Krabi Temple - Many Monkeys, Many Steps.

With not much time before I have to return my rental bike - I thought I would recount the story of the temple we visited in Krabi on the fourth January.




We stayed on Koh Muk for four weeks or there abouts with Utit and his family. Some of the kindest and most generous people we could of hoped to of met.



Our plan when leaving Koh Muk was to get the ferry and make our own way back to Trang and gain transport, inevitably train, to Surat Thani where we were to meet Tom. This plan did not come to fruition however as the families generosity continued.



We had met Muu's sister previously when she visited Koh Muk one weekend. It became apparent that Yok, Utit and Muu's daughter, lived in Krabi with Pak Pow where she attended school. Pak pow was Muu's sister and Utit offered to drive us to Krabi where they would drop off Yok and we could stop with Muu's family.



We were only able to stop the one night due to time constraints in getting to Surat Thani but Pak Pow had already arranged for some of her friends to drop by with their pick up truck. Several of us then clambered into the back of the truck and we went on a tour of Krabi. We took in sites such as a waterfall, where I nearly broke my foot, the Ao nang district with amazing karst scenery and beautiful beaches.



I would say the most memorable visit though was to the main temple in the Krabi area which was set upon a mountain top. There were 1237 steps to the top where the temple was situated. This didn't seem like too daunting a task but I don't think either Tim or myself had really considered the gradient of the mountain we were heading up.



The karst scenery found across many countries within asia / south east asia is amazing to look at. Huge monlith style cliffs that appear to of simply erupted from the ground with vast imposing walls.



Well..... It was a similar type of monolith that our temple destination sat upon.



There was a chance that the steps may be steep.



They were.



I don't think the video does full justice to the scale of some of the sections that we ascended but no doubt my constant gasping for breath and excessive sweating, even for me, will be some indication of the task we endured.

Tsunami Sign of Change

Charlie Beach Life

Charlie Beach is the place we would head most days while we stayed on Koh Muk. A gorgeous beach with excellent swimming and snorkelling.

Though Charlie Beach was a resort itself - we were fine to use the beach, so all was good.

We would wake most mornings, maybe tidy the garden where we were staying - rake leaves etc - dependant on whether it needed doing. After which we would head towards Charlie beach a 2km walk at most.

On the way we would likely stop off at Hill Top Restaurant and have a Coffee.

Fortunately we were liked by the owner, a Thai lady named Song, and so would often have a free breakfast - always watermelon, often toast, and on an occasion pancakes. We did help revamp her menus though and she became more generous after this.

She was really nice but I often thought her persistence in saying hello to 'farangs' was what may of been keeping them at bay.

Silly Farangs.

Paradisde Found

Across the expanse of the Ocean,

Above the vastness of the Mountain,

Farther than the Eagle Soars.

Paradise Lost on distant shores

Closer now than was before,

Nearer still to what we know.

To what we were once so Blind.

Paradise Found within our Mind.

Journey Recap

At Charlie Beach, Koh Muk. Recapping journey there.

Images / Video - En Route to Koh Mook

Hitch Hike, Paddy Whack, Pick Up Truck, Kayak

The eighth of December 2008. The day that we leave Old Lady Yoda's lovely homestay for pastures new.

We had stayed a couple of nights after arriving very early in Trang after a fifteen hour train journey. It seemed right to unwind and settle for a day or two before continuing on to an island off the coast. We needed to recharge a little, or perhaps a lot, considering it had been constant travel up to this point.

On the morning of the eighth though we had decided to continue our journey. Pak Meng had originally been decided upon as a destination from Trang as according to a guide book we had there was the pier for getting Long Tail Boats to the various islands. In the two days we had spent at Pak Meng however, we had discovered that prices in Long Boats are charged per mile, unless an official taxi boat, and it was seeming that we may be lookking at around a 1000 baht for the journey to Koh Muk - our chosen island destination.

We needed to get this price dropped and were preparing ourselves for some negotions with different boat owners when we happened to stumble across a fairly official tourist information centre. I don't recall it being a TAT (tourism authority of thailand) office but nonetheless it did seem official.

The official offices are your best source for information as you are not hassled by competing tour guide / operators trying in vain to give you the information they wish and take you to places where they will earn commission. A comfortable enough way to travel but inevitably you will end up paying more and travelling the same circuits as everybody else.

We learnt from the information office that there was a ferry that travelled from Kuantuku pier (this may be spelt incorrectly). Kuantuku was around twenty to thirty kilometres away and taxis though available seemed mainly to be between Trang and the different coastal areas. We did not want to head back on ourselves to Trang.

It was agreed - we would hitch hike to kuantuku and catch the ferry to Koh Muk. We had seen plenty of traffic passing through Pak Meng in the direction we needed, many of which had been pick up trucks - the ideal hitch hike vehicle for backpackers.

We set off on the morning of the eighth, heading along the road in the direction of Kuantuku. The road seemed far more quiet than we had remembered. Afting trudging perhaps two kilometres we had not been passed by a vehicle but also discovered why.

The bridge over the river was out. Bonne.

After a failed conversation with the construction workers at the bridge we decided to head down to the beach and contemplate things. We had been trying to ask them whether we could cross over the river on the beach where the water was lower but it seemed obvious that they were telling us to turn around and go back round the long way.

We did not want to back up on ourselves but upon reaching the rivers edge on the beach it began to seem the only option and disappointment was beginning to rise.

Then I glimpsed something. Across the river seemed to be a fairly new or perhaps refurbished resort. At it's side near the river were a collection of kayaks.

'How about I swim over and ask to borrowed a kayak'

It was clearly the right choice for our situation. I swam across what became a much wider expanse than first expected and was straight away greeted by a concierge type thai fellow. He was more than happy to lend me the kayak for the purpose of transporting our bags across, and so back across the river I paddled. We loaded up the kayak and successfully negotiated the obstacle that had presented itself.

After a brief stop we headed through the resort and back on to the road. We must of hiked around eight or so kilometres before we did have some luck. The diversions due to the bridge were not a help. A kind thai lady in a pick up asked us if we were going to Pak Meng - evidently where she was going. It seemed Kuantuku was back the way she came. She drove us so far though and dropped us at Kuantuku homestay.

We were not about to stop the journey there and get a room for the night. We asked the owner if we could get to the pier. Still perhaps ten kilometres away. He seemed doubtful at first but after having given us some water and allowed us to rest for a moment he appeared with small motorbike and lifted his index finger to indicate one person.

I took the opportunity and hoiked my large rucksack onto my back and got on the back of the bike. Holding my smaller pack to the side I journied the rest of the way to the pier precariously balanced on the back of a scooter.

Once we arrived my suspicions were confirmed and it seemed the ferry had already gone. Though we had considered this we knew that boats would still be much cheaper from the pier as the distance was much less. The man from the homestay had sent one of the boat owners back to fetch Tim and when he arrived we negotiated a price of 400 baht to get us to the island.

Once arrived the begginning of our journey, the first stage, was nearly complete - we just needed a place to stay on our new island home. Once again we set off on foot from the islands pier knowing that some of the taxis would simply take us to the largest 'farang' based resort. About a kilometre or so into the island we came across Emerald Creek. It looked like we may be able to pitch our tents. We asked and a thai lady said that it wouldn't be a problem.

We pitched up and settled in, at that point not knowing this would become practically a home from home with no charge for accomadation.

A Moment of Clarity

My scenario yesterday, around noon ; I was lying in the hammock of my bungalow, Long Beach Resort, Ko Chang (west coast). The beach just a stepping distance away, the soothing sound of the ocean rolling over was echoing somewhere in the distance of my mind as I read my chosen book and relaxed the morning away.

I had already decided that I wanted an image of myself recling in the hammock with my sunnies on. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe I thought i'd look cool, maybe I just liked the way my sun glasses matched the hammack.

I was reading 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' by Hunter S. Thompson. An awesome book and film. Anyone who has read the book, watched the movie, or indeed are simply familiar with the content will know, as the cover itself indicates, that it is 'A savage journey to the heart of the American Dream.'

Around noon yesterday, on the beautiful island of Ko Chang, I was nearing the end of the book. My minded wandered and it suddenly struck me as odd that I was filling my minds eye with such bizarre imagery and events set in a time I did not know, when in the here and now I was surrounded by beauty and calm.

I had already been determined that today I would continue to update my own story but in that moment yesterday, there in the hammock, nearing the end of a disturbed tale, it became more imperative to recount some of the wonders I had thus far seen and experienced.

The glasses were not in anyway a reading aid. Just a gimmick to help paint the picture.

Old Lady Yoda and Mysterious 23

Where to start. Well, I guess at the beginning. The beginning of any extended travel though starts with the notion of doing it. Of committing the thought process to a certainty ahead. That, I would imagine, does not work well as a blog and so we shall start with the beginning of the Journey itself.

On the morning of the 4th December, the day of departure, I did not actually wake in my own bed. I woke early on Naomi's couch set to head into town to pick up Dave's birthday present when the shops opened at 9am. I did so and headed straight home as quickly as I could muster as we had a train to catch at 11am and I still needed to pack my things that I had organised and laid out the night before.

Admittedly, my forward planning for the day of departure was perhaps not the best but the tasks at hand passed with fluidity so that there was no lingering, no anticipation of when we were going to set off. There was simply motion from the moment I woke to the moment my father arrived to take us to the train station. A fluidity that was set to cotinue from train to tube, and from tube, to airport.

Despite what could of been perceived as a frantic start, everything did fall into place and the entire journey was a very effortless process. The tube conjured up memories of my previous travels linking them also with the awesome tube journeys I had been on in New York.

The effortlessness continued with each flight and we were soon enough on a bus from Bangkok airport headed to Bangkok train station for our journey to South Thailand and the province of Trang. We had connected en route in Amman - a fairly small airport where I almost became lost in the bizarre symmetry of it's departure lounge.

It seemed as if we were forever surrounded by the Mysterius number 23. Each segment of the journey seemed to be linked with 23, whether it was my seat, tim's seat, or our baggage claim number. This became apparent on our long sleeper train journey to Trang also where one of our sleeper compartments was again number 23.

15 hours by Train and so after arriving in Thailand on the 5th Dcember, we then arrived at one of it's southern most provincial capitals at 8am on the 6th December.

We quickly set about locating a bus in order to quickly and inexpensively journey us to one of the beach towns where we could get a boat to one of the southern islands. This beach town, well if it could be named a town, was called Pak Meng. A long stretch of 5km beautiful beach with a pier for the boats. A choice of varying priced accomodation, though gladly after being shocked by the price of the first we were approaced by who I affectionately like to call 'Old Lady Yoda'. She offered us a room for 300 baht and we glady accepted.

It was at Old Lady Yoda's where we first settled from travel and from where the beginning of our travels in Thailand were set to start. As you can see from the video, it was superb room with all that we could want after such a long stint of travel.