We opted instead to go to Ao Nang Beach which is outside of Krabi and a short boat ride to Railay thinking that we'd enjoy a beach town a little better than the city....and it was closer to our destination....
Ao Nang was.....well...kinda like Samui...(see earlier blog posts) very touristy....and not good touristy....like, 'dirty old man' touristy....
Railay on the other hand was....absolutely gorgeous. Towering limestone cliffs...beautiful sand beaches near huge caves, monkeys....everywhere... We should have stayed there instead of visiting for a day...
When we arrived by longtail boat to Railay we were taen to a small shop to get outfitted for climbing...and then we walked a few hundred meters to the end of the beach....to the base of this huge limestone wall....We spent the morning hanging on the side of said wall in the hot sun....enjoying every minute of it......I climbed higher than I've ever been in my entire life and ...I was ...OK... Sairaa who had only climbed a couple times, had done incredibly well... I was impressed and proud to be with someone who isn't a princess....:)
After the climbing....we grabbed some food and then went exploring. We followed a path long the side of this cliff/cave until we came to a path that seemed to go up...sort of... We followed this slippery muddy path, that you should only climb while wearing shoes.... I was not wearing shoes... which proved to be a bit difficult but I managed...Sairaa managed to get annoyed that I was taking longer to get to the top.... I love her...:)
When we arrived at the top we found a path that took us to a view point.....amazing is all I can say....
We headed back down and continued down the path alongside the cliff until we came out on a beach... At one end of the beach was a huge cave...full of big wooden penis' Yes...you read correctly....large wooden penis' and there were hundreds of them....
Apparently this cave held the spirit of the Phranang (princess goddess)...or something...and fisherman would come and pray for success on their fishing trips........If they did have success they would return to the cave with an...'offering' ....
Above the cave, the limestone drooped over the water making us feel like it would fall on us at any moment, while we were swimming.... So incredible !!!
Along the side of the cliff behind us, a man was bouldering...(climbing without a rope) he had gone through at least five different routes at breathtaking speed and then proceeded to climb tree and hang off one of the branches......doesn't sound too crazy but if you saw it...you'd think the guy was Spiderman... seriously... Then on our way back down the path we ran into an entire herd/tribe of monkeys....tons of them climbing on the top of a fence that ran along the side of the path we were walking...
It was a good day...one of the better ones...:)
Our next stop would end up being a couple days later.....we were headed towards the border because our visas were about to expire....so....we decided to head all the way down to Kuala Lumpur...the capital city of Malaysia.
It is what you'd expect from a metropolitan city. Skyscrapers, huge malls, starbucks, more huge malls.... We actually enjoyed our time there....we had spent most of our trip in bungalows and getting bitten by every bug known to man so some time in the city was much needed. We finally got to watch a movie in a theater......we saw the new 'Karate Kid' movie.. I have to say...it wasn't too bad..a bit more for younger kids...but having seen the original when I was younger, it was cool to see them completely rework it with the same storyline. I was also able to have a Guiness for the first time in almost two months...so that was cool....
Sairaa and I love food so we indulged a little.....we ate at a really fancy Japanese restaurant....had amazing sushi...:) We saw the Petronas twin towers..... huge towers side by side...with a connecting walkway between them.... that was cool... Oh! and speaking of food....we also had Pho at this really nice Vietnamese restaurant. Pho is basicly noodle soup with beef in it... It sounds kinda boring but it's really good and this restaurant did it proper....
After a few days in KL we were sick of the city and ready to get back to Thailand...so we headed north...
We stopped on the way to jump over to Pulau Penang, which is a small island off the western coast of Malaysia, just south of the Thai border. The town we stayed in looked like it was form the colonial era. Like something out of a historical European picture-book. We were surprised because this place felt less like a tourist destination. Everyone seemed to be going about there own business....rather than caring about some foreigners walking around...... Again, food....so we ate at this really amazing Indian restaurant and our table was literally in the street, with cars and motorbikes driving by just meters from our table..... The indian man at the counter of the hotel we were staying, suggested it. He was right...it was very good and very cheap...
From Penang we were headed north and on our way to Bangkok, to connect to the northern town of Chiang Mai. We had to get across the border though....which is not a big deal....except that we missed our bus 'cause Sairaa slept in.......haha.....
So....we ended up taking a local bus which would only take us to the town on the Malaysian side of the border....Ok so we took that bus...(which was cheaper, luckily) and we end up in the town of Kangar at approx. 8 in the evening. We were determined to cross the border before we called it a day because we felt a bit more comfortable in Thailand and Kangar didn't seem to be very foreigner friendly........
...We then decide to take a taxi to the border, but he would only take us and drop us there....he wouldn't take us any further....so.....we discussed and discussed.... and we finally decided that we;d take the chance.....
So with the border closing at 10, we decide to take the 45 min. drive to the border sometime after 8. The driver did eactly as he had promise and dropped us at the immigration office on the Malaysian side. We quickly got stamped for leaving the country and proceeded to walk another km (with full packs..) towards the Thai side of the border....
.....this is where the story gets interesting....
as we are walking a truck pulls over ahead of us....heading in the same direction that we are. A man in his late 30's maybe, gets out of his truck to offer us a ride across.... he can't speak a word of English ....but both of us sense right away that he's harmless and we accept his offer. When we get into his truck I proceed to tell him, with the few Thai words that I know, that we are headed to a town called Haat Yai. He takes us to the Thai office and he gets the guards ( who speak little english) to translate for him. He says that he'll take us to a place in Pedang Besar (the town on the Thai side of the border) because there aren't any buses running that late to Haat Yai, so we would have to catch one in the morning. Great! so.... we get stamped and sent on our way....we get back into his truck and I tell him and we would like a place that is 'took, took ma'....which means 'Cheap, very cheap' only 300B ( approx. $10US) He looks at me as if to say something and then hesitates, and then waves his hand as if to tell me 'nevermind'......I don't think anything of it until we arrive at our destination.... let's just say that this hotel was the kind of place that rented out rooms by the hour...:( OH well...something about judging books by covers......anyway.... we get out and I am trying to give him money for helping us thus far.....he takes 300B out of my hand, hands Sairaa (who had remained silent the whole time watching everything unfurl) a plastic bag with two bottles of water in it ( it looked like he had just purchased them-they were still cold) and he proceeds up the steps into the hotel. We follow. We get to the front desk, the woman behind the counter cannot speak a word of english, so the gentleman does all the talking, signs us in under his name and hands the lady our 300B and then gives her another 200B. Whoah!....wait a minute...what just happened..??? Did he just pay more money out of his own pocket??? We were very confused and everything happened so fast that we hardly had time to protest. Yes, the man had signed us in and because the room was actually 500B, he paid the balance from his own pocket........We were dumbfounded!! He then escorts us to our room, making sure we arrived safely, and then says goodbye. We thank him profusely and then he is gone.........
Sairaa and I spent a good half-hour talking about it in our room....WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!!
Well, we felt blessed, and also very hungry so we went to grab some food ....
That's not the end of the story!!!!
When we get back from getting food, the lady behind the counter yells at us....' hey you!' ...'Your friend...' She couldn't say anymore in english because she didn't know anymore......but she does hold up two plastic bags.....on had two cheeseburgers and the other, two cokes. The man had realized that we were hungry and went and got us food.....WHAAAATTTT?????? REALLY?? You have got to be kidding me... Yeah it happened!!
I'm not sure where all the good people have gone......but I know where one of them is.....he's in Pedang Besar.
The next day we started a long arduous journey back to Bangkok....like mst long distance journeys, it was long and cramped and sweaty and smelly......but e arrived at Bangkok at 5 am the next morning.....needless to say, we slept most of that day......
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