Yesterday we left for beautiful Ton Sai beach and I can hardly believe that only a day later we are all back in the sleepy fishing village of Krabi. We had originally planned to stay In Ton Sai for three nights but ended up leaving Krabi a day late due to some extremely long and powerful monsoon shower that didn't let up long enough for us to leave. Yesterday we managed to pack up and leave Krabi in the morning, allowing plenty of time to catch the songthaew to Ao Nang beach and hire a longtail boat to Ton Sai. Upon arrival we dragged our feet (heavy from the weight of our backpacks) while Aaron limped his way up a narrow dirt road to a cluster of bungalows from which we would choose our nights accomodation. Two places had been recommended to us and we happened upon Green Valley Resorts first. (Dream Valley had been recommended to us but we assumed Aaron's friend had mistook the name and had actually meant Green Valley.) We checked into a room and rested briefly, sweating profusely. Almost immediately Magi emerged from the bathroom in full swim gear (her outfit of choice more often than not) and insisted we get our butts in gear and follow her to the beach. It didn't take much convincing.
Later we stumbled upon Dream Valley Bungalows and had to laugh. In Thailand it is very common for guesthouses near a popular guesthouse to make their name very similar to the one that is popular. This way they will lure in people who think they are going to the right place. In Green Valley's case this motive worked on us perfectly. In the end though we were very happy with where we stayed- the people were super friendly and accomodating and the food was good and not too expensive.
Aaron attempted a little climb yesterday, just to test out his gimpy foot. The prognosis was not good. The whole reason we had worked our way to Ton Sai was because it is an incredibly beautiful and challenging place to rock climb. I can't put into words what those rocks look like and I have never climbed but I must say that the rocks made me a little envious of those who do (minus the extreme physical exertion). They are very smooth limestone, pitted with random holes that would make climbing ideal. It really looks like indoor climbing walls have been designed after the rock faces at Ton Sai and the way they jut out of the crystal blue water is just breath-taking. One note: in a restaurant in Ton Sai we got to see our first episode of Survivor this season. If any of you are watching Survivor you have probably seen what I'm talking about when I describe Ton Sai. It looks almost exactly like what you see on that show because it was taped on a nearby island.
By the end of the day around a bed of dice playing Yahtzee we had all decided to leave the next day. The beach at Ton Sai isn't great and there is nothing to do in the village except attempt to stop the sneaky hoards of mini-me mosquitoes that feast on your blood. Plus, there is no point in staying in a town where even a bottle of water is almost 3 times the amount you would spend anywhere else. It's very pricey and only worth it if you're staying to climb. Aaron can't climb so he's heading to Malaysia as we load a bus to Bangkok tomorrow afternoon.
On our way back to Krabi we saw something that we've heard about but hadn't seen until today- Americans disguised as Canadians. We met a couple of guys in a songthaew with Canadian flags on their bags. As I got on I noticed the patches and asked them where they were from. Sheepishly, as though we had caught one of them with their hand in the cookie jar, one of the guys said "Connecticut" and then promptly began to explain that they wear the flags "just as a precaution" and so that their mom wouldn't worry about them. I think it's a rather strange custom some Americans have taken to but we've heard they feel like they are treated better and worry less about negative attention. Whatever works!
Oh, the belly aches. Travelling can reek havoc on a gut. My belly has been playing very mean tricks on me for the last week. It will tell me I'm feeling fine, and growl to me that it's hungry, hungry, hungry! So I'll eat and then feel like someone is digging their fingers into my stomach and pressing hard down in it, over and over again. So I've been taking it easy and eating only steamed rice. Blah! I'm so sick of steamed rice. I have to be better by the time we get to Bangkok so I'll be ready for three hearty meals a day at our favourite restaurant, May Kaidees!
tothesea,
k&m