Thailand 2003 Trip Report

Monday  February 3,

Left Siam Reap on Bangkok Air to fly to Bangkok , and connect then to Krabi. Our flight from Siam Reap was short, about 50 minutes. We arrived at the international terminal of Don Juan Airport with all the stuff we had bought in Vietnam and Cambodia . We wanted to store some of our duffles and bags at the storage. We stored 3 bags for about $6 each for 5 days. We did make one mistake though, we should have used the one in the domestic terminal, since we are flying back to Bangkok from Krabi in 5 days and could pick up the items in the domestic instead of internationals. Oh well. Flight to Krabi was short, but very choppy and the landing was rough. On the way to Krabi we had a copy of the English newspaper from Bangkok and it had an article about the pilots from Thai Airlines were demanding that they improve the runway at Krabi because it is short and there is a lot of wind sheer on approach. Nice to read about while you are flying into the place they are complaining about. Got a taxi from the airport to Ao Nang, he drove like a maniac, although not as frightening as the taxi from Phuket airport to Phuket town last year. Caught a long tail boat on the beach at Ao Nang to West Railei and our hotel, the Sand & Sea Resort. We decided to stay there because they had the best breakfast of the resorts we tried last year, plus there are right at the middle of the beach on West Railei . It is run by a Muslim family and the grounds are immaculate. The price is *insert price*, plus it has air conditioning. The house we rented last year at the Railei Beach Club didn't', it was miserable at night. Nice bungalow. Mike is about 6 bungalows down from us. We checked in and decided to hit Railei Village for lunch, they have the best Pad Thai(thai noodles) we think in Thailand . Decided to walk over to Hat Than Phra Nang( Phra Nang Beach ) by the Rayavadee Resort. About a 20 minute walk, you have to walk over to East Railei beach(more of a mud flat at low tide) and down the end where there is a path between the limestone cliffs and the Rayavadee Resort to Phra Nang. The sunset bar is a great place to get a Singha beer and watch the sunset, it's right next to our resort. We went to the Ya Ya on East Railei for dinner. Mike had his green curry duck soup which he swore to finish. He couldn't finish even though he tried to fight thru the sweat, watery eyes, and pain, it was quite funny actually. I had red snapper and Neil  barracuda. After lots of Singha we made it back to the resort.

Tuesday February 4,

We had planned to sign up for at least 2 days of rock climbing this year, Neil & Mike even wanted to do three days. Neil woke up this morning with stomach and intestine problems. Probably the barracuda from last night....  Decided to wait on signing up for rock climbing, see how Neil feels. Took it easy this morning. Had lunch at Railei Village again. Pad Thai is 60baht, ~44 baht = $1USD. Neil felt better, he and I took a boat back to Ao Nang to look around. We never looked there last year, looked too touristy, which it is. Looked around for about an hour and had enough. Sent some email and bought a couple souvenirs.  Went to dinner at the Railei Village, we all had seafood and I shared my red snapper with the cats. They all have short stubby tails, very strange looking. Our total for dinner was only about 350 baht.

Wednesday February 5,

After a great breakfast at the Sand & Sea again we decided to take a boat out to Ko Poda, or Chicken Island. It has a sand bar that goes between a small island and the big island that is so amazingly beautiful. The boat was 700baht for about 3 hours, there and back and the boat stays out there for you. He also took us to Ko Lek, right nearby, there are Bungalows on that island you can stay at. Really windy and the water/waves were really choppy. We got soaked on the way out and the way back... Long tail boats don't take the waves real easy. Hot here again, 90+ and humid. Water is so warm and clear. Went to the Village for Pad Thai again.. We seem to always eat there. Relaxed in the afternoon, I took a nap. Got a Thai massage at the place right at our resort. Neil went and took some pictures and we all met at the sunset bar. We went to Railei Village again for dinner. They really have the best food.

Thursday February 6,

Health report, Neil is much better. We are signing up for rock climbing tomorrow. Mike has sunburn, he thought that he "didn't need it" for the short time we went out to Chicken Island yesterday. We are at 7 degrees north of the equator, duh. We walked over to East Railei and decided to go with Tex Climbers this year. We walked in and the guy that was there was Gordon, the same instructor that we had at Hot Rock Climbers last year. We are good to go for tomorrow for a half day. Should be fun, was last year. Neil & Mike decided to hike to the Princess Pool, which is a tide pool surrounded completely by the limestone cliffs. The trail cuts off about halfway on the trail from East Railei to Phra Nang. It's the one that goes straight up almost, I made it about 10 feet and said enough.  I went to Phra Nang and hung out while they climbed as Neil put it, "the hike from hell". They ended up getting up the top, took some pictures, started down the rest of the trail, and decided to turn back. We hung out for the morning and went to Railei Village for lunch again. Neil & I rented a Kayak this afternoon, while Mike slept and read-he didn't need anymore sun... We went out on the kayak for an hour, it was windy again today, once we got out a ways it was rough and the boats left a huge wake that we nearly got swamped by once. I had another massage today, I think I'll get one every day until we get home. I also got a henna tattoo on my ankle. They fixed our AC in our room today, yeah. Went to the sunset bar again, I got a Mai Tai served in a whole pineapple. Can't beat the view or the price. $1.50. We ate dinner next door at Railei Bungalows, Neil had tiger prawns, I got Red snapper, and Mike pizza. Neil and Mike like the Singha, I've been sticking to the Carlsberg beer. The internet here has been slow if working at all.

Friday February 7,

Went to our rock climbing at 8am today, went thru the usual safety stuff and walked down a little ways to the end of East Railei and continued down the beach a little ways. It was low tide, so there was more beach. We had Gordon as our guide, he's been a rock climbing guide for 3 years, before that a Thai boxer. So he's a tough guy. He's a really good guide, last year and this year. I did 4 climbs, Neil 5, and Mike 4. Your arms get so tired, since we don't do this very often. This year we used our arms more, and did more climbs. They didn't have any XXL shirts for Mike, so we are going to stop back in the morning. This afternoon, Neil & I went to Phra Nang. We were really hot on the beach, so I went in the water 4 times. Yesterday, Neil checked the temp on the internet and Phuket across the Andaman Sea was 97 degrees. Yikes. After an hour or so we decided to take a boat out to Chicken Island again. The ocean was almost completely calm, not much wind, that's why it's so darn hot. It was nice, not crowded at all. They dropped us off and picked us up 1 & 1/2 hours later. The last 3 days have been really windy, we've been getting soaked on every boat ride, though not today. We picked up our laundry tonight, the place on East Railei is a little less than $12 for 2 lbs. It's nice leaving a place with clean laundry.  I had sea bass at the Railei Village, and so did the two orange tabby cat's hanging out by our table. I think they got their evening fill from me, because they started washing their faces so I think they were full. By the way, Railei Village doesn't see alcohol, so you have to get it next door at the Bamboo Bar. Dinner with desert was expensive tonight, 800 baht. 

Saturday February 8,

Got up and had another great breakfast at the Sand & Sea, walked over to Tex Climbers and got our shirts. We walked over to Phra Nang for about hour of beach time. Packed up and cleaned up in the room, checked out and went to Railei Village for one last Pad Thai. Also had pineapple fried rice-delicious. We had a 2:20 flight out of Krabi to Bangkok. We got a boat at 12:00 to Ao Nang, our boat driver called a taxi (I sure he gets a fee?) while he was driving the long tail boat, I find that funny somehow. We got a ride to the airport and waited then for 1 & 1/2 hours. Only took 35 minutes from Railei to the airport. Short flight again, had to retrieve our bags from the airport left luggage in the in international terminal. We got our stuff and went to the taxi stand. Hired a Mercedes for $15 to take us to our hotel, the JW Marriott. 5 stars on priceline, got it for $75 per night. Not bad. The JW is really nice, not as nice as the Peninsula last year though. The room is very similar but on a smaller scale. It has less of a snooty air than the Peninsula. We like the location too, there is a mall right across the street. The Peninsula was cool last year, being on the river and all, but there was no where to walk to there. We saw different things this year because of transportation issues. There the river was great to get around on, this year the sky tram is working out well. Taxis are terrible here most days because of the traffic! We had a good dinner at the Lemongrass, were 15 minutes late for the reservation because of traffic-we left an hour early. I had crispy duck. We had some good appetizers too!

Sunday February 9,

Got up early and had breakfast at the buffet in the JW Marriott. Was really good, quite the spread. Although it ended up being $18 per person after tax. Quite a shock after the prices we have been paying in Vietnam, Cambodia, and on Railei. The next days Neil & I are going to get some stuff at the grocery store across the street and have that for breakfast. We took a taxi ($8) to the weekend market and got there about 10:00. We went over I swear every part of that market, it goes on and on. Was really hot around mid-day with the humidity and all the people. We got a bunch of north face packs, tshirts, sunglasses, purses, and some teak wood carvings. Mike didn't really buy much. We were there for about 7 hours. We all were exhausted afterwards, and I can't believe we lasted that long. We took the sky tram back to the hotel, cost about $1.5 dollars each to ride back. Relaxed for a while and then took the Sky Tram to the Regent Hotel for dinner. We went to the Spice Market and had a great dinner.

Monday February 10,

Today was gem and ring shopping day. Anna wanted to get a ring. We went all over and finally got one at a shop in the Oriental hotel lobby. We also shopped at the World Trade Centre, and found a shop on the third level selling backpacks and crocodile purses. I bought a crocodile purse and a stingray purse, and Neil got a crocodile wallet for $200. We saw crocodile wallets at the Oriental shops for $120, but ended up going back the same guy we got the purses from later and got a wallet for $50. Neil got some shirts and "Rolex's" on the street near our hotel. Mike went off and did his own thing, and we hooked up with him later in the afternoon at the hotel. We really didn't do any sightseeing this time, saw most everything last year we wanted to see. Getting around in Bangkok can be frustrating. We set up a car to the airport for tomorrow morning. Our flight is at 6:00 am on Northwest to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Detroit, and Detroit to Milwaukee. The car is $40, and we are getting help with our numerous bags at 3:15, and leaving for the airport at 3:30. Since we were leaving so early, we decided to eat at the Thai restaurant at the JW Marriott. It was really good, was more expensive that most places though. Neil & I went across the street into the mall and got foot massages before bed. A nice way to end before the long journey home.

Tuesday February 11,

After the Bangkok to Tokyo, Tokyo to Detroit flights we got delayed for a bit in Detroit by customs. Seems the guy didn't know what the rules were on the crocodile and stingray leather we brought back. We had checked on the customs website in Thailand to see if it was ok. Finally after about 15 minutes, we were cleared. Security is tight, they took our bags and were going to search them before putting them on our flight to Milwaukee. Should have known after giving the bags to the "old guy" doing security. One of the duffels with a lot of items didn't make the flight. Happily the bag got delivered to Kenosha later tuesday night after we got home. We had parked our jeep at Mike's house in Franklin, so just had to fit all our stuff and us in a cab to his house. Can't believe we were gone for about 24 days! The most amazing and eye opening trip.