Bob - i am going to show Karen my lovely bag and luggage from Jinnys when you come here in Oct..........(i can be silenced for a price!)

just so you are prepared its not a big shop, quite small really.

No way! They're not going. Not unless I can find a place to play poker in BKK. Then, all bets are off. Any suggestions for poker in BKK?

Oh, come on, Andy. Give the girls a break. You want time for cigar smoking, and now poker too???? (by the way, instead of warning Krabi that Bob is coming, I warned them that a speedo-wearing panda is on his way!!! lol)

Smeagol, Jinny's sounds great! Must try to find it. I'm not sure if I'll get there this trip or not though. Maeng is talking about the island in the Chao Phrya (sp) river, where it is all local crafts. I think I have read about it on fodors before. Sounds interesting. It's at the end of the line on the river taxi.

Hello from Krabi. Our flight on Thai was uneventful, just the way I like them. We arrived on time. Krabi airport is quite new, I think. Nice. Busy! The ride to Ao Nang took about 30-40 minutes, and cost a set price (by taxi) of 600bt. I also tipped the driver 100bt.

I like the AoNang Princeville Resort. Very nice Thai style rooms in a new wing. I was advised to ask for the new bldg, and I'm glad I did. Very lovely room, really. But no sea view. We overlook a tropical garden setting. Beds are very comfortable. There is also a daybed sort of thing... Maeng said she would like to sleep there! Anyway, a long walk after checking in, then some Haagen Dazs (right next door to the hotel) and another walk, and then our "batteries" were drained and we took a nice snoozy nap. Maeng had not slept since leaving the Pickled Liver around 4am. I woke up about 4am this morning, so was pretty tired as well. The nap felt good.

The scenery here is really lovely, with limestone rocks jutting out of the water. The beach is nice, but maybe not the same soft white sand that I enjoyed on Phuket at Kata and Kata Noi beaches.

Not sure what we will do for dinner tonight, but there are many options along the beach road. The hotel is located right along the beach road (across the street is the water) and there is plenty of activity, just the way I like it. You walk right out to the street and there is shopping, food, cold beer... it's great!

WiFi is rather hit and miss here, so I may not be posting everyday. I'm still having a good time though.... trust me.

Carol

have fun

Carol-
I think what Meang is talking about is Koh Kred in Bangkok. Make sure you go on a weekend. David and I did this last month when we were there. Not so many "crafts", but still interesting if you've never been. It's very much a "locals only" type of thing. The island is originally known for its pottery, but we found most of what's for sale no longer hand made (except in the "pottery village" area).

Ko Kred is fun. You get there by longtail boat from the last stop on the river ferry. We hired two motocycles to take us around the island, stopping at places that seemed interesting.

Andy,
I play poker in Bangkok too. There are house games around, the stakes can be from cheap up to thousands US$.

It is strictly illegal, so I won't post any locations on here. You know how to get a hold of me.

Good morning, from Krabi!

Maeng and I had a fun time yesterday afternoon. We took a side car taxi around the area for about 1 1/2 hours (500bt). The fresh air and the view were wonderful! Very enjoyable. A nice Thai dinner along the beach road, and back to our hotel for a 12 HOUR sleep!!! Yes, 12 hours. We were tired!

This morning we had the breakfast buffet at the hotel, and we are now talking with a travel agent about a private 4-island tour for about 4 hours. We shall see. We also thought about going by ferry to one of the other islands. I will let you know what we decide to do.

Weather is lovely. It is hot (isn't it always hot in Thailand) but we have plenty of sun (trying to avoid it as much as possible).

Andy, Maeng also told me about poker games... you know how to get in touch with me as well.....

Have a nice evening!

Carol

sounds like fun....we also want to take one of those boats in november, so we will be interested in your experiences...

Hi Carol. Sawadee krup. I read your post while sipping　my iced　coffee at "Coffee Society” on Soi Silom　next　to　Sala Deang BTS. Very hot here but great as always.　Time for my foot massage next door.

Chook dee krup.

This is good. Beth and Bob and Karen can wander BKK, while I lock myself up in a smoky room playing poker in a foreign language. What could go wrong? I'm not sure even I could convince beth that this is a good idea.

What could go wrong???? A panda comming beck to us minus his paw could go wrong!!!!Not sure the world is ready for pawless pandas.

Just time to type a short report before Maeng and I head out on another adventure. I really am enjoying Krabi!! I will report on what we have been doing here once I get back to BKK and can use my own laptop, in the comfort of my livingroom at Adelphi.

Weather is a bit more humid today, but yesterday's weather was perfect for a boatride! I'll tell you more about it, and our side car taxi rides, later!

See ya....

Carol

i'm on pins and needles waiting....

i was at the kennedy compound this PM and passed along your condolences...

I'm back in my apartment at Adelphi since just before 7pm. Laundry is now in the machine (first load of two) and I am unpacked. I've had dinner inroom... I'm tired.... so a quick cup of rice w/pork and a sandwich from the Krabi flight on Thai is in the fridge if I want it. I think it is probably still good.

Wow... Krabi was a real blast! I really enjoyed all w nights, 3 days. I think Maeng did too.

The hotel: We stayed two nights at the Ao Nang Princeville Resort. The location is right along the beach road in Ao Nang. Step out the front "gate" of the hotel and you have plenty of dining and souvenir options, plus Haagen Dazs is right next door!! (we indulged once everyday) The room we had did not have a sea view. I don't think any rooms at this resort have a sea view. I actually liked not having a view, because we had big plants right off our balcony, which allowed a lot of quiet and privacy! It was great. A well appointed room with two dbl (comfy) beds with nice linens.

We had a sort of day bed in a windowbox sort of area. It was a private setting... no need to close curtains at all, thanks to the plants. A nice place to sit and work a crossword puzzle or write in my travel journal.

We also had another sort of Thai style sitting bench, in yet another window area with privacy. Not quite as light and open as the day bed sort of thing.

The bath had a soaking tub as well as a walk in shower with rainbath shower head. I enjoyed both. It was a bit of a challenge trying to get the right water temp sometimes. Too hot or too cold. After a few days, one would no doubt figure it all out... haha

Internet was available at the resort, but for a fee. I opted to use an internet cafe which was very close to the front "gate" of the hotel. Must have cost 1 baht per minute. My biggest bill was maybe 23 baht? Good high speed computers. No problems logging on.

The internet cafe was also a travel agency and laundry! We used the travel agency for booking the boat trip. More on that later. Never used the laundry, as we only had 2 nights at Krabi, so not that much laundry to worry about.

Day One: We arrived at 10:30 in the morning. Our room (in the "new part" of the hotel) was ready. We settled in, and then took a walk to have a look at the beach area. A late afternoon nap felt good, for about 2 hours, followed by Haagen Dazs ice cream.

Around 5pm we caught a "side car taxi" (my favorite form of transportation in Krabi!!) to a shell fossil tourist site. OK to have a look, but not worth spending much time there. The driver said he would take us "around the area" for one hour for 400 baht. We actually rode for 1 hr 15 minutes, so I added on a tip. Very friendly driver. We looked for him again on day 2, but did not see him in time to let him take us around again.

After our 1hr 15 minute side car taxi ride to the shell fossil site, and along the beach road a bit, we walked down to a restaurant for a Thai dinner. Can't recall the name of the place, but it is one of the oldest on Ao Nang Beach. Food was OK. Maeng notices differences in the way Thai food is prepared from one area of the country to another. (I think she likes BKK style the best)

We hit the sack around 8pm that night, and slept for 12 hours!

Day 2: It was 10am by the time we had gotten up, showered, and had breakfast. We decided we wanted an adventure, so we went to the travel agency (at the internet place) to ask about something to do. Maeng and I, neither one of us, are swimmers so the idea of an organized boat trip that includes a lot of time on any one beach area was not something we wanted to do. But we wanted to SEE different beaches and different islands. No swimming, no wading, no sun bathing.

What we ended up doing was, renting a private speed boat to take us around, for about 3 hours, to see and walk on 4 different islands. Maeng thought this was a real hi-so boat trip. Not like the much cheaper longtail boats. I told her I wanted the speed boat because of the comfortable seating, and the ability to get up and move around on the boat, to take photos, move in and out of the sun/wind, etc. It was a great boatride, though pretty expensive. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Lunch was included, and was served on Chicken Island.

While we were on this boat trip, we saw Railay Beach... only accessible by boat. Pretty nice! Very quiet! Secluded, if that's what you want. But I think it would get old having to take a longtail back and forth to Ao Nang if you wanted any activity other than beaching it. Longtail ride to Ao Nang would only take about 15 minutes or less.

The geography of this part of Thailand is really awesome. We saw soooo many limestone "mountains" rising out of the water, but also rising up on the land, all along the visible coastline. Lots of tropical trees, but also up in the higher elevations there were taller trees of different types, and the air was probably 10 degrees cooler (or it felt like it anyway).

OK, so the boat trip was great! Afterwards, we went back to Haagen Dazs and then to the hotel to shower, as we felt salty and sweaty. Maeng wanted to go to a souvenir type of place that sells different curry pastes and spices and sauces from the south of Thailand. We tried to find the same side car taxi driver who had taken us around yesterday, but he was no where to be found. Instead, we found a very pleasant young Thai man (of early to mid 20s age) who took us on another side car taxi ride. The souvenir place must have been about 10 km away. The ride was great! Fresh air... higher elevations... the wind in our hair.

Maeng found a basket full of spices and sauces and such, and it was packed and strapped in a box, for the flight back to Bangkok. I bought a Krabi coffee mug... which proceded to get broken on the way back to BKK today!! I'm so sad.

After the souvenir market, we stopped at a local market selling food and clothing and hand made goods. I bought a few items there. It was interesting looking around. This market was near to Krabi Town.

Back to Ao Nang, and we had our young driver drop us at a seafood restaurant for dinner. Again, Maeng noticed the differences in the taste of the seasonings, etc. We did not eat even half of what we ordered. We found our young driver, still sitting outside the restaurant, and gave him our bags of left over seafood. He was quite happy to get it. We then walked back to our hotel. A short walk. No need for a taxi.

Day 3: Our young driver agreed to pick us up at 9am to go sight seeing. Our taxi to Krabi airport was not until 2pm, so we had quite a bit of time to see something. Maeng and I both assumed we'd be going on the side car taxi again, and were a bit disppointed when our drive showed up in his car instead. The sights we would be seeing would be an hour away (by car) and side car taxis are for local driving only.

First, we visited the Tiger Cave/Temple near Krabi Town. It was filled with busloads of school kids. You can climb about 1200 stairs (if you want to) to go to the top of a mountain for a view of all of Krabi province. We did NOT do this. The area has a Chinese style temple, and lots of monks around, and lots of MONKEYS too. Beware... they try to steal things from you! Funny....

Second stop was at a hot springs. There were a few people in the water. We had to walk a short distance (maybe 200m)to get to the hot springs pool/waterfall. A well-defined path led the way. The walk back to the parking lot was shorter. Interesting plants to view along the walk.

Third (and final) stop on this tour was at the Emerald Pool. This one is close to the hot springs, and the two are about one hour away from Ao Nang.

The Emerand Pool is just that... a natural pool with a green color, due to the minerals I suppose. Many people were swimming in the pool. Maybe therapeutic?? Maybe just FUN.

Now, this is where it got interesting. The walk TO the pool was 800m, and on a well defined path. The walk BACK from the pool, a shortcut...., was 400m, but only parts of it were what I'd call a path!!!

I wish I could show you what we had to traverse... OMG... there were stepping stones (not stones, but tree stumps) that you had to step along, and they were only maybe 10" in diameter each, and they sometimes went across a bit of water (not deep, just wet) and sometimes across patches of mud.

Maeng took a picture of me as I'm trying to make it along this obstacle course. I'm complaining... "Maeng, I'm not liking this... Maeng, slow down.... Maeng, I can't balance on these stepping stones the way you can...." You get the picture. "Maeng, I'm too old for this sort of thing!"

But I survived!

Would I go back to Emerald Pool? Probably not. The hot springs? Probably not. But it was an exciting adventure the first time going there!!!

We made it back to the hotel at 1:30, just in time for our final Haagen Dazs treat, and 2:00 taxi back to the airport! Krabi airport is quite new and quite nice. Not a lot of options for things to do/see if you have too much time to wait for a flight. Best to arrive 45-60 minutes before a flight, as suggested, rather than 2 hours...

Flight to BKK was a little bit delayed, but smooth flying once we got off the ground. Traffic getting into the city of Bangkok was stop and go. It took over an hour to get to the Adelphi.

But now I'm "home" and I can relax after an exciting vacation in Krabi for a couple of days!

Now back to my laundry. My first load is ready to hang to dry. Hope I didn't bore you with this long report.

Carol

That was a lot of Haagen Dazs.

You slept for 12 hours? How can this be? I'm always so excited to be in Thailand that I sleep very little. I've spent many wee hours reading in the ROS lobby.

I remember once when we went to California we were so tired that on about the 4th day we had driven to Napa valley had lunch, gone for a cheeky afternoon nap at 4pm and woke up at 7am the next morning!!!