5/28 - The Wheels On the Bus Go...
It's almost 6pm on a sticky Saturday evening in Khao Sok, Thailand. Hmmm, where to begin? We had a long day yesterday, so how about a running start into it.
After we realized we wouldn't be able to help out with Phi Phi refugees, we knew we had to move on and try to enjoy some activities in the area. With so much time left, we sort of wanted to keep ourselves busy--we aren't ones to just hangout at the beach and bar to fill our days. On Wednesday, we took a traditional long tail boat over to Railay, a beautiful and quiet little resort/recreation area that is just 20 minutes from Ao Nang and accessible by boat only. Railay is primarily known for its rock climbing. We walked around to see the beaches and then rented a sea kayak for an hour to check out the secluded area by sea.
"The sea was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli." - George Costanza
That's one of the many Seinfeld quotes we've found fitting at various times during our trip to keep ourselves entertained.
On Thursday, we decided to take the J Mansion speedboat tour (the same one that got us out to Phi Phi in the first place) to fill the day and explore a number of the islands that dot the horizon from a beach view. The trip included 24 people, including three foreigner male/Thai "girlfriend" couples. These couples are very common in the tourist parts of Thailand. The tour was great, with many stops, great snorkeling, and lunch on an uninhabited beach (the setting for the film "The Beach" staring Leonardo DiCaprio). We spent the evening having dinner at our favorite Ao Nang hangout - Lavinia's. They also have the best breakfast with awesome cinnamon rolls (we are tired of the fried eggs and toast).
Ok, this is where we have to come clean and tell all our anti-multinational megacorporation friends that every night that we were in Ao Nang, we enjoyed a McDonald's chocolate sundae--with its always molten, perfectly processed chocolate fudge on top of cool dairy-like ice cream mounds. They have the chemistry down pat. Sometimes you just need some comfort food.
Leaving Ao Nang
Yesterday was an adventure! We wanted to head out of Ao Nang and experience a new setting before heading back to Bangkok for our return home this week. We chose Khao Sok National Park, because we heard that it has good jungle hiking and lots of creatures to observe. So we stopped at one of the omnipresent ticketing agents on our block and booked a minibus ride. We were told that we should be ready to leave at 10am and that we would arrive in Khao Sok before 2pm. From Ao Nang we spent half an hour on a minibus to get to Krabi. After a thirty minute wait and some confusion in Krabi, we were the last to be boarded onto an already full minibus. The driver had to clear his front seat of baggage so that we could share the seat. Two hours later, Ken had bad leg cramps and Steve had a much lower sperm count from sitting on the transmission. We expected a short stop in Suratthani, a crossroads for many travelers on buses, but wound up waiting three hours for a 5 min transfer to yet another ticket agent. Once there, we waited another half hour before boarding our final vehicle. The final leg took another 2.5 hrs. Luckily we met two lively Israeli guys on the bus and passed a good chunk of time discussing the Middle East conflict. All told, after four drivers and 10.5 hours, we got to Khao Sok in the dark. By the way, Khao Sok is less than 100 miles north of Ao Nang as the crow flies.
Last night we checked into the "Jungle Huts" and got a bungalow on stilts for 150 baht - that's about $3.75! The accommodations are very simple - a bed with a mosquito net (think Expedia commercial) and a fan. This morning we awoke to some banging and shaking of the "treehouse." We thought it might be a wake-up call, but remembered that we hadn't booked a trek for the morning. We looked out the window to find a small pack of large monkeys "monkeying around" on our front porch - including one in the hammock. These guys weren't 10 feet away from us. But, they just stared at us and headed off into the rambutan trees.
We'll have to tell you about the interesting things we saw on our three hour hike today. But that's for another time.
After we realized we wouldn't be able to help out with Phi Phi refugees, we knew we had to move on and try to enjoy some activities in the area. With so much time left, we sort of wanted to keep ourselves busy--we aren't ones to just hangout at the beach and bar to fill our days. On Wednesday, we took a traditional long tail boat over to Railay, a beautiful and quiet little resort/recreation area that is just 20 minutes from Ao Nang and accessible by boat only. Railay is primarily known for its rock climbing. We walked around to see the beaches and then rented a sea kayak for an hour to check out the secluded area by sea.
"The sea was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli." - George Costanza
That's one of the many Seinfeld quotes we've found fitting at various times during our trip to keep ourselves entertained.
On Thursday, we decided to take the J Mansion speedboat tour (the same one that got us out to Phi Phi in the first place) to fill the day and explore a number of the islands that dot the horizon from a beach view. The trip included 24 people, including three foreigner male/Thai "girlfriend" couples. These couples are very common in the tourist parts of Thailand. The tour was great, with many stops, great snorkeling, and lunch on an uninhabited beach (the setting for the film "The Beach" staring Leonardo DiCaprio). We spent the evening having dinner at our favorite Ao Nang hangout - Lavinia's. They also have the best breakfast with awesome cinnamon rolls (we are tired of the fried eggs and toast).
Ok, this is where we have to come clean and tell all our anti-multinational megacorporation friends that every night that we were in Ao Nang, we enjoyed a McDonald's chocolate sundae--with its always molten, perfectly processed chocolate fudge on top of cool dairy-like ice cream mounds. They have the chemistry down pat. Sometimes you just need some comfort food.
Leaving Ao Nang
Yesterday was an adventure! We wanted to head out of Ao Nang and experience a new setting before heading back to Bangkok for our return home this week. We chose Khao Sok National Park, because we heard that it has good jungle hiking and lots of creatures to observe. So we stopped at one of the omnipresent ticketing agents on our block and booked a minibus ride. We were told that we should be ready to leave at 10am and that we would arrive in Khao Sok before 2pm. From Ao Nang we spent half an hour on a minibus to get to Krabi. After a thirty minute wait and some confusion in Krabi, we were the last to be boarded onto an already full minibus. The driver had to clear his front seat of baggage so that we could share the seat. Two hours later, Ken had bad leg cramps and Steve had a much lower sperm count from sitting on the transmission. We expected a short stop in Suratthani, a crossroads for many travelers on buses, but wound up waiting three hours for a 5 min transfer to yet another ticket agent. Once there, we waited another half hour before boarding our final vehicle. The final leg took another 2.5 hrs. Luckily we met two lively Israeli guys on the bus and passed a good chunk of time discussing the Middle East conflict. All told, after four drivers and 10.5 hours, we got to Khao Sok in the dark. By the way, Khao Sok is less than 100 miles north of Ao Nang as the crow flies.
Last night we checked into the "Jungle Huts" and got a bungalow on stilts for 150 baht - that's about $3.75! The accommodations are very simple - a bed with a mosquito net (think Expedia commercial) and a fan. This morning we awoke to some banging and shaking of the "treehouse." We thought it might be a wake-up call, but remembered that we hadn't booked a trek for the morning. We looked out the window to find a small pack of large monkeys "monkeying around" on our front porch - including one in the hammock. These guys weren't 10 feet away from us. But, they just stared at us and headed off into the rambutan trees.
We'll have to tell you about the interesting things we saw on our three hour hike today. But that's for another time.
posted by schartwig at 3:53 AM
5 Comments:
We'll be waiting to hear "the rest of the story." It sounds like quite an adventure already.
M & D
Which monkey species did you see?
Did you try sign language with them?
Hi, guys. William wants all the details on the wildlife in Khao Sok. And what kind of monkeys were those? We're enjoying all your posts.
Jane
thats awesome, im so jealous of your travels. the dicaprio beach, didn't it get hit up by the tsunami? how is the region over there in regards to what happened?
Jane: You can check out more wildlife info in our latest post. We're glad William is enjoying the stories!
Steve: There was no evidence that Maya Bay was affected by the tsunami. Please check www.hiphiphi.com or www.tsunamivolunteer.net for more info about the affects of the tsunami on the region.
- Ken and Steve
Post a Comment
<< Home