Made it to Krabi and to be honest it was ok. There is the beach, tours, a few bars exc exc but I didn’t really seem to get that Boheminum vibe there like most beach towns. Didn’t have much of a plan when I showed up so the first thing I did after I got checked in was ask about a tour to somewhere. After she showed me what all I could do, I decided to do the James Bond Island tour. I didn’t get to see this island when I was in Thailand last time and always wanted to get a picture of that rock standing out on the water thats about to fall over.
When they picked me up from my hotel for the tour the next day, I went to get inside the van and it was full of couples (3 to be exact). Kind of felt like the odd-man-out and kept to myself for the first bit. One couple was from Germany, the other Norway and I never did figure out where the 3rd couple was from, Europe somewhere I guess. Didn’t matter causes they didn’t talk to any others on the whole trip. They just kept doing flash bombs with the camera like they were Japanese tourist…must have been newlyweds.
We got to the ocean and all piled into a Thai long boat. We cruised up water for about 30min stopping a few times to look at mountain sides in the shape of animals…really didn’t see what they were talking about. We finally made it to the James Bond Island and pulled around the back of the island to maroon the boat. Never have I seen a picture of the island because all you ever see is a picture of the rock which was made famous because…you guessed it the James Bond movie “The Man with the Golden Gun.” There was more to see here then from Maya Bay where they shot the movie “The Beach.”
Hiking along the trail around the island there was several stops that were set up for pictures of the rock in the bay. We got there at about noon time so I didn’t really get a picture that I liked because the sun was high and the lighting was harsh. Made it to the beach and I was surprised at how many shops/stalls they had there. They even had refrigerated soda and water and last I checked I didn’t see any power lines to the island. Funny sometimes, and I know I’m wrong for saying this because I’m apart of the problem too as I was a tourist, but who the hell goes to an island like that to shop for scarfs, trinkets, cravings exc exc??? Let it be, maybe one stall with water and soda and thats it. I guess Master-P said it best “…everyone is just trying to make a dollar out of 15 centz!” We stayed on the island for about 40 minutes and I shot as many pictures as I could in that time. Wish I could go back when the light is better though.
After that we went to a place so we could go kayaking. I was to tired by then to do it and it seemed kind of corny as you didn’t even paddle yourself. They basically just did a big circle with ya. The one couple, that no one knew, went and the rest of us stayed on a party boat and waited. Was good because the rest of us finally started talking and got to know each other better. Hennay (not sure on the spelling) spoke real good English and was from Norway on vacation with his girlfriend. When I first seen him and he was wearing a UNC t-shirt, dipping snuff but speaking something weird that I couldn’t put my finger on. Didn’t know any other country in the world that really did smokeless tobacco like we do in the USA but Hennay said a lot of smokers are going to it in Norway to cut back or quit. The German couple had just came from India and was bopping around Asia for a bit.
After that we went and had lunch at a floating village full of Thai Muslims. I know, how much weirder can that get but I’m serious it’s all true and couldn’t make this stuff up. Southern Thailand has a large Muslim population, as its next to Malaysia. Was funny though to see a mosque on high stilts out on the water. Lunch was pretty good, full of Thai dishes/rice and we did a walk around of the village afterwards. After that we headed back up the ocean in the long tail boat back where started. We piled into our van and headed off to see a temple infested with monkeys.
I asked the tour operator if these monkeys were crazy and he said “Yes, sometime monkey go crazy when you not give him food.” When we got there first thing I did was buy a bag of mini-bananas and nuts to feed the monkeys. I would say there were over 75+ monkeys there and as soon as we got out they were all around us. When I walked up with the bag of food they started going a little crazy. Everyone was watching me as I tossed the fruit out but it was to much for me to keep up as these guys were everywhere. I tossed Heanny some bananas and his girlfriend the bag of nuts to help feed. Was amazing to see how quick these guys were when snatching food. We were all having a good time for about 5sec until Heanny’s girl let out a yell, as some monkey had jumped up and took the whole bag of nuts out of her hand. That little monkey hit the jackpot with that trick as the bag was bigger then him.
Once we got tired of the monkeys we went inside and looked at the cave temple. They had a reclining Buddha that was cool and a bunch of other Buddha statues. The further back you went into the cave the better the stalactites got and the bat guano got stronger. There were steps that went up that looked like would be a good climb. Hennay and I decided to try and make it to the top. Just as I was about to start climbing my backpack with my camera on it came undone and fell. Like in slow motion I watched it roll down the cave wall for about 10m hitting every rock along the way. That bag has my DSLR camera in it and all my good lenses and could just see dollar signs in my mind on how much this was going to cost me. Hennay picked the bag up for me and we kept climbing towards the top. Once I got there I pulled out my camera to see if everything was ok, and after a general inspection it seemed to be working fine. Got real real lucky on that move! After the monkey temple we went to a waterfall. Nothing to fancy about it but it was a nice stop and had cool water. I didn’t bring any swim trunks so I didn’t get to jump in but Hennay and the German guy did.
After that the tour guide dropped us off at each of our hotels. Hennay asked if I wanted to meet up later for some beers and what not and I said yeah. After taking a 3hr nap I got a call from him and answered to say we’d meet up at 10pm at his place. We ended up going to a bar having a few beers and shooting some pool. Afterwards we headed back to his hotel to chill and drink some more as his girlfriend was there as well. Hennay, bless his little Norwegian heart, took the next 2hrs to tell me how bad American politics is and basically got ripped on because of that for that amount of time. I tried to make a few points but it was fruitless and in the end I just let him go with it, as I’m used to it being an American and traveling. We did get off topic though several times about different things. Hennay told me about the time when he was a kid working at a McDonald’s or something in Norway and seen his first US dollar bill. He said he was working the cash register and a big American guy walked up and yelled in this low, southern deep voice ‘Hey kid, you ever see a US dollar before!” and then tossed one on the counter towards Hennay and walked off. The funniest part about this is hearing a Norwegian doing a Texas accent and the fact the Hennay hadn’t seen a US dollar bill before this. He said he remembered thinking “No…but I really want to.”
That pretty much sums up my Krabi trip and got to meet a cool person from Norway. Maybe one day when I finally get to do my dream trip to there I’ll be able to meet back up with Hennay and his girlfriend for more funny close encounters with Americans.
Previous Post |
Next Post |
Loading ...
