Once again i haven't updated for a few days as i've been mainly chilling on the beach.
The good news is that after my scuba trauma i went out and bought a snorkel mask and decided to investigate the reefs around my beach area. Sairee Bay is really shallow for around 100 metres and then you start to hit the coral reef straight away so it's perfect to leave your stuff on the beach and dip in for half an hour at a time. After getting over the initial breathing underwater and going out of my depth again it was really amazing and i seen some really interesting fish which just goes to show you don't need to dive deep to see a lot of colourful marine life. Since i doubt anyone reading this knows fish species this is really just for the benefit of my wee cousin Ryan who is an expert, as I managed to pick out an 8 striped butterfly fish, hexagon grouper, lunar wrasse and loads of sea cucumbers and sea urchins (which kind of freaked me out a bit!). I'll definitely be doing more snorkelling on Koh Phi Phi and when i get to Australia and Fiji so i'm looking forward to it!
I decided to book myself onto the night ferry leaving Koh Tao last night (Tuesday) and then take a bus to Krabi. When you're backpacking you come to learn than overnight buses, trains and boats are the best way to get around since it saves you paying a night's accomodation and doesn't completely waste a day on transport! I had done both the night train and bus so thought i'd try the boat - what could be so bad i thought?! You should have asked me that question at 3am this morning when i had someones hairy knee up my arse and another persons sweaty elbow in my face. The beds were pretty packed together to say the least and consisted of a row of about 60 mattresses on each of the 2 floors with about 10 fans spread over the ceiling. Everyone is given a number, it was probably the closest i've felt to being a prisoner and i was actually paying for this pleasure haha. Not one to complain though, when the boat left at 9pm i read my book and listened to some tunes (MJ megamix kept me going!)
I finally drifted off about midnight, wedged between two foreign/incomprehendable couples, but managed to see every hour as i would jump up in a panic and freak out at how close i was to these strangers! I don't think i was the only one as every time i woke up i noticed quite a few people were doing exactly the same (sitting up in a startled way). I later spoke to a couple of guys who had been downstairs which had no fans and was a complete sweat pit, so they never slept at all! To be fair, it probably would have been alot more fun if i'd been with a group of people to laugh during the situation as much as i did with them afterwards so it's not something i'd rule out in future!
We arrived in Surat Thani (the pier) around 4.30am and had to wait until 6 for the bus, luckily the travel agents put Jackass the Movie (2nd one) on so that was good banter, although maybe a bit much after having about 2hrs sleep and the dry boak as you do getting up at silly o'clock!
After a 4 hour bus journey i arrived on the West coast, in Krabi Town. Now there isn't so much to do within the town other than eat, drink and shop so most people will stay at the beaches nearby but it's alot cheaper where i am (3 quid a night for a single room and shared hot shower, can't beat it!). I'm only staying here 3 nights then going to head to Koh Phi Phi for around 4 nights so i'm just going to chill out for a bit, there's a good buzz around the town so i'll definitely be kept busy.
Today i ended up going a wee boat trip from the pier along the road, i kind of done it cos i was bored and felt sorry for the wee driver cos he's getting no business at the moment (it's quiet season). It turned out to be alot of fun as he took me down the river to some caves where the Japanese used to hide in WW II, i had to climb up some stairs to get inside the cave and i was the only person there which was a bit creepy! There were lots of stalagmites and stalagtites and they had also some waxworks of Japanese soldiers and cavemen, i thought one of them was real at one point as it's eyes glowed so safe to say i didn't hang around for long! We then sailed further down the river and through some mangrove forests which was really cool and again a bit creepy as it started to rain. This led us to a fish farm which was fairly quiet as it was pretty wet by this point. Here they have a number of species of fish which they mainly catch and breed to eat - snapper, crabs etc. I actually seen them get some crabs out of their trap as people were having them for lunch :( They also showed me a pufferfish which inflated when they took it out the water and i got to touch it..what a weird looking creature! There were other really big fish which jumped out of the water when they were fed but i didn't catch the name of them unfortunately.
Afterwards it was back to the town and i had a look around the shops which are very similar to Bangkok but on a much smaller scale. I think i'm going to treat myself to a pair of shorts cos i only have one pair, the issue being i would need to buy an extra large probably as the sizes are so small here and i refuse to do that!! I am fat by Asian standards..so i'll keep looking for something with no label hehe!
