Did you get to the Lagoon?
Trip Start
Unknown
1
6
19
Trip End
Ongoing
Krabi, Thailand
Sunday, July 26, 2009
First of all, let me mention that the Thais are quite opportunistic and whenever they can earn a little more money, they'll definitely charge your bum quite well....our impression when we got our tickets from Koh Tao was that we would be dropped off at the town nearby our hotel, but when we got into Krabi Town we were told we had to pay another 150 baht a person to drive us 15 minutes down the road to take us to our hotel. You can't blame them for doing that. They're only trying to survive amidst a global recession which has hit the country quite hard, but a word to the wise: always bring extra cash!
Anyway - so after paying our driver an additional 300 baht to take us 15 minutes down the road we arrived at our hotel which turned out to be the nicest place we have stayed at yet in Thailand. Tile floors, huge room, VERY clean (and no bugs!!) for a little over ten bucks a person each night. Pretty sweet since we got Thai prices with that guy who hooked us up at the TAT office back at Bangkok!
Our first full day in Ao Nang Beach was one of those days which truly captured the spirit of budget traveling. We walked around town for a bit, tasting wonderful food here and there for practically nothing (shakes made with the most fresh fruit around 60 cents each, pad thais for a dollar each) and made use of our bargaining skills as we shopped. After taking a pretty long walk around town we noticed a little dirt road in between some cabanas going off into the huge limestone cliffs. We figured, why not see what's down the road?
As we started walking down the road a whole new side of the town opened up to us. We were venturing off into cobra and Burmese python territory with huge cliffs overlooking us with gigantic stalactites hanging off its ledges. As we went further down the road we noticed around 15 cabanas lining what looked like the beach (which we didn't even realize went down so far) and decided to check it out. The cabanas turned out to be makeshift massage parlors which offer hour-long massages anywhere from 200-500 baht each (divide that by 33 and thats how much you get in USD...ridiculous). We chilled at the beach for a bit and decided to check out what looked like a huge cliff at the end of the beach. As we walked down I came across something I have never come across before and one which I didn't really anticipate: a monkey troop with their canine buddies.
This troop seemed to be quite young - there seemed to be only one or two monkey elders around (I'm more than likely using the wrong terminology, but that's how it seemed like to a non-biologist) and a ton of monkey babies. At first I was quite apprehensive seeing so many of these monkeys around. I was afraid of perhaps stepping on a baby on accident and having a pissed off monkey mama beat me up. It didn't help to see one monkey jump on an eight-year old girl (which was by all means HILARIOUS but something which didn't sit well with me for a bit) and then hear her screams echo along the shore. But one thing was that these monkeys were surrounding wooden planks which went through the cliff and went off into something mysterious off in the distance. So Michael and I decided to just risk walking through the whole troop and see what was at the end of the trail.
Going through the troop was intense, but I figured that they were more afraid of humans than we were of them. The trick to have them stay calm was to stay calm myself and send them good vibes. As we observed these monkeys I noticed that they acted completely like humans. One moment they were fighting (with teeth and everything) and another moment they were picking each other's fleas off their backs. They also played with the beach bum dogs which was cool.
Going along the wooden trail planks through the cliff was intense. As I tried not to slip and fall into the depths below I tried to not think about the piles of bamboo leaves which had to be cobra nests. At the end of the trail there was an opening to another beach which turned out to be a private beach to a super elegant resort. As I walked along the beach I realized it was the same resort where so many tourists video-taped the tsunamis back in 2004 as the water rushed into their rooms. It was quite eerie to realize this and it hit me quite suddently that I was in a place that witnessed such horror just a few years before. Despite that horror, the beauty overcame everything. The limestone cliffs that jut out of the water here are indescribable...
We chilled at the private beach until we were kicked out (which lasted around half an hour) and headed back into town. Not a bad first day.
The next day we had a pre-paid speed boat tour throughout the most famous islands. The group we sat with on the boat were mostly Dutch and we made friends with them quite easily. At first they didn't really like us since Michael immediately had to bring up how we're from Texas (not the US) and I saw all of their eyes roll at the back of their heads with the horror. But they pretty soon warmed up to us and we joked around together for the rest of the day. We enjoyed each other's company despite the monsoon rainfall that hit us at Koh Phi Phi later on during the day. Overall, we visited Maya Bay, Bamboo Island and the Phi Phi islands. These islands were definitely worth seeing but extremely busy with working-class European tourists. It was fun though so no complaints here.
The next day was another random day which illustrated Michael and mine's ability to make the most of our trip despite no money. We left our bungalow with the intention to visit Railay Beach which is only accessible by longtail boat and chill the whole day there. After eating some breakfast and buying suntan lotion we realized we only had enough for the roundtrip fare and only 50 baht to spare amongst the two of us while there. We decided to do it anyway instead of walk back to the bungalow (we were too lazy to do that anyway).
When we got to Railay West we decided to hike around the island and check out the other beaches. We walked along a trail and noticed a sign with a map of the island which had a lagoon and viewpoint listed. We decided to check out the viewpoint and head down the trail. But as we walked down a normal, horizontal trail I suddenly noticed a makeshift sign nailed on the side of a tree stating "viewpoint, 200 m" and all I saw were vertical piles of rocks. Michael wanted to go right on ahead climbing and I just looked at the sheer cliff wondering what the hell he was thinking about. A German speaking couple then joined us just looking at the wall of rocks and I figured out with my broken German that they were also debating the same thing. German girl was thinking German boyfriend was crazy for wanting to go, German boyfriend wanted to go. They were arguing about it. Michael and I were arguing about it. Certain aspects of human relationships are universal.
Another German speaking couple noticed our perplexion (mine and the other German speaking girls' that is) and they assured us that the climb over to the viewpoint really wasn't that bad. Except we had flip-flops on. That was a minus. They also told us to avoid the lagoon because that part was gnarly. I figured, what the hell might as well.
The climb up to the viewpoint turned out to be okay. There were ropes attached so you got to get up pretty safely. On the way up we ran into an Israeli kid (who totally reminded me of my brother) who was climbing up solo and at the viewpoint we all made conversation and decided to check out the lagoon together. The viewpoint was definitely well worth it so I figured it would be wise to atleast check out the climb to the lagoon.
The climb down to the lagoon was a bit sketchy in the begining. Let me just put in a side note here for my mother: I'm sorry you have to find out about this part of the trip this way. Wybacz mi.
The rest of the climb down was a steep ... I shouldn't even say climb... more like a slide down with slippery rope. We passed up huge trees which are only found in the rainforest amidst a narrowing canyon-like crevasse. Then it got pretty bad when all of a sudden we noticed a vertical 10-15 foot drop with slippery rocks encased with mud. Some travelers on their way up told us it was a hard climb. It became clear that this was definitely for the more experiened rock climbers and we were all amateurs. Michael said he wasn't afraid but I knew he was scared just like the rest of us. What did capture me for a second was the group of people I was with - three Israelis, Mike, me (the Polish girl) and then a group of Germans (or Austrians) all helping each other out on this sketchy adventure. Let me just say that if anything happened on this trail, help would have taken hours upon hours to arrive. And it was REALLY easy to slip and fall and break something crucial. But we all stuck together and helped each other out just for the sake of adventure. Pretty cool moment.
Anyway, the climb down was insane. These climbs definitely take mental strength and good moral support. We had two more creepy climbs down that were just as dangerous and we finally got to the bottom of the lagoon. All of us were covered with mud, sweaty and in pain due to the lack of shoes (since we decided to toss them coming down) but we didn't care. The lagoon turned out to be a karst sinkhole with monkeys foraging at the upper branches and caves all around. Absolutely gorgeous. I went into the water for a bit but then freaked myself out by thinking a water snake could bite me in the murky water. Quite ironic considering I just went down those insane cliffs, sticking my feet and hands into holes where any tarantula or other type of venomous animal could hide. Apparently going into the middle of the lagoon the sky looks like an eyeball. Oh well, I was fine sitting on the edge.
The climb up wasn't nearly as bad as the climb down. It took some strength but in the end those types of climbs really test your mental limits. Going through that climb successfully without getting hysterical was an accomplishment for me for sure. And right when the climb got easiest, I wiped out by sliding on the mud. I was literally looking like a mud monster covered in red from head to tow. Some Spanish dude thought it would be funny if I fell again and have him take a picture. Smartass. It was pretty funny though.
As soon as we climbed down we had to get to the other side of the island to wash ourselves off. Mike was dirty but I was looking ridiculous which elicited quite a few comments from English speakers and a number of looks from the local Thais. One guy said, "Hey! Did you get to the lagoon!?" Another asked if I just came from there, hence the title of this entry.
We got back to our bungalow exhausted but proud of ourselves. We had no money but we had the time of our lives. That really shows that you really don't need much to live it up well.
