Back In the High Life Again
Well im back in the U S of A. Oh boy. 
Its strange how being immersed in other cultures for jsut a short period of time will make you amazed at what you left behind. Most people have culture shock upon entry to other countries, i always seem to have it upon return to mine. Overall the trip could have been longer but was excellent none the less. I will continue the story but ill be doing it from my trusty Mac and in my spare time. Which until Oct 31 ive got a bit of. So here we go.
Ko Phi Phi was beuatiful but the vibe was lacking and there as much more to see. Originally we planned to head to Koh Sok National Park but a place called Rai Ley sounded much more appealing. We paid for a boat ticket and room at a travel agency since they had the cheapest prices.
To our suprise, not really, the longtail boat driver wanted more money cause there were not enough people to make the trip worth his wild. After about 45 minutes he found more people, but not enough, we finally got him down to only 50 baht more and we jumped it the boat. He tried to find some more people as the boat slowly drifted away form the dock without him in it! Tossing the rope to him four times he finally dragged us back in and off we went out into open ocean on a 20 foot wooden boat powered by a 4 cyclinder engine attached to a propeller. He controlled it with a piece of rope attached to the throttle. It was raining and there was a little swell which made the ride slow and interesting. The coastal views were amazing.
After about 40 minutes of ups and downs of the ocean we arrived to some mangroves and had to wade with our bags to the shore.
We walked to our hotel "Diamond Cave" which was quite nice for the money had a hot shower, decent bath, 3 beds, and a TV. Not to mention the nice view of the locals houses and trash pile off our balcony. Next stop were the two killer beaches Rai Lay is known for. The first was a fifteen minute walk across to Rai Lay West which is a long white sand beach with a killer view of the surrounding islands and bay. It was a little crowded and had a few resorts on it so we headed over to Prahnang Beach with its majestic caves and isolated beach . As soon as you eneter the beach via the footpath lined with merchants you first see all the food hawkers and then a huge rock with stalagtites and a beautiful cave. The cave was fun to run around. We found some cool side caves and photo-ops.
Back to the Hotel for matinance and off we went to the Skunk Bar. We had meet a guy earlier in the day who owned this pleasant establishment and said he could offer the green we inquired about.
The journey there was a 15 or 20 minute walk from our hotel through other hotels and past other bars topped off witha 5 minute walk down a dirt trial. It was proabably one of the best bars we went onthe entire trip. A typical reggea bar, but with tons of places to chill, cheap beer, and beautiful setting. Plus the ganja was easialy obtianed and you could smoke anywhere. After procuring our goods and papers we enjoyed a smoke and a drink with the owner. An awesome guy who moved form Phi Phi after the Tsunami and built the place with his own habds, which was obviuous. Deciding food was in order, we bid farewell and took the hike back to find food. Unfourntualty the food wasnt as good as it cold have been and i even got another look at it later. We hit up pretty much every bar on the Island that night, one inparticualr had a cool little reggea band but when they let to Drunken white guys come up and sing "No Woman No Cry" with a harmonica and all the good turned to bad. Already three sheets to the wind we headed back to the Skunk Bar where i smoked not one but somethign like three spliffs too many. Trying to rally Matt to go i finally stumble down the trail and took a look at just what it was i ate earlier. Yellow curry W/ some still unidentifiable vegateble. Hmm..
By the second time i woke up the next morning i realized it was going to be on of those days. I do believe we left the hotle room for One or two meals and munchies druing our HBO moviefest. Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and some other classics helped me nurse the secondof my only two hangovers of the trip. Luckily the day was not wasted due to the fact that it rained most of the day. Hard too. So i really didnt feel too bad about the lack of sun or beach in my schedule.
We decide to leave the next day but were invited to go to on a boat exursion with a guy form South Africa Matt had met one drunken morning on Phi Phi. "Meet" meaning the guy was our neighbor and at six in the mmorning Matt stumbleed up and the guy said "I thought i was fucked up until i saw you" Or something to that effect. He told us to meet himn at one while we wandered around the beaches. In the meantime Matt decided not to go. So I meet, well call him Dave, and he informs me that the other folks completely flaked so there was only three of us for the ride. Now we had to find more people. It just so happend that three girls were sitting at a table finishing lunch and Dave coerced them into fitting the the other part of the bill. We pick one of the many boat men and off we went.
The next four hours were spent cruising around 4 islands with pleasant stops and mild hikes. We simmerd, soaked and played football on uninhabited beaches. The highlight was swining in a cave off the last island. Coming back to well deserved beers. I finally went back to see Matt and brag about his missed pleaseantries over some dinner and "Nancy's". The following night was another of inhebriation minus the debauchery. The next morning we finally mustered the will to leave another paradise and find another. One more longtail and were back to Krabi. The sea was calm and ride was pleasant chatting with Jens (pronounced Yens) who would come in to the picture a month later. Until then - Z
Its strange how being immersed in other cultures for jsut a short period of time will make you amazed at what you left behind. Most people have culture shock upon entry to other countries, i always seem to have it upon return to mine. Overall the trip could have been longer but was excellent none the less. I will continue the story but ill be doing it from my trusty Mac and in my spare time. Which until Oct 31 ive got a bit of. So here we go.
Ko Phi Phi was beuatiful but the vibe was lacking and there as much more to see. Originally we planned to head to Koh Sok National Park but a place called Rai Ley sounded much more appealing. We paid for a boat ticket and room at a travel agency since they had the cheapest prices.
To our suprise, not really, the longtail boat driver wanted more money cause there were not enough people to make the trip worth his wild. After about 45 minutes he found more people, but not enough, we finally got him down to only 50 baht more and we jumped it the boat. He tried to find some more people as the boat slowly drifted away form the dock without him in it! Tossing the rope to him four times he finally dragged us back in and off we went out into open ocean on a 20 foot wooden boat powered by a 4 cyclinder engine attached to a propeller. He controlled it with a piece of rope attached to the throttle. It was raining and there was a little swell which made the ride slow and interesting. The coastal views were amazing.
After about 40 minutes of ups and downs of the ocean we arrived to some mangroves and had to wade with our bags to the shore.
We walked to our hotel "Diamond Cave" which was quite nice for the money had a hot shower, decent bath, 3 beds, and a TV. Not to mention the nice view of the locals houses and trash pile off our balcony. Next stop were the two killer beaches Rai Lay is known for. The first was a fifteen minute walk across to Rai Lay West which is a long white sand beach with a killer view of the surrounding islands and bay. It was a little crowded and had a few resorts on it so we headed over to Prahnang Beach with its majestic caves and isolated beach . As soon as you eneter the beach via the footpath lined with merchants you first see all the food hawkers and then a huge rock with stalagtites and a beautiful cave. The cave was fun to run around. We found some cool side caves and photo-ops.Back to the Hotel for matinance and off we went to the Skunk Bar. We had meet a guy earlier in the day who owned this pleasant establishment and said he could offer the green we inquired about.
The journey there was a 15 or 20 minute walk from our hotel through other hotels and past other bars topped off witha 5 minute walk down a dirt trial. It was proabably one of the best bars we went onthe entire trip. A typical reggea bar, but with tons of places to chill, cheap beer, and beautiful setting. Plus the ganja was easialy obtianed and you could smoke anywhere. After procuring our goods and papers we enjoyed a smoke and a drink with the owner. An awesome guy who moved form Phi Phi after the Tsunami and built the place with his own habds, which was obviuous. Deciding food was in order, we bid farewell and took the hike back to find food. Unfourntualty the food wasnt as good as it cold have been and i even got another look at it later. We hit up pretty much every bar on the Island that night, one inparticualr had a cool little reggea band but when they let to Drunken white guys come up and sing "No Woman No Cry" with a harmonica and all the good turned to bad. Already three sheets to the wind we headed back to the Skunk Bar where i smoked not one but somethign like three spliffs too many. Trying to rally Matt to go i finally stumble down the trail and took a look at just what it was i ate earlier. Yellow curry W/ some still unidentifiable vegateble. Hmm..By the second time i woke up the next morning i realized it was going to be on of those days. I do believe we left the hotle room for One or two meals and munchies druing our HBO moviefest. Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and some other classics helped me nurse the secondof my only two hangovers of the trip. Luckily the day was not wasted due to the fact that it rained most of the day. Hard too. So i really didnt feel too bad about the lack of sun or beach in my schedule.
We decide to leave the next day but were invited to go to on a boat exursion with a guy form South Africa Matt had met one drunken morning on Phi Phi. "Meet" meaning the guy was our neighbor and at six in the mmorning Matt stumbleed up and the guy said "I thought i was fucked up until i saw you" Or something to that effect. He told us to meet himn at one while we wandered around the beaches. In the meantime Matt decided not to go. So I meet, well call him Dave, and he informs me that the other folks completely flaked so there was only three of us for the ride. Now we had to find more people. It just so happend that three girls were sitting at a table finishing lunch and Dave coerced them into fitting the the other part of the bill. We pick one of the many boat men and off we went.The next four hours were spent cruising around 4 islands with pleasant stops and mild hikes. We simmerd, soaked and played football on uninhabited beaches. The highlight was swining in a cave off the last island. Coming back to well deserved beers. I finally went back to see Matt and brag about his missed pleaseantries over some dinner and "Nancy's". The following night was another of inhebriation minus the debauchery. The next morning we finally mustered the will to leave another paradise and find another. One more longtail and were back to Krabi. The sea was calm and ride was pleasant chatting with Jens (pronounced Yens) who would come in to the picture a month later. Until then - Z
posted by Mr Zazanis at 6:11 AM
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