I could not decide if I should:
a. Fly to Krabi
b. Take a direct bus
c. Take the sleeper train to Surat Thani and then switch to a bus
While I was dilly dallying, a became expensive. I eventually went to the train station on my last day in Bangkok to book the sleeper train. Sadly, there were no AC cars available, so I took one with only fans (the problem turned out to be that it was very noisy having the windows open, so I got almost no sleep).
I was planning on taking a cab to the bus station in surat thani and then taking the local bus to krabi, but "luckily" the train station offered a combo ticket for foreigners only (maybe that should have been an alarm) so my train whioch arrived at 5:15 AM hooks up with a bus. I asked when did the bus leave, and was told 6 AM. I asked how long was the bus, and was told 2 hours. Well, when I arrived in Surat Thani everyone heading to lots of different destinations got put on the same bus. As we pulled out, I saw a sign for Krabi in the opposite direction from where we were going. We drove to some private depo, and I was told I had to wait until 8 for the bus for Krabi. I chewed out a few people (since this company deserved to be punished, and despite the fact that nothing constructive could occur). Eventually we left for Krabi. It was a beautiful drive, with Karst hills all around, and beautifully lined up trees in forests near the road (at least when they deforest, they replant). Instead of going to Krabi the bus took us 5 KM outside of town to another depo, where they had cabs waiting. I was steaming, and walked to the main road with a women that worked for a NGO in Bangkok, and we quickly caught a shared taxi for under a dollar into town. After walking around town for 15 minutes with my bags, I then found a nice hostel (recomended by lonely planet). I got a room with a fan and shared bathroom for 250 Baht ($7) but the place was very clean and comfortable.
I then caught a sea taxi to Rai Leh beach, which cost 150 Baht. Rai Leh beach is called by some the nicest beach in Thailand. I can beleive it. Rai Leh beach was stunning. Great limestone cliffs, a few small caves, a white sand beach with very few waves. A great place. After hanging out on Rai Leh for a while and listening to some music on my Ipod, I then decided to go around the cove to what looked like a secret beach. There were two ways there. I could walk in the water, or over a hill. I opted for the hill, which was a bit difficult in my sandles. The other beach (Toi Son beach ?) was equally stunning, and a mecca for rock climbers. In fact I ran into the women from the Bangkok NGO that was on my bus over there. Anyway, after hanging out a while, and taking some great photos of the cliffs and the beach, it was time to get back to Rai Leh. I asked someone how deep the water was, and was told it gets to chest deep around the bend, but you can go on the rocks. So, with bag held over my head, I went via water. At about the 2/3 point in the trip, it got deep. Hoping that it would not be deep for long, I continued. Disaster! The water got to chin level, the rock on the side were very sharp and I could not climb on them, and a wave knocked me over, leaving my bag floating in the water and shreading my hand on the rocks (15 small cuts). Well I made it to the beach 5 minutes later, but my camera and Ipod stopped working. I was depressed.
I then crossed Rai Leh to the otherside of the pinninsula, where the boat had left me off. I was about to catch another boat back (at 4 PM), when the guy who had taken me appeared and told me to wait until 5 for him. A pair of girls had told me earlier than they had paid 160 for a round trip, so perhaps I had paid for a round trip. So I asked, did I pay for a round trip? He said, yes round trip. Well, after waiting an hour and getting a ride back, I got charged another 150 Baht. Man I hate that....
Then next day I took a kyacking trip to see some of the caves in the area. The trip was a bit lame (although maybe I was just in a bad mood from my camera and Ipod no longer working), but there were a few cool caves, with cave painting in them and also some interesting prehistoric amphibians (as old as the dinos!).
In other news, I just found out that my mom's friends in Phenom Pehn had an even bigger disaster. There sponser for their center had eliminated their names on the account and obsconded with the $24,000 worth of grant money in it. I always said that PP makes me want to cry. Man, stealing from kids. I actually had been warned to not give money to most NGO's in cambodia without checking them out first, since they are often currupt.
I actually wrote this blog entry a week ago, but accidently deleted it. Its really hard to psych myself up to redo something you already did. I hope Anne and Georges are able to psych themselves up to restart, since it looked like they were doing a great job with the kids from that local village.
I also have to say, that despite losing my camera and ipod (and 4 days worth of photos) I am so lucky to be on this trip at all, so that is small potatos in the grand scheme of things.
