Wednesday 28 October KRABI
We caught the 10 am bus to Krabi. I recorded rhe thought that we should have stayed part way at Ao Luk to judge from the number of attractions in the area - we have never made that omission good! The second half of the journey was very rough as the road was being rebuilt. Mostly were just shaken like a bag of bones but one section was so wet and slippery that we felt lucky to make it through. A lorry was not so luckily and was stuck leaning from vertical and affecting the line remaining to other vehicles.
We checked into the old section of the classy Thai Hotel in the old centre of town, that cost us 300B, all of £10!
By going into a cafe and talking Thai we were soon surrounded and told a lot about the area, including of immediate interest where to catch a songthaew to Than Seuia (tiger Caves). A monastary where the monks lived singly in the caves.
Several caves were joined together by a light system which Joan sussed (I didn't record the finding!). A nice atmosphere where the monks were collecting funds towards a big new stupa.
We ate in the night market by the river where we were welcomed and soon attracted an audience, who had no English, for being willing to speak Thai. Noting we could buy great breakfast and great dinner for £1 each. After which we investigated the backstreets and found another night market and were easily persuaded by another customer to drink a khanun (jack fruit) blended with syrup and crushed ice. We went back a couple of days later and drank manao (lemon, lime) which was excellent and not too sweet.
Thursday 29 October
Inspired by large beautiful photos we made for the beach of Ao Nang, so untouched on this our very first visit. It was idealistic as peaceful and beautiful as nature made it. (Unfortunately in future we were to see it developed into a crowded beach resort, though it was still our first point of call from Krabi when returning to show our family and grandchildren in 2000 - unfortunately on that summer occasion they got severely bitten by jellyfish!)
This was the occasion for our first long swim of the holiday, in fact I swam around the southern headland to see an even more impressive cove enclosed by steep cliffs with mangrove at one end and and a sandy spot surrounded by rocks making a sort of cave open to skylight.
Back on Ao Nang where we were just the first of a handful of well spaced couples, not more than 20 of us on 2km of beach. A lad selling pineapple had no problem in persuading us to buy one which he prepared skillfully with a large sharp knife before handing us half each to be held by the stem. A memory we shall never forget.
About 4 pm this idyll was brought to a sudden end by a ferocious wind and a tropical downpour. The sky darkened and the islands disappeared from view. We sheltered in the porch of a new bank which although roofed was open to the elements, the only commercial sign of the development to come. I ran to a songthaew 20 yards away and got soaked and asked through the closed window if he was going to Krabi, not surprisingly he did not open it so I just jumped in the back sheltered by transparent PVC covers, to be joined by another and two New Zealanders in their Thirties on a world tour. The rain was so heavy I was concerned that the driver could see.
The rain lasted for hours whilst we slept before going out to eat in the almost deserted night market, so much so that the waitresses joined us at our table and listened whilst I talked Thai. I picked up new words for bathe (aph naam), sea (tha lee), squash (fak thawng), a fruit like blueberries (niao daarn) and a version of goodbye (lao kon) which was not in my dictionary. They were aged 15,16, 17 and 19, with the fifteen year old being particularly outgoing who helped by repeating individual words until I found them in the dictionary and got the pronunciation right. Tomorrow at breakfast we found we were eating gravy (khao muu daeng) which was served with rice and meat as a sauce.
Friday 30th October
Back after breakfast to Ao Nang where we hired a boat to take us along the headland, first past the beautiful Phra Nang and then passed others to our intended destination Rai Leh intending to walk back on a coastal route.
In fact there are two Rai Leh beaches, east and west we were dropped at the furthest, west, and found too much to walk back as intended, another downpour. A day of eating and sheltering in the Sea Sand restaurant mixed with headland swimming for me which made me think it was dangerous to do alone for fear of what might happen if I got cramp.
Met Richard, half negro, from San Francisco in a coffee that evening. He was a schoolteacher entitled to a sabbatical year off after seven years of work at 60% pay, in fact until now he had worked seventeen years and was enjoying the break.
Sat 31 October
Joan and I debated Mai Leh again or Phi Phi, Joan's choice won so we bought tickets for 125B (£4) one way or 220B return and left on the 10:30 boat. In fact it was steadily filling up with backpackers plus the Krabi school sports team we had seen regularly the last few days but they spent the journey recovering by sleeping below.
On the boat I talked to an Kenyan/Indian couple who were on a three week holiday but five years earlier they had spent 21 months travelling starting with Kenya,Neal, India, Thailand, Indonesia (which she liked best because of the scenery changes) and New Zealand - also beautiful. She liked Bali in spite of it being such a popular tourist resort somehow it kept its charm. She worked near the IC pool , I said there was no such thing in my day and learned that they are now building a new Sports Complex.
Her husband sold chemicals in Swansea to people who sold on to British Steel. He said the government after backtracking had decided not to close all mines, now only 10 were to close in the next 90 days until a new review. Apparently there were big demonstrations in favour of mines, even at Cheltenham the crowds were applauded by almost everyone. A big change to my memory the countrywide 1981 miner's strikes.
In harbour we walking towards the Phi Phi (PP) Don beach area away from the town we were caught up by a lad who persusded us to follow him to the Gypsy Village, a good choice nice concrete bungalows with toilet etc for 200B /night, seemed a good price until later we saw an Aussie with a Thai girl who was paying 150B. There were some superbly located bungalows on a rise nearby but they charged 750B! although well equipped and with flower gardens.
On the opposite beach they were developing large quality bungalows with a/c and sun lounges, a sign that the island was rapidly heading up market away from its backpacker beginnings. There was a lot of building aimed at upgrading earlier stock including toilet blocks.
Also a great deal of boat building in the traditional hang yao style clinker built of teak wplanks with the seams sealed with calking and cotton.
Gypsy Village was formed by clearing coconut trees which mindful of Twatchai's story falling coconuts were clearly a hazard when not harvested. The first time one landed on our corrugated metal roof in the middle of the night we thought it was a bomb blast. It served as a warning, rapidly we learned to avoid walking underneath the them. The site was almost empty when we first arrived because of the terrible weather yet full of plastic rubbish, we cleared up around our bungalow and dumped sacks at the site restaurant, the owners clearly got the message since they carried out an all site clear up the following day. We were very happy and PP was steadily growing on us.
Walking back to town we had dinner at the PP Don restaurant, there were no other customers so it broke my usual style of looking for popularity. The food was good, but probably failing to appeal because it insufficiently altered its menu to suit tourists and did not even sell beer. Joan was particularly pleased with her fish in coconut sauce.
Town was full of tourists, the majority being back packers, but it had a fine atmosphere. Four days later we were looking for a bank and discovered a whole new world of back streets. There was evening entertainment including a British Band headed by Jimmy Saville - in retrospect he must have felt in his element! There was dancing and drinking till the early hours but it never disturbed our peace though Gypsy Village was just 150 metres away.
1st November
The good weather has arrived at last!
We are starting the habit of breakfasting in the bakery on baguette, boiled egg and coffee, it costs 40B each expensive by earlier experience. The bakery is very popular with tourists like us with a liking for good bread and cakes.
We walked out to Long Beach, which we had first located in the dark of night, and spent a glorious day of swimming and sunbathing. The beach was long and the sand the lightest colour we had seen anywhere. Everywhere was spotlessly clean, in short perfect for swimming and relaxing. The water was thankfully cooler than Hua Hin. I am finding breathing with the crawl stroke was no longer a problem - I had previously swum almost entirely breast stroke.
There were two restaurants and presumably they owned the two sets of bungalows, it would be a great place to stay, but on reflexion perhaps we had it right, easy enough to get into town and easy enough to enjoy the long walk to Long Beach (which nevertheless became our choice in 1999 and 2000 with the family). In fact we were lazy and took a small boat back to PP Don.
As we walked into town that evening a lady who spoke excellent English showed us sample plates of BBQ sea food fish for 100B per person, large steaks of Marlin and Cobia, or Shark and Barracuda steaks, or Prawns, crab and mussels. In fact we settled for a single plate between two of Marlinand Cobia steaks with 4 mussels 6 shrimps and lots of clams for 150B. They were served on main plates garnished with potatoe sliced with butter and coconut and a pile of salad, with BBQ sauce, a tamarind sauce and red sauce served on side plates. It was delicious we had never eaten either fish previously.
As a final gesture we booked for an eight hour boat trip in the immediate vicinity for 200B each.
Monday 2 November
Among our companions for the boat trip were a young English couple in their early twenties, the girl being a graduate in modern languages who had worked two years in advertising and was now taking 7 months off to travel. Whilst at university she spent several months on a project in Ecuador part of which was spent in a children's nursery and had visited the Galapagos Islands.
A slightly older couple of Germans and two German fellows completed this team.
First stop was the Viking cave on Phi Phi La island where they harvest swallows nests for export as a delicacy at 300B each, the caves had large high chimneys in which the nests were found with long bamboo poles used as scaffold poles for access. They were not currently harvesting which occurs at five distinct times of year. A magazine in German but with photos which showed men with burning stakes between their teeth to give light scaling these flexible poles in a daring manner.
This island raises sheer out of the sea with spectacular cliffs. n one cove we did the first of three periods of snorkeling over coral which regrettably looked dead but still with beautiful fish in blues, pinks, yellow and black, various shapes from angel fish and parrot fish and gay colours as only seen in aquariums at home.
Next to the Island of Phi Phi Le the non harbour side, ie west coast, the narrow neck of Phi Phi Don to Bamboo island in the north for more snorkeling. My position was sitting on the prow with legs on either side and feet in and out of the water as we road the waves. It was great fun.
Same fish BBQ restaurant for dinner to find it full so we shared a table with a German girl student in her mid twenties. She was travelling for the third time and her particular recommendation was Kagbeni which she liked so much she had stayed seven nights in the Red Fort. Here she had just paid 1300B for a one day 1:1 course in diving. I was feeling a little uncomfortable to see us eating huge quantities of fish whilst she had just fried rice but she explained she was just coming off a strict vegetarian diet and currently ate vegetarian every other day.
We shopped around buying a top for Joan, batik T shirts and a black porcelain mother and child which we still have on display.
Tuesday 3rd November
Another pleasant day on Long Beach.
In the evening we ate at a restaurant in town opposite the bakery highly recommended by a French party of tourists. We had a crayfish shaped 500mg lobster each garnished with a variety of vegetables served in an excellent coconut sauce. Phi Phi is an excellent place to eat fish! Two English couples of our own age were sitting at the nearby and like us they found their friends considered them very adventurous and a little mad - though so far they travelled by air conditioned buses but we convinced them to a local bus to Prang Nga and meet up with Sayan. They had intended to go to Annapurna Base Camp with the 'Explore' but she had to cry off after a damaged ligament in her ankle. They recommended a two week trek on camels across a north African desert and had been walking in the Caucasus Mountains also with Explore. They were also qualified divers and this time came with a firm recommendation for accommodation on Samui from their grown up children.
We spent a long time helping a local travel agent with his English and my Thai pronunciation who offered to exchange our return ticket to Krabi for an onward trip to Ko Lanta.
Wed 4 November KO LANTA
Full of confidence we decided to leave for Ko Lanta Yai and then intending to island hop down to Kantang. On this basis booked a return sleeper from Trang to Bangkok for 11 November for a very reasonable price of 976 Baht for two.
Before leaving for Ko Lanta we took an early morning swim from the beach near our hut, the water was not as clear as fabulous Long Beach but was excellent non the less. Purchased T-shirts and the Mother and Child and banana cake and learned on non-stop TV that Clinton had been elected US President with BBC inserts in English.
KO LANTA
Like everyone else on the ferry we were 'attacked' by bungalow touts and eventually settled for Palm Beach, the furthest only Coral Beach was further from the port and were taken there with two other couples by truck. There were 21 isolated bungalows as expected with no electricity but hurricane lamps for light. Joan was disappointed not to find flowers as expected but we settled with a hut of bamboo construction (essential for cool if no fan) with a comfortable double bed and our own concrete toilet block. I was concerned about mosquitoes as most were using coils but in the event a mosquito net was all we required.
Just before dinner we met a couple of South Africans who swam to the beach after their boat ran out of petrol. They were staying a Lanta Royal for 50B with tiled bathrooms and recommended it highly. Our objections are to high pressure salesas we like to make our own decisions, not so easy in Lanta because the nearest huts are 2km from the pier and the only transport is to hitch a lift on passing pick-up trucks, such a walk with heavy rucksacks in the height of the day is not inviting! Dinner was nice with especially well cooked vegetables though at 180B it was expensive. We turned in at 8pm expecting the worst from mosquitoes but the only problem was the high temperature without a fan. The German who had recommended these bungalows on the ferry had lived in Bangkok for ten years and now taught German at the Open University. He impressed me with his fluency in Thai.
Thurs 5 Nov KO LANTA
Took the 7:30 truck to the pier and breakfasted in the very nice Seaside Restaurant with two boiled eggs, toast and coffeee for 40B - that's better half the price of our bungalows.
By 10:30 we were very relaxed and intent on getting our diaries up to date. A few tourists came and went breathing in like us the peaceful atmosphere - barely noticing the presence of others. The gentle sounds of activity, ferry boats starting out across the estuary, a hammer knocking next door, the gentle burble of quiet voice the lap of the water becoming thuds as a ferry boat passes. A village going about it's business, this is how we both like it, it's like Sang Khom all over again only more so as tourists are even less in evidence.
We made enquiries of boats to Ko Gnai and Ko Kradan but no luck, then found the people in the truck were going there. The Austrian tour operator said the Lanta Royal was undercutting everyone and thought they would be burned down. After dinner we g had a long chat with Ooy who was learning English but helped me with my Thai as well.
Friday 6 Nov KO LANTA
Up early and before 8pm had set out on our long walk south across the island to the other port where a boat leaves for the mainland every 7am and houses the government offices.
The walk took 4 hours through rubber plantations allowing us to inspect the collection in half coconut shells before rolling it into mats using large mangles.
On the other side of the island we passed fish and prawn farms. Then listened to a school concert with singing and dancing and some boys dressed as girls with rouge on their cheeks, the object of which was to promote cleaning of teeth with toothpaste and brushes as prizes for all.
We walked to the end of the pier and had a drink and snack in a place unused to tourists then back to the square where we had lunch under umbrellas to shade the sun with around a dozen government workers. The food was an excellent stir fry with chicken, peanuts, Som Tam, and lots of prawns or roast chicken legs. Three dishes cost us 30B compared with lunch for 100B at the bungalows.
Walking back we were offered a lift in a truck with the Muslim priest we had seen at lunch and his motorbike, our main concern being that it would fall on us as we maneuvered the bumpy road. The driver took us to the pier at the north end of the island for 30B each, back to our favourite restaurant where we finished with a desert of banana pancakes with cane sugar syrup.
Back home we went for a swim but were nervous of getting caught up in the long fishing nets just below the surface. We settled for Tuna in an excellent 3-taste sauce which was sweet, sour and hot, too hot for Joan and paid our bill ready for an early departure.
Sat 7 November KANTAG
Caught 7:30 truck for 8am boat along with our bungalow tout, he was very keen to improve his English but not so to learn we thought Ooy spoke well. Apparently he had been playing soccer at the school he was obviously a star performer who would play everyday if his work allowed but tonight he had to find guests hence the trip to Krabi. The bungalows were on his cousins land which would pass to him when she died, he also owned other land directly.
We soon located a bus to Trang and checked into the Ratsada Hotel in the centre of town. The whole riverside was cornered off for the Loi Kraton celebrations with lots of stalls, restaurants and stage areas. We ate at the school restaurant with one pupil waiting on each table and copied what the next table had to eat, this lead to a huge variety, noodles, prawn, chicken, squid, liver, some vegetable spring rolls, batter rolls with seafood and some excellent prawn crackers and coke to drink. It didn't seem to well supported by the locals, perhaps because of the high prices.
Later we wandered the stalls amazed at the continual throng of Thais. There was a free band at one end not yet started with mats to rent as seats on the floor. Some leggy Thai girls were giving a 'follies show' also for free. We watched a sports tournament 3 a side played with a 4inch bamboo ball kicked or headed, similar to volley ball with the defense to a kicked service ball high over the net being a spectacular high scissor kicking the ball down. The scoring was similar to squash with the serving side could score, the first to 15 being the winner and the game played in three sets.
Sun 8 November YONG LING
Following an advertisement of mini buses to each of the local beaches arriving at 9:15 we were disappointed to find the next one was at 12:00. A Malay introduced himself and offered to take us to Yong Ling by motorbike for 150B.
He kept on reminding us how fortuitous we were to have met him, the only one in Kantang able to speak English, probably close to the truth. Having crossed the river by ferry we expected him to engage a second bike and driver. But no we all mounted on his tiny bike, Joan's cradled between him and the handlebars then Joan and finally me with my heavy rucksack on my back. It was not long before he realised the tyres had to be blown up much harder to carry such a load. I could think of little except the pain of falling off and landing onto the dirt road my behind, but I need not have worried because although the road was bad he was extremely capable - though I could hardly walk when we finally reached Yon Ling.
He enquired about accommodation and found they had not yet opened for the season, there were no beds but there were bedrooms and we could sleep on the wooden floor. He then negotiated for food saying we were to pay what we thought appropriate.
So we had a beautiful beach to ourselves until a two parties of Thais arrive with a large tent which was for the daytime as there was no sign of them next day. When we went over to eat we found the young men drinking a white spirit whilst playing a gambling game based on three dice. A 1B piece was placed on the number of your choice if it came up you won 2B, or if you placed it between two adjoining numbers and both came up you won 6B. Joan joined in with my 7B and lasted a long while before losing it entirely. The three dice were placed under a saucer and the dish was nudged to change the score so the results were somewhat predictable.
We were called when the food was ready dried fish, curried salt fish and a large omelette with rice. We had more or less the same for breakfast and she seemed satisfied with my 150B for everything. That night I found the floor a little hard but Joan was OK, probably no worse than camping.
Mon 9 Nov BAN CHAO MAI
We could not face the brownish water from the well so opted for a swim in the sea, a great choice in this deserted beach. The husband of the girl who cooked the meals got a pick-up truck to take us to Ban Chao Mai village where they indicated the way to the guest house over soft sand. It was a block of rooms and a separate block for toilets numbered to match the rooms. The room was enormous with a single huge Thai family bed, very clean for 150B.
In the village we asked the boatman the cost of a boat to Ko Li' Bon, 500B return, the young boatman also had bungalows for hire but decided to stay put. There was a large charcoal factory at the end of the village with perhaps six spherical kilns, a large amount of the wood was brought by boat and the bark was stripped off before processing. The rest of the village was fishing oriented.
Next morning at 7am we watched from our balcony as boats set out to sea, each with a pair of fishermen, silhouetted through the trees. A lovely sight.
The owner of the guest house had moved from Trang to build bungalows for Thais and farangs and would be building more this year. As yet this spot was deserted and unknown. At 5:30pm we went to pay but it started to rain so we stayed in the shelter on comfortable easy chairs made from various parts of big tyres. They offered us to share the meal they were preparing for themselves, fried rice and shrimps and reduced the amount of chili for us farangs. There were as yet only a couple of restaurants in Ban Chao Mai.
Exploring as usual we walked around the headland at low tide and into what we believed to be Chao Mai cave, it was not very big but there were stalactites, most attached to the walls. There were also bungalows of normal type at Pak Meng.
Tues 10 November TRANG
At 7:30am we set out on a hour long return journey by song taew to Kantang, somewhat faster but more conventional than our arrival by motor bike! There we changed 100$ for Thai currency making 700$ in all for the holiday. We breakfasted on boiled eggs served Canadian style in a glass accompanied by donut like breads before boarding a bus for the hour long journey to Trang.
Trang felt like a big prosperous Thai city, clean and spacious. The lady in the TAT office near the bus/train station offered us hotels at 60B, 80B and 120B. We chose the most expensive in the Ekachai Apartments most intended for long stay guests with just a few for tourists (we didn't see any others). It was perhaps the best room we had this holiday good value and very clean but also gaily coloured. It was full of the noise of people chatting and joking until the early hoursof the morning, so Joan did not sleep well. There were adverts for Lanta Royal, Ko Munk and Pak Meng.
We found a nice cake and meal shop near the station and there we celebrated Joan's 56th birthday. This had been a healthy holiday with the only alcohol being a single bottle of Singha beer, no under or over eating lots of long swims. Joan looks years younger and no longer had the strain lines of the burden she had been carrying at home. Was this the year of the first ever complete rebuild of Blast Furnace 4 ? We looked for a restaurant to celebrate, one seemed well attended and we were sat behind an artificial waterfall but apart from the spring rolls it was one of the worst meals we had had in Thailand, a clay pot full of fish fried in batter with some crab and shrimp and a sauce of dish water. Still as she had already nominated the lobster on Phi Phi as her birthday treat. Not the first time we have been disappointed with more expensive Thai restaurants in a country renowned for its wonderful cooking. The well supported night markets are hard to beat for quality, stalls often specialise on a single dish.
We finished off with a nice cup of iced coffee at a shop near the station, like iced tea nam chaa yen recently joined our favourite tipples.
Wed 11 Nov Overnight train from TRANG to BANGKOK
On our last day in the south we wandered around and bought a brightly coloured T-Shirt on the market then wandered into a Wat school at lunch time where we were invited to sit down with two of the teachers and were soon in deep conversation surrounded by school children. The English teacher joined the party to help my Thai. We spent a very pleasant hour in their company, they fed us with pommelo and gave us one to take away.
An excellent lunch and ice cream near the station before going for the 13:44 train to Bangkok. At first they refused our tickets saying they were only from Surat Thani which is obviously what the Thai said, but Joan protested saying we had bought tickets from Trang as luckily written in English on the cover, after checking their own records they agreed since the price paid was acceptable.
It was a pleasant journey. At first we were the only ones in the carriage but many joined at Surat Thani making it virtually full, mostly with backpackers presumably from Ko Samui and Phuket.
I made a good choice in buying food through the window much better and cheaper than the meals sold on board for 100B, some Americans and Germans could not eat the meals they bought! I made the mistake of going to the shower room for a pee, only just stopping in time! Then spent time reading the life of Ivan Den... in French and was pleased to be able to follow the story.
I slept well but Joan was cold and disturbed by the noise of the train.
Wed 11 November BANGKOK
Arrived at 6:15 and checked on the times of trains to the airport but there were none between 8pm and 11:45pm. We are becoming experienced travellers - the first priority before leaving a station, bus or train, is to establish details for the next departure.
Left our rucksacks at the station and started shopping. A particularly unsuccessful day! Joan after two nights in a row without sleep was not on top form and I made a hash of finding the Chinese Market where earlier on we had seen some Chinese bowls and spoons we wanted for Jim and Anne-Marie eventually finding a dozen bowls but without sufficient matching spoons We got just 2 T-Shirts - a wasted day's shopping. Joan was summarily knocked down by a man with a load on a trolley who deliberately drove through leaving her on the ground furious with a cut elbow.
A nice meal in an a/c restaurant with shrimp based rolls for starters and noodles with large shrimps and mushrooms as tasty as any we had bought saved the day somewhat. We noticed a crowded #4 bus crossing the river to Thonburi station but on advice from a helpful conductor, incorrectly reading our minds, persuaded us to get off early, though we should have gone to the terminus at Thanon Thai Thoet. We decided to walk to Wat Khro Non but before long Pranee who was renting a ride on a motor bike spotted us. We finished the journey to her house together in a tuk-tuk, in just a few months since our visit earlier in the year far more was over recently concreted streets - no more felled tree trunks as romantic bridges.
Another fantastic welcome Pranee busy working even cleaning our shoes a whilst we talked to Wat. They gave us a load of Knorr dried Thai sauces with sausage and dried pork to take back to Britain.
Pranee wanted Joan's shoulder measurements to make her a dress and we asked about buying one of Wat's sister's beautifully decorated plates displayed in a brochure they said they were no longer available but that they would get a painting but refused our offer to buy it, but payment was out of the question - we wished we had never asked. They had also arranged for that same sister to drive us to the airport tomorrow at 9pm to catch the 00:55 plane.
Once again we had roast duck for dinner, they obviously consider this a delicacy - it was delicious.
I discussion with Wat we learned that he accepted he would die of liver damage by the age of 50, due to his drinking. But his insurance would mean that Kim and Pranee would be OK. It was very much an acceptance that this was how it would be - nothing could change it.
Friday 13 Nov
We had planned a day in Bangkok as tourists but Wat had taken a day's holiday so we had an enjoyable day with him in his house. Jok Soup for breakfast plus lunch of fried whole small fish in a sweet sauce Pla Waan, sausage in a sweet sauce, dried fish, dried squid and Chinese radish. Wat and I ate chilies both red and green - but not so Joan.
In a long conversation he continually referred to the importance of family and of his love of Kim, Pranee and the rest of his family. His father had died of cancer when he was just seven months but his mother was marvellous. His sister is 6 years older at 42 and his brother is 39.
He showed us a picture of his father's brother who was killed in the Korean war fighting with the Americans. Sayan who cooked our lunch was his son around 25.
We walked around the plot about 15 rais or 3 acres and showed us the different fruit which had been planted, Coconut, banana, lemon/lime, kanoon, pomegranate and a couple more we could not translate including those used as leaves for making curry.
He and Joan had naps in the afternoon whilst I learned to play Kim's electronic shape packing game. That evening his sister and her son Sam came round and she gave us three paintings she had painted for us just two days earlier. They were lovely. On returning home we had two framed and they have been hung ever since in our second bedroom.
She also gave us an article in English about her work as a painter/restorer of temple murals. She was the first woman to enter what had been a man only world. Sometimes she worked with teams but had now completed 6 years a on her own in a Wat in Thornburi - but unfortunately there was trouble for reasons we did not understand which resulted in its fire damage. It was obviously at government level at which she had no support, but an influential MP and journalists were strongly supporting her position.
They gave us an excellent dinner including some for us to take home, prawns fried in batter, coconut and chicken curry, chicken coconut and fish in a sort of mousse, crispy beef and fruit.
Finally Pranee came home with some presents including a set of bags for Joan and a case for her glasses, a jewelry box and two small elehants ( from Chaing Mai type paper mache and mother of pearl.
They wanted to make sure we would be willing to have Kim or the whole family in Swansea - of course we said yes we'd be delighted.
Sam drove us to the airport in a new Renault Chamade, his mother also had a pick up truck, which took 1.5 hours because of the traffic at 9pm.
At the airport Twatchai hugged us both - he was clearly very sorry to see us go.
NB Total cost of 31 day holiday in £1484 of which £964 was for air tickets and £70 for insurance and £20 for overnight rail fare from Trang to Bangkok.
We caught the 10 am bus to Krabi. I recorded rhe thought that we should have stayed part way at Ao Luk to judge from the number of attractions in the area - we have never made that omission good! The second half of the journey was very rough as the road was being rebuilt. Mostly were just shaken like a bag of bones but one section was so wet and slippery that we felt lucky to make it through. A lorry was not so luckily and was stuck leaning from vertical and affecting the line remaining to other vehicles.
We checked into the old section of the classy Thai Hotel in the old centre of town, that cost us 300B, all of £10!
By going into a cafe and talking Thai we were soon surrounded and told a lot about the area, including of immediate interest where to catch a songthaew to Than Seuia (tiger Caves). A monastary where the monks lived singly in the caves.
 |
| MONKS HUTS at THAN SEUIA |
We ate in the night market by the river where we were welcomed and soon attracted an audience, who had no English, for being willing to speak Thai. Noting we could buy great breakfast and great dinner for £1 each. After which we investigated the backstreets and found another night market and were easily persuaded by another customer to drink a khanun (jack fruit) blended with syrup and crushed ice. We went back a couple of days later and drank manao (lemon, lime) which was excellent and not too sweet.
Thursday 29 October
Inspired by large beautiful photos we made for the beach of Ao Nang, so untouched on this our very first visit. It was idealistic as peaceful and beautiful as nature made it. (Unfortunately in future we were to see it developed into a crowded beach resort, though it was still our first point of call from Krabi when returning to show our family and grandchildren in 2000 - unfortunately on that summer occasion they got severely bitten by jellyfish!)
This was the occasion for our first long swim of the holiday, in fact I swam around the southern headland to see an even more impressive cove enclosed by steep cliffs with mangrove at one end and and a sandy spot surrounded by rocks making a sort of cave open to skylight.
Back on Ao Nang where we were just the first of a handful of well spaced couples, not more than 20 of us on 2km of beach. A lad selling pineapple had no problem in persuading us to buy one which he prepared skillfully with a large sharp knife before handing us half each to be held by the stem. A memory we shall never forget.
 |
| A HAND PREPARED PINEAPPLE on AO NANG BEACH - DESERTED AS IT WAS THEN |
The rain lasted for hours whilst we slept before going out to eat in the almost deserted night market, so much so that the waitresses joined us at our table and listened whilst I talked Thai. I picked up new words for bathe (aph naam), sea (tha lee), squash (fak thawng), a fruit like blueberries (niao daarn) and a version of goodbye (lao kon) which was not in my dictionary. They were aged 15,16, 17 and 19, with the fifteen year old being particularly outgoing who helped by repeating individual words until I found them in the dictionary and got the pronunciation right. Tomorrow at breakfast we found we were eating gravy (khao muu daeng) which was served with rice and meat as a sauce.
Friday 30th October
Back after breakfast to Ao Nang where we hired a boat to take us along the headland, first past the beautiful Phra Nang and then passed others to our intended destination Rai Leh intending to walk back on a coastal route.
 |
| ALONG THE COAST FROM AO NANG TO RAI LEH |
 |
| RAI LEH BEACH |
Sat 31 October
Joan and I debated Mai Leh again or Phi Phi, Joan's choice won so we bought tickets for 125B (£4) one way or 220B return and left on the 10:30 boat. In fact it was steadily filling up with backpackers plus the Krabi school sports team we had seen regularly the last few days but they spent the journey recovering by sleeping below.
 |
| SCHOOLGIRLS ON ROUTE TO PHI PHI DON FOR MATCH |
Her husband sold chemicals in Swansea to people who sold on to British Steel. He said the government after backtracking had decided not to close all mines, now only 10 were to close in the next 90 days until a new review. Apparently there were big demonstrations in favour of mines, even at Cheltenham the crowds were applauded by almost everyone. A big change to my memory the countrywide 1981 miner's strikes.
 |
| PHI PHI DON |
On the opposite beach they were developing large quality bungalows with a/c and sun lounges, a sign that the island was rapidly heading up market away from its backpacker beginnings. There was a lot of building aimed at upgrading earlier stock including toilet blocks.
Also a great deal of boat building in the traditional hang yao style clinker built of teak wplanks with the seams sealed with calking and cotton.
Gypsy Village was formed by clearing coconut trees which mindful of Twatchai's story falling coconuts were clearly a hazard when not harvested. The first time one landed on our corrugated metal roof in the middle of the night we thought it was a bomb blast. It served as a warning, rapidly we learned to avoid walking underneath the them. The site was almost empty when we first arrived because of the terrible weather yet full of plastic rubbish, we cleared up around our bungalow and dumped sacks at the site restaurant, the owners clearly got the message since they carried out an all site clear up the following day. We were very happy and PP was steadily growing on us.
Walking back to town we had dinner at the PP Don restaurant, there were no other customers so it broke my usual style of looking for popularity. The food was good, but probably failing to appeal because it insufficiently altered its menu to suit tourists and did not even sell beer. Joan was particularly pleased with her fish in coconut sauce.
Town was full of tourists, the majority being back packers, but it had a fine atmosphere. Four days later we were looking for a bank and discovered a whole new world of back streets. There was evening entertainment including a British Band headed by Jimmy Saville - in retrospect he must have felt in his element! There was dancing and drinking till the early hours but it never disturbed our peace though Gypsy Village was just 150 metres away.
1st November
The good weather has arrived at last!
We are starting the habit of breakfasting in the bakery on baguette, boiled egg and coffee, it costs 40B each expensive by earlier experience. The bakery is very popular with tourists like us with a liking for good bread and cakes.
We walked out to Long Beach, which we had first located in the dark of night, and spent a glorious day of swimming and sunbathing. The beach was long and the sand the lightest colour we had seen anywhere. Everywhere was spotlessly clean, in short perfect for swimming and relaxing. The water was thankfully cooler than Hua Hin. I am finding breathing with the crawl stroke was no longer a problem - I had previously swum almost entirely breast stroke.
 |
| JOAN on LONG BEACH |
 |
| BRIAN on LONG BEACH |
There were two restaurants and presumably they owned the two sets of bungalows, it would be a great place to stay, but on reflexion perhaps we had it right, easy enough to get into town and easy enough to enjoy the long walk to Long Beach (which nevertheless became our choice in 1999 and 2000 with the family). In fact we were lazy and took a small boat back to PP Don.
As we walked into town that evening a lady who spoke excellent English showed us sample plates of BBQ sea food fish for 100B per person, large steaks of Marlin and Cobia, or Shark and Barracuda steaks, or Prawns, crab and mussels. In fact we settled for a single plate between two of Marlinand Cobia steaks with 4 mussels 6 shrimps and lots of clams for 150B. They were served on main plates garnished with potatoe sliced with butter and coconut and a pile of salad, with BBQ sauce, a tamarind sauce and red sauce served on side plates. It was delicious we had never eaten either fish previously.
As a final gesture we booked for an eight hour boat trip in the immediate vicinity for 200B each.
Monday 2 November
Among our companions for the boat trip were a young English couple in their early twenties, the girl being a graduate in modern languages who had worked two years in advertising and was now taking 7 months off to travel. Whilst at university she spent several months on a project in Ecuador part of which was spent in a children's nursery and had visited the Galapagos Islands.
A slightly older couple of Germans and two German fellows completed this team.
 |
| TRIP TO PHI PHI LA |
 |
| BIRD NEST CAVES on PHI PHI LA |
Next to the Island of Phi Phi Le the non harbour side, ie west coast, the narrow neck of Phi Phi Don to Bamboo island in the north for more snorkeling. My position was sitting on the prow with legs on either side and feet in and out of the water as we road the waves. It was great fun.
Same fish BBQ restaurant for dinner to find it full so we shared a table with a German girl student in her mid twenties. She was travelling for the third time and her particular recommendation was Kagbeni which she liked so much she had stayed seven nights in the Red Fort. Here she had just paid 1300B for a one day 1:1 course in diving. I was feeling a little uncomfortable to see us eating huge quantities of fish whilst she had just fried rice but she explained she was just coming off a strict vegetarian diet and currently ate vegetarian every other day.
We shopped around buying a top for Joan, batik T shirts and a black porcelain mother and child which we still have on display.
Tuesday 3rd November
Another pleasant day on Long Beach.
 |
| JOAN ON LONG BEACH |
 |
| BOAT BUILDING on LONG BEACH |
In the evening we ate at a restaurant in town opposite the bakery highly recommended by a French party of tourists. We had a crayfish shaped 500mg lobster each garnished with a variety of vegetables served in an excellent coconut sauce. Phi Phi is an excellent place to eat fish! Two English couples of our own age were sitting at the nearby and like us they found their friends considered them very adventurous and a little mad - though so far they travelled by air conditioned buses but we convinced them to a local bus to Prang Nga and meet up with Sayan. They had intended to go to Annapurna Base Camp with the 'Explore' but she had to cry off after a damaged ligament in her ankle. They recommended a two week trek on camels across a north African desert and had been walking in the Caucasus Mountains also with Explore. They were also qualified divers and this time came with a firm recommendation for accommodation on Samui from their grown up children.
We spent a long time helping a local travel agent with his English and my Thai pronunciation who offered to exchange our return ticket to Krabi for an onward trip to Ko Lanta.
Wed 4 November KO LANTA
Full of confidence we decided to leave for Ko Lanta Yai and then intending to island hop down to Kantang. On this basis booked a return sleeper from Trang to Bangkok for 11 November for a very reasonable price of 976 Baht for two.
Before leaving for Ko Lanta we took an early morning swim from the beach near our hut, the water was not as clear as fabulous Long Beach but was excellent non the less. Purchased T-shirts and the Mother and Child and banana cake and learned on non-stop TV that Clinton had been elected US President with BBC inserts in English.
KO LANTA
 |
| ON ARRIVAL ON KO LANTA PORT |
 |
| ON ARRIVAL ON KO LANTA PORT |
 |
| KO LANTA HOUSES |
Just before dinner we met a couple of South Africans who swam to the beach after their boat ran out of petrol. They were staying a Lanta Royal for 50B with tiled bathrooms and recommended it highly. Our objections are to high pressure salesas we like to make our own decisions, not so easy in Lanta because the nearest huts are 2km from the pier and the only transport is to hitch a lift on passing pick-up trucks, such a walk with heavy rucksacks in the height of the day is not inviting! Dinner was nice with especially well cooked vegetables though at 180B it was expensive. We turned in at 8pm expecting the worst from mosquitoes but the only problem was the high temperature without a fan. The German who had recommended these bungalows on the ferry had lived in Bangkok for ten years and now taught German at the Open University. He impressed me with his fluency in Thai.
Thurs 5 Nov KO LANTA
Took the 7:30 truck to the pier and breakfasted in the very nice Seaside Restaurant with two boiled eggs, toast and coffeee for 40B - that's better half the price of our bungalows.
 |
| KO LANTA PORTSIDE |
We made enquiries of boats to Ko Gnai and Ko Kradan but no luck, then found the people in the truck were going there. The Austrian tour operator said the Lanta Royal was undercutting everyone and thought they would be burned down. After dinner we g had a long chat with Ooy who was learning English but helped me with my Thai as well.
Friday 6 Nov KO LANTA
Up early and before 8pm had set out on our long walk south across the island to the other port where a boat leaves for the mainland every 7am and houses the government offices.
 |
| KO LANTA CATCH |
 |
| DRAINING RUBBER TREE INTO COCONUT SHELL |
 |
| RUBBER MANGLED INTO MATS and LEFT TO DRY |
 |
| SCHOOL CONCERT |
Walking back we were offered a lift in a truck with the Muslim priest we had seen at lunch and his motorbike, our main concern being that it would fall on us as we maneuvered the bumpy road. The driver took us to the pier at the north end of the island for 30B each, back to our favourite restaurant where we finished with a desert of banana pancakes with cane sugar syrup.
Back home we went for a swim but were nervous of getting caught up in the long fishing nets just below the surface. We settled for Tuna in an excellent 3-taste sauce which was sweet, sour and hot, too hot for Joan and paid our bill ready for an early departure.
Sat 7 November KANTAG
Caught 7:30 truck for 8am boat along with our bungalow tout, he was very keen to improve his English but not so to learn we thought Ooy spoke well. Apparently he had been playing soccer at the school he was obviously a star performer who would play everyday if his work allowed but tonight he had to find guests hence the trip to Krabi. The bungalows were on his cousins land which would pass to him when she died, he also owned other land directly.
We soon located a bus to Trang and checked into the Ratsada Hotel in the centre of town. The whole riverside was cornered off for the Loi Kraton celebrations with lots of stalls, restaurants and stage areas. We ate at the school restaurant with one pupil waiting on each table and copied what the next table had to eat, this lead to a huge variety, noodles, prawn, chicken, squid, liver, some vegetable spring rolls, batter rolls with seafood and some excellent prawn crackers and coke to drink. It didn't seem to well supported by the locals, perhaps because of the high prices.
Later we wandered the stalls amazed at the continual throng of Thais. There was a free band at one end not yet started with mats to rent as seats on the floor. Some leggy Thai girls were giving a 'follies show' also for free. We watched a sports tournament 3 a side played with a 4inch bamboo ball kicked or headed, similar to volley ball with the defense to a kicked service ball high over the net being a spectacular high scissor kicking the ball down. The scoring was similar to squash with the serving side could score, the first to 15 being the winner and the game played in three sets.
Sun 8 November YONG LING
Following an advertisement of mini buses to each of the local beaches arriving at 9:15 we were disappointed to find the next one was at 12:00. A Malay introduced himself and offered to take us to Yong Ling by motorbike for 150B.
 |
| INCREDIBLE LOAD OF THREE WITH TWO HEAVY RUCKSACKS for TWO HOURS! |
He enquired about accommodation and found they had not yet opened for the season, there were no beds but there were bedrooms and we could sleep on the wooden floor. He then negotiated for food saying we were to pay what we thought appropriate.
 |
| BARE BED ROOM AT YONG LING |
 |
| BEACH AT YONG LING |
Mon 9 Nov BAN CHAO MAI
We could not face the brownish water from the well so opted for a swim in the sea, a great choice in this deserted beach. The husband of the girl who cooked the meals got a pick-up truck to take us to Ban Chao Mai village where they indicated the way to the guest house over soft sand. It was a block of rooms and a separate block for toilets numbered to match the rooms. The room was enormous with a single huge Thai family bed, very clean for 150B.
In the village we asked the boatman the cost of a boat to Ko Li' Bon, 500B return, the young boatman also had bungalows for hire but decided to stay put. There was a large charcoal factory at the end of the village with perhaps six spherical kilns, a large amount of the wood was brought by boat and the bark was stripped off before processing. The rest of the village was fishing oriented.
 |
| FISH FOR SALE AT MARKET |
The owner of the guest house had moved from Trang to build bungalows for Thais and farangs and would be building more this year. As yet this spot was deserted and unknown. At 5:30pm we went to pay but it started to rain so we stayed in the shelter on comfortable easy chairs made from various parts of big tyres. They offered us to share the meal they were preparing for themselves, fried rice and shrimps and reduced the amount of chili for us farangs. There were as yet only a couple of restaurants in Ban Chao Mai.
Exploring as usual we walked around the headland at low tide and into what we believed to be Chao Mai cave, it was not very big but there were stalactites, most attached to the walls. There were also bungalows of normal type at Pak Meng.
 |
| JOAN at CHAO MAI CAVE |
At 7:30am we set out on a hour long return journey by song taew to Kantang, somewhat faster but more conventional than our arrival by motor bike! There we changed 100$ for Thai currency making 700$ in all for the holiday. We breakfasted on boiled eggs served Canadian style in a glass accompanied by donut like breads before boarding a bus for the hour long journey to Trang.
Trang felt like a big prosperous Thai city, clean and spacious. The lady in the TAT office near the bus/train station offered us hotels at 60B, 80B and 120B. We chose the most expensive in the Ekachai Apartments most intended for long stay guests with just a few for tourists (we didn't see any others). It was perhaps the best room we had this holiday good value and very clean but also gaily coloured. It was full of the noise of people chatting and joking until the early hoursof the morning, so Joan did not sleep well. There were adverts for Lanta Royal, Ko Munk and Pak Meng.
We found a nice cake and meal shop near the station and there we celebrated Joan's 56th birthday. This had been a healthy holiday with the only alcohol being a single bottle of Singha beer, no under or over eating lots of long swims. Joan looks years younger and no longer had the strain lines of the burden she had been carrying at home. Was this the year of the first ever complete rebuild of Blast Furnace 4 ? We looked for a restaurant to celebrate, one seemed well attended and we were sat behind an artificial waterfall but apart from the spring rolls it was one of the worst meals we had had in Thailand, a clay pot full of fish fried in batter with some crab and shrimp and a sauce of dish water. Still as she had already nominated the lobster on Phi Phi as her birthday treat. Not the first time we have been disappointed with more expensive Thai restaurants in a country renowned for its wonderful cooking. The well supported night markets are hard to beat for quality, stalls often specialise on a single dish.
We finished off with a nice cup of iced coffee at a shop near the station, like iced tea nam chaa yen recently joined our favourite tipples.
Wed 11 Nov Overnight train from TRANG to BANGKOK
On our last day in the south we wandered around and bought a brightly coloured T-Shirt on the market then wandered into a Wat school at lunch time where we were invited to sit down with two of the teachers and were soon in deep conversation surrounded by school children. The English teacher joined the party to help my Thai. We spent a very pleasant hour in their company, they fed us with pommelo and gave us one to take away.
An excellent lunch and ice cream near the station before going for the 13:44 train to Bangkok. At first they refused our tickets saying they were only from Surat Thani which is obviously what the Thai said, but Joan protested saying we had bought tickets from Trang as luckily written in English on the cover, after checking their own records they agreed since the price paid was acceptable.
It was a pleasant journey. At first we were the only ones in the carriage but many joined at Surat Thani making it virtually full, mostly with backpackers presumably from Ko Samui and Phuket.
I made a good choice in buying food through the window much better and cheaper than the meals sold on board for 100B, some Americans and Germans could not eat the meals they bought! I made the mistake of going to the shower room for a pee, only just stopping in time! Then spent time reading the life of Ivan Den... in French and was pleased to be able to follow the story.
I slept well but Joan was cold and disturbed by the noise of the train.
Wed 11 November BANGKOK
Arrived at 6:15 and checked on the times of trains to the airport but there were none between 8pm and 11:45pm. We are becoming experienced travellers - the first priority before leaving a station, bus or train, is to establish details for the next departure.
Left our rucksacks at the station and started shopping. A particularly unsuccessful day! Joan after two nights in a row without sleep was not on top form and I made a hash of finding the Chinese Market where earlier on we had seen some Chinese bowls and spoons we wanted for Jim and Anne-Marie eventually finding a dozen bowls but without sufficient matching spoons We got just 2 T-Shirts - a wasted day's shopping. Joan was summarily knocked down by a man with a load on a trolley who deliberately drove through leaving her on the ground furious with a cut elbow.
A nice meal in an a/c restaurant with shrimp based rolls for starters and noodles with large shrimps and mushrooms as tasty as any we had bought saved the day somewhat. We noticed a crowded #4 bus crossing the river to Thonburi station but on advice from a helpful conductor, incorrectly reading our minds, persuaded us to get off early, though we should have gone to the terminus at Thanon Thai Thoet. We decided to walk to Wat Khro Non but before long Pranee who was renting a ride on a motor bike spotted us. We finished the journey to her house together in a tuk-tuk, in just a few months since our visit earlier in the year far more was over recently concreted streets - no more felled tree trunks as romantic bridges.
Another fantastic welcome Pranee busy working even cleaning our shoes a whilst we talked to Wat. They gave us a load of Knorr dried Thai sauces with sausage and dried pork to take back to Britain.
 |
| PRANEE'S HOUSE |
Once again we had roast duck for dinner, they obviously consider this a delicacy - it was delicious.
I discussion with Wat we learned that he accepted he would die of liver damage by the age of 50, due to his drinking. But his insurance would mean that Kim and Pranee would be OK. It was very much an acceptance that this was how it would be - nothing could change it.
Friday 13 Nov
We had planned a day in Bangkok as tourists but Wat had taken a day's holiday so we had an enjoyable day with him in his house. Jok Soup for breakfast plus lunch of fried whole small fish in a sweet sauce Pla Waan, sausage in a sweet sauce, dried fish, dried squid and Chinese radish. Wat and I ate chilies both red and green - but not so Joan.
In a long conversation he continually referred to the importance of family and of his love of Kim, Pranee and the rest of his family. His father had died of cancer when he was just seven months but his mother was marvellous. His sister is 6 years older at 42 and his brother is 39.
He showed us a picture of his father's brother who was killed in the Korean war fighting with the Americans. Sayan who cooked our lunch was his son around 25.
We walked around the plot about 15 rais or 3 acres and showed us the different fruit which had been planted, Coconut, banana, lemon/lime, kanoon, pomegranate and a couple more we could not translate including those used as leaves for making curry.
 |
| BRIAN and JOAN on ACCESS PATH TO PRANEE'S HOUSE |
She also gave us an article in English about her work as a painter/restorer of temple murals. She was the first woman to enter what had been a man only world. Sometimes she worked with teams but had now completed 6 years a on her own in a Wat in Thornburi - but unfortunately there was trouble for reasons we did not understand which resulted in its fire damage. It was obviously at government level at which she had no support, but an influential MP and journalists were strongly supporting her position.
They gave us an excellent dinner including some for us to take home, prawns fried in batter, coconut and chicken curry, chicken coconut and fish in a sort of mousse, crispy beef and fruit.
Finally Pranee came home with some presents including a set of bags for Joan and a case for her glasses, a jewelry box and two small elehants ( from Chaing Mai type paper mache and mother of pearl.
They wanted to make sure we would be willing to have Kim or the whole family in Swansea - of course we said yes we'd be delighted.
Sam drove us to the airport in a new Renault Chamade, his mother also had a pick up truck, which took 1.5 hours because of the traffic at 9pm.
At the airport Twatchai hugged us both - he was clearly very sorry to see us go.
NB Total cost of 31 day holiday in £1484 of which £964 was for air tickets and £70 for insurance and £20 for overnight rail fare from Trang to Bangkok.
No comments:
Post a Comment