I Worship Aloe Vera
We are still in Krabi, at the moment we are too sore to think about moving on so we are enjoying this quiet little town and planning our next move.
Yesterday was was our kayak tour and it was a great day, we got up at 6:30am and headed downstairs to have breakfast at our guesthouse restaurant, we still havent managed to get our head around the thai breakfast so we just had toast and coffee and juice (Thai people eat rice and soup for breakfast but in the morning my stomach just can't cope with the idea). Our tour guide was supposed to pick us up at 8 but was late, so far they all have been, but we are getting used to it! We piled into the back of a local style bus and did the rounds picking up the rest of the group, the local bus takes a little getting used to, its like a pick up truck with a cover over the ute part of it and seats running down each side. It is surprisingly comfortable and because it is kind of open it means it is nice and cool as you drive along.
It was only a small group which was nice, there was a couple from New Zealand, a Canadian couple, an Isreali guy and us, and they were a lot of fun. The last tour we went on was not nearly as fun as it could have been because the people we were with were boring and crap but these guys were all very young and a lot of fun.. ANYWAY we headed out to the kayak site, which took 50 minutes, we drove through lots of tiny villages and the scenery was incredible, lots of beautiful mountains and rain forests. There were also a lot of palm tree planations (for palm oil) and rubber tree plantations (for tyres and condoms lol). We got to the kayak site and sat in the restaurant there to get ready, the restaurant sat on the banks of the lake on silts and as you walked along the boards on the floor they creaked and groaned, I was so sure that they were going to break and I would end up in the water! We had coffee, which was surprisingly good - so far the coffee here has been awful but this was really good stuff - good enough to drink black which is a great sign! We packed our stuff into water proof bags and piled into our kayaks. Luke sat in the back and I got the front.
We paddled up the river for a while, looking at the cliffs and mountains along the banks and the little wooden shacks on stilts, this time not on the banks but actually in the water probably two or three metres from the shore. Our guide explained that the fisherman lived on them. They were tiny! The first cave we went to was not so much as a cave but a lagoon, we paddled through a break in the mountain which was about three metres wide into the middle of the mountain where there was a huge circular lake. All along the side of the lake were beautiful rock formations and beautiful rainforest plants, it was just spectacular. We stayed there for a while taking photos and getting munched by massive mosquitoes (we have learnt that the australian repellant just doesnt cut it for the thai mosquitoes but luckily the new zealand couple had some super repellant so we used that). Our guide taught us the thai words for all of the places we visited although i cant remember anything now - except that very beautiful is suway mak mak. We paddled on to another cave which was on land so we tethered our kayaks and climbed into the mountain. The cave was huge and filled with stalactites and stalacmites. There were also traditional paintings on the walls from 2000 years ago which were pretty amazing. The guide told us that the cave was only discovered 300 years ago and when they found it they found the skulls of hundreds of people, he said that the skulls were unusually large (the cave is called the big skull cave!) the paintings were all through the cave, there were animals and people and children, it was really interesting. But it was pretty hard work climbing through the cave, and a couple of times i was sure i would fall but we did really well and came out safely.
The next cave was an underwater cave so we got the stay in our boats for that one, it was long and dark and filled with amazing limestone formations - one that looked like a mermaid perched on a rock. Then we had a pretty big trek through the mangroves to get to the next lagoon type thingy, the pathway was very narrow and windy and it took a lot of effort to get through, luckily by that time we were getting pretty good at stearing and stopping (during the first part of the tour luke ran us into the branches of a tree because we didnt know how to stop fast enough) the mangroves were pretty amazing, the base of the trees had lots of crabs crawling all over them. The guide explained that the fish and prawns and things come into the lake to have their babies and then when the babies are big enough and stong enough they head back out to sea. the last cave we went to was pretty scary. It was similar to the first one where we paddled through into a huge lagoon but instead of this one being a tall opening in the mountian this one was only tiny. it was pitch black and filled with lots of hanging rocks so we had to lie down in the kayak to get through (it is very difficult to paddle in the dark and still try and feel to see if there are rocks ahead - Luke was lucky because he was in the back so he had fair warning!). It was well worth it though, this lagoon was filled with hundreds of tiny caves and little river ways into other clearings.. it was beautiful. By this time we were all pretty exhausted and hot and when the guide said it was time for lunch we were all really happy. It was only a 15 minute paddle back to the restaurant where we started but it felt much longer!!
We had a huge feast of a lunch with soup and lots of thai dishes with rice. It was delicious and made everyone feel a lot better. Our group and talked about our travels and we got lots of tips for places to go next. The New Zealand couple were heading home after living in the UK for a year and they were very unhappy that we had so long to go on our travels (they called us bastards which made me feel strangely homesick lol) After lunch we headed of to the National marine park and every one swam in the freshwater lake there (except for me - I still havent gotten around to buying anything to swim in!) then we came back to Krabi on our bus.
It was an excellent day but Luke and I got very very sunburnt (stupid farang!). My legs were so bad that I could barely walk! We went to a shop here and bought some aloe vera, it cost more than double what we are paying for our accommodation each night but it was worth every cent (or baht!). I used half the bottle throughout the afternoon and had three cold showers to try and stop the burning and it helped but I was still in a lot of pain! The man at the shop where we got the aloe vera thought it was so funny when he saw me, he said that I looked like a prawn.. but he assured me that I was still beautiful even though I looked like a prawn so thats good! It is better today but still very sore, and today we have our sore arms and backs and necks from the kayaking as well so we are feeling very sad and sorry for ourselves! Next time we will be much more careful!!
I am not sure where we will head to next. We were thinking of heading to Phuket but there are some small islands around the area that we might have a look at first. Also we are pretty close to the Thai/Malaysia border so we might skip across to malaysia for a little while and have a bit of a look. Who knows! I guess we will figure it out in the next day or so.. you will know when we do!
Well time for lunch.. and more aloe vera! We will update soon!
xxx
Yesterday was was our kayak tour and it was a great day, we got up at 6:30am and headed downstairs to have breakfast at our guesthouse restaurant, we still havent managed to get our head around the thai breakfast so we just had toast and coffee and juice (Thai people eat rice and soup for breakfast but in the morning my stomach just can't cope with the idea). Our tour guide was supposed to pick us up at 8 but was late, so far they all have been, but we are getting used to it! We piled into the back of a local style bus and did the rounds picking up the rest of the group, the local bus takes a little getting used to, its like a pick up truck with a cover over the ute part of it and seats running down each side. It is surprisingly comfortable and because it is kind of open it means it is nice and cool as you drive along.
It was only a small group which was nice, there was a couple from New Zealand, a Canadian couple, an Isreali guy and us, and they were a lot of fun. The last tour we went on was not nearly as fun as it could have been because the people we were with were boring and crap but these guys were all very young and a lot of fun.. ANYWAY we headed out to the kayak site, which took 50 minutes, we drove through lots of tiny villages and the scenery was incredible, lots of beautiful mountains and rain forests. There were also a lot of palm tree planations (for palm oil) and rubber tree plantations (for tyres and condoms lol). We got to the kayak site and sat in the restaurant there to get ready, the restaurant sat on the banks of the lake on silts and as you walked along the boards on the floor they creaked and groaned, I was so sure that they were going to break and I would end up in the water! We had coffee, which was surprisingly good - so far the coffee here has been awful but this was really good stuff - good enough to drink black which is a great sign! We packed our stuff into water proof bags and piled into our kayaks. Luke sat in the back and I got the front.
We paddled up the river for a while, looking at the cliffs and mountains along the banks and the little wooden shacks on stilts, this time not on the banks but actually in the water probably two or three metres from the shore. Our guide explained that the fisherman lived on them. They were tiny! The first cave we went to was not so much as a cave but a lagoon, we paddled through a break in the mountain which was about three metres wide into the middle of the mountain where there was a huge circular lake. All along the side of the lake were beautiful rock formations and beautiful rainforest plants, it was just spectacular. We stayed there for a while taking photos and getting munched by massive mosquitoes (we have learnt that the australian repellant just doesnt cut it for the thai mosquitoes but luckily the new zealand couple had some super repellant so we used that). Our guide taught us the thai words for all of the places we visited although i cant remember anything now - except that very beautiful is suway mak mak. We paddled on to another cave which was on land so we tethered our kayaks and climbed into the mountain. The cave was huge and filled with stalactites and stalacmites. There were also traditional paintings on the walls from 2000 years ago which were pretty amazing. The guide told us that the cave was only discovered 300 years ago and when they found it they found the skulls of hundreds of people, he said that the skulls were unusually large (the cave is called the big skull cave!) the paintings were all through the cave, there were animals and people and children, it was really interesting. But it was pretty hard work climbing through the cave, and a couple of times i was sure i would fall but we did really well and came out safely.
The next cave was an underwater cave so we got the stay in our boats for that one, it was long and dark and filled with amazing limestone formations - one that looked like a mermaid perched on a rock. Then we had a pretty big trek through the mangroves to get to the next lagoon type thingy, the pathway was very narrow and windy and it took a lot of effort to get through, luckily by that time we were getting pretty good at stearing and stopping (during the first part of the tour luke ran us into the branches of a tree because we didnt know how to stop fast enough) the mangroves were pretty amazing, the base of the trees had lots of crabs crawling all over them. The guide explained that the fish and prawns and things come into the lake to have their babies and then when the babies are big enough and stong enough they head back out to sea. the last cave we went to was pretty scary. It was similar to the first one where we paddled through into a huge lagoon but instead of this one being a tall opening in the mountian this one was only tiny. it was pitch black and filled with lots of hanging rocks so we had to lie down in the kayak to get through (it is very difficult to paddle in the dark and still try and feel to see if there are rocks ahead - Luke was lucky because he was in the back so he had fair warning!). It was well worth it though, this lagoon was filled with hundreds of tiny caves and little river ways into other clearings.. it was beautiful. By this time we were all pretty exhausted and hot and when the guide said it was time for lunch we were all really happy. It was only a 15 minute paddle back to the restaurant where we started but it felt much longer!!
We had a huge feast of a lunch with soup and lots of thai dishes with rice. It was delicious and made everyone feel a lot better. Our group and talked about our travels and we got lots of tips for places to go next. The New Zealand couple were heading home after living in the UK for a year and they were very unhappy that we had so long to go on our travels (they called us bastards which made me feel strangely homesick lol) After lunch we headed of to the National marine park and every one swam in the freshwater lake there (except for me - I still havent gotten around to buying anything to swim in!) then we came back to Krabi on our bus.
It was an excellent day but Luke and I got very very sunburnt (stupid farang!). My legs were so bad that I could barely walk! We went to a shop here and bought some aloe vera, it cost more than double what we are paying for our accommodation each night but it was worth every cent (or baht!). I used half the bottle throughout the afternoon and had three cold showers to try and stop the burning and it helped but I was still in a lot of pain! The man at the shop where we got the aloe vera thought it was so funny when he saw me, he said that I looked like a prawn.. but he assured me that I was still beautiful even though I looked like a prawn so thats good! It is better today but still very sore, and today we have our sore arms and backs and necks from the kayaking as well so we are feeling very sad and sorry for ourselves! Next time we will be much more careful!!
I am not sure where we will head to next. We were thinking of heading to Phuket but there are some small islands around the area that we might have a look at first. Also we are pretty close to the Thai/Malaysia border so we might skip across to malaysia for a little while and have a bit of a look. Who knows! I guess we will figure it out in the next day or so.. you will know when we do!
Well time for lunch.. and more aloe vera! We will update soon!
xxx