cove to feed the monkeys and then visiting crocodile cave; which had no crocodile. The whereabouts of the crocodile remained a mystery due to the poor English of our guide; it turned out that he seemed to know every English word except ‘why’. After a long tiring paddle against the current, we arrived back at the jetty for what turned out to be a pretty average lunch. After lunch, we were driven to Emerald pool for a swim and then headed back to Ao Nang. We had a good day, which was made even better by meeting some very nice people; especially two Kiwis, Debi and her son Sam (hope you had a good trip, hopefully see you in New Zealand).
From Ao Nang we had a bit of an epic journey to Koh Mook; it involved standing up in a bus for 2 hrs because it was full (this is what happens when you don’t book ahead). We then failed to find the travel agents we were looking for in Trang, so ended up making our own way to the island; first by ‘tuk tuk’, then a local minibus and finally by boat. It was with some relief when we finally arrived at the island; it was just a shame that I fell over in the sea while leaving the boat, soaking my ipod & wallet (everything still works, fortunately!).
Meeting up with Sarah, we checked into a very basic beach hut and had a quick tour of our part of the island; basically a few small resorts a shop and a couple of restaurants. Tired from the travelling and suffering from a full blown head cold, I settled in for an early night. Meanwhile, Sarah and Debs spent the evening catching up.
The next morning we had planned to visit nearby Morakot (emerald) cave that you can only reach by swimming at low tide. Still feeling dreadful, I gave it a miss and tried to catch up on some sleep. From Debs’ description, the cave visit sounded like it was good fun. They had to swim 80 meters through a pitch black tunnel encountering a sea snake on the way and finally arrived at a beautiful bit of beach. I spent the remainder of the day resting while the girls sunbathed and swam. Later that evening we went to ‘Mookies’, a bar and camp ground ran by an extremely friendly Aussie called Brian. We had a good meal of Pork chop and mashed potatoes (before anyone says that’s not very adventurous, we were getting sick of rice & noodles) and a few cold beers.
It turned out that Brian owned a yacht and he was quite happy to take people out for a small fee, so the next day, with my cold easing slightly, we boarded Brian’s yacht and headed to the nearby island of Ko Kradan. On arrival at the island Brian pointed out a good snorkelling beach and armed with bananas for the fish we set off to see what we could see. The fish feeding was hilarious, within a short amount of time we were absolutely mobbed by hungry fish. At one point I turned around to see if Debs was ok, only to turn back and find a large fish was attempting to make off with the whole banana. Having had a thoroughly entertaining time, we set off to the bar to meet Brian and the others, had a bit of lunch and then boarded the yacht for the journey back to Koh Mook.
As it was Sarah’s final night in Thailand we had a nice meal, more than a few beers and played several silly games with the guys from Mookies. With our time on the island over, it was time to board the boat back to the mainland and then catch the minibus back to Trang. Sarah booked her transport to the airport and we arranged our journey to Malaysia in the morning. After a meal and a quick look around the shops, we said our goodbyes to Sarah and went back to our hotel to settle in for the night.
We have had a really good time in Thailand and feel that this time we have at least done it some justice and have some fantastic memories to take away with us. Next stop Malaysia.
Next blog Georgetown, Penang
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