Kayaking in Krabi

Holes made by the crabs
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When we left Phi Phi the two girls headed for Vietnam, so as I don't yet have my visa arranged & want to spend more time there that just a few days I decided to stop on in Thailand. After Phi Phi I went to Koh Lanta for a night which was a bit of a waste as the weather was so awful. The island itself is a getaway from it all but given the weather it was too much of a get away as I couldn't even get to the beach for some decent sun! Nevertheless I charged my batteries in a nice bungalow by the beach call Golden Bay Cottages & watched TV for the first time since I left! I see the UK is getting plenty of rain....ha ha suckers!!

Tiny crabs that were swarming the sand
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Yesterday I took a bus back to Krabi - Ao Nang Beach - where I had been with the girls last week. This time however I had to check into more modest accommodation. I am staying at the PK Mansion which is a fancy name for a family run guest house. The rooms are big, clean & meet all my requirements and for 400BHT (10EURO) a night you can't complain.

Today I went on an arranged sea kayaking trip which is listed in my trusted Rough Guide book as one of the top 35 things not to miss when touring SE Asia. A bus picked a danish couple and myself up from the guesthouse at 8.30am and following an hour on back roads we ended up in the Ao Thalen region where several other groups were meeting. After getting kitted out with our dry bags to protect our cameras etc we paired off in the kayaks. As I was a loner I got to double up with the guide - which basically meant he done most of the work while I just sat back and took it all in!

Kayaking
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Our first stop on the kayaking trip allowed us to see what seemed like hundreds of little crabs all running all over the sand and as soon as you got near they dug a hole in the sand - which you can see from my pictures.

Sailing through all the limestone formations was fantastic - we saw everything from water lizards to multicolored crabs to monkeys along the way! Stopping at this one cove allowed us the opportunity to feed the monkeys fresh fruit - it was amazing to get up so close to them. They just swiped the pineapple and watermelons out of your hand!

Forest edge - water was full of lizards etc
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After lunch which was server up back where we started I headed off in a kayak with one of the tour guide to explore some caves & lagoons. Everyone else in the group had opted to do either a half day trip or elephant trekking. The afternoon was the best part as we sailed under huge limestons rock caves just inches above our heads - it was eerily quiet apart from monkeys running all the forest banks. The trip was well worth it at 750BHT (18 EURO) which included lunch and transfer - I would recommend it to anyone in the area. As it is low season though I managed to get the trip at a discounted rate - normal rate for full day is 1200 BHT.

Coloured crabs
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So tomorrow morning it is off to Siem Reap in Cambodia (via Bangkok) where I will be reunited with my travel buddies - that's if they make it out of Vietnam! More to come soon...!