Not Too Shabby Krabi

And so Samui faded into a small green dot behind us and the three of us sailed for Koh Tao anticipating sunsets and snorkeling. I've decided that, like drinking from a straw or saying the word "uber," snorkeling will never look or sound cool; regardless, it can be quite entertaining as an activity.

Funny story for ya. Whilst lounging pool side at our Tao hotel, Kyle and Ty were interrupted by a substantial thunder storm (I'm sad to say I missed the event as I was using the potty in the hotel room). Anyway, during the thunder storm the Thai people took hasty cover while the tourists darted directly for the pool. If you look closely in the picture you'll see a particularly gifted farang holding her hands out to the sky apparently in effort to create a large wet conductor of sorts. The closest bolt struck the water just behind the pool by that boat there in the background. At this point, into the pool jumped more tourists hoping for a closer look at the lightning.

The storm quickly subsided giving way to one of those spectacular Koh Tao sunsets we were all hoping for.
















Kyle digs messing with the exposure, aperture, guide settings, his pocket calculator, and a bunch of other nerdy stuff I don't understand in order to make his pics turn out cool. Well done my friend.




























Sunsets, check. Time to get our snork on (yep, still sounds stupid in it's abbreviated form). Big Guns driving the boat there was just as charismatic as he looks. We organized a pick up time for "1 hour" which due to cultural misunderstanding was interpreted as "1 o'clock."








Subsequently, we engaged in underwater fish-watching for approximately 40 minutes and then sat in the shadeless oven for another hour and a half while we waited for our buddy to get back with the boat.

Not all bad though as it provided time to make up some improvised Christmas song parodies. When we get home, ask me about Kyle and Ty's "Grinch" remake. Priceless.




A shower, some aloe vera for the burns, and off we went into the night for some beach grub and more fire dancing. This guy was good and made for one of the coolest pictures of the trip IMO.

At one point he sauntered up to us all the while whirling his two raging ropes around his sweating head. He makes direct eye contact with Kyle and in near perfect English says, "It's f***ing HOT man!" I would suspect that there was an element or truth to that statement.



Sunset, check. Snorkel, check. It was time to make a two-night stop at the larger Island of Koh Phangnan for our very first "moon party" which are infamous here in Thailand. Since Kyle missed the big daddy, "Full Moon Party," we had to settle for the "Half Moon Party" which went down in the jungle instead of the beach.







Black lights, neon body paint, lasers, buckets, bad techno, and people falling down. That. Is. It.












The pad we stayed in at Phangan made for some good day-after R&R.












Finally, it was time to leave behind the familiarity of the East and travel to the exotic West for the first time.

Quacktastic.









First impressions of Krabi Province upon arrival? Thumbs up.












Our first glimpse of Ao Nong beach backed our initial assessment. This may be a place we could get used to.





























There's just something about the Krabi vibe, it even made the generally stoic Kyle Forbes all giddy inside.











Along with his perpetual tinkering of camera settings, another Kyle quirk is his fondness of the setting sun which was photographed often and with a special fervor.










The agility, the control, the grace, the form, the effortlessness, the lines...














Before ever becoming acquainted with the laid back vibe, rugged beauty, and down to earth people of Krabi, our main draw to the Southwest was the fabled Phi Phi Islands and surroundings and we weren't going to miss them.

We booked a day trip out to see what all the fuss was about and were lucky enough to end up spending the day with a lovely Thai family. Pictured here is the grandpa; he was fond of my leg and and had his hand on it for most of the trip.



The whole day ended up being one giant ocular amusement park. Prior to this day, I had never seen water this color that wasn't frozen and on a stick.















With each bend, the various water tones and dramatic scenery continued to evolve and impress.















Kicking back with our new friends on the speedboat.












Leaving those longtails in our wake baby!













More marine viewing through the aid of goggles and a simplistic straw-like breathing apparatus.












The mandatory life jackets upped the cool-factor quite substantially in my opinion.















With clarity like this, however, there was no time for life-jacket vanity.

This photo was taken aboard the boat - along with the fish you can actually see the rocks some ten feet down on the bottom. Incredible!








Next stop, Phi Phi Lei, the beach where they filmed "The Beach."

I know people like to talk about "fine sand," but this quite literally was the like walking on flour. Oh, and the landscape wasn't ugly either.

Incidentally, we also visited the main Phi Phi Don, but found it over commercialized and generally less cool. Plus, who likes to get Phi Phi Don anyhow?




The jungle that Leo and the bunch were exploring.












The path across the small island leads to another bay area and more dramatic views.












Hi Kyle.

















So the fire throwing in Krabi is pretty similar to Samui and Tao but here they don't bother with going way out to the sand.















Railay beach is in mainland Krabi but due to it's location it is only accessible by boat. Our last day in Krabi was spent here simply relaxing and swimming, for the last time on this trip, in the warm turquoise seas of Thailand. For me this was probably my favorite beach of the bunch and one of my favorite days.





















It was hard to leave Krabi behind and beach life in general. There is just something about island time that soothes the spirit and leaves one feeling free and light. The next morning we rose early and were off toward the even more sweltering central Thailand where we encountered the menacing feet sucking fish. What you will see in the upcoming blog concerning Kyle's feet is not to be taken lightly or viewed by the faint of heart. Fair warning.

To be continued...