Krabi, Part I

I realised last night that I have so many pictures that to put them in one post would be overkill.  So I thought I would just write about the holiday in general, and put another post aside for one of the highlights of the trip: snorkelling!  I could yak on about snorkelling for hours, so I'll spare you for now.

But the hotel we stayed in was pretty lush too - awesome pool with a slide, bar in the water and a great spa.  This was lucky because we got hit by a few tropical storms and nothing is better than being indoors under a dark purple sky, cocooned by scented oils.

Every morning, as part of the free buffet breakfast we were given, I had a huge salad and a bowl of cut fruit with plain yoghurt.

Just outside our hotel, there was a long stretch of shops by the beach at Ao Nang and we spent a lot of time walking up and down, buying little things and wetting our feet in the sea.

There was a large metal dragon outside this fish restaurant and it lit up every night!

Also very enamoured with this strange skeletal horse and long-tailed boat in the nightlife area.  There were loads of staff members dressed in either really flashy costumes or in drag - some of them were gorgeous!

I find that whenever people are on holiday, they are always a little bit shy about buying things until they make the first purchase.  Then, BOOM!  I started the buying, as Melissa put it, with a 40THB friendship bracelet to tie around my ankle.  I'm a big fan of jewellery that never has to come off and that marks special occasions, so I got one in pink, olive green and black to remind me of Krabi.  She snapped a picture of me tying it next to some bushes.

The shopping is the usual stuff you find in seaside towns in South East Asia, but it's good for several things - light dresses, simple and cheap decor items, waterproof bags, sweet t-shirts, straw purses and the like, and what I like to call "flappy pants" - huge relaxed fit cloth pants that are perfect for weekends.

Food of course, was pretty delightful.  I'm a big fan of Thai food and because there are so many expats in Krabi, we also got to try a little bit of Swiss food.

We had very reasonably priced fondue at a Swiss and Thai joint run by a Swiss man right across from our hotel.  The cheese was hot and slightly boozy, and we dipped everything into it.

But my favourite food, most places I go, is street food or hawker food and there was plenty of that.  There was a row of street food vendors along the main street where we were, selling amazing Thai street food or bastardised versions of Western food like thin, crispy pancakes brushed with Planta and coated with Ovaltine powder and condensed milk.

The corn was also incredible, grilled to caramelised perfection and sprinkled with crunchy grains of salt.  One of our favourite things was to buy a juicy chicken thigh and a whole roasted catfish and eat them with our fingers, soaking them in a salty, pungent chilli dipping sauce.

Seriously, LOOK at that monster.  He had the hardest head I have ever seen.  Fear not, little guy, you did not die in vain.

On the first night, as Mel and I were walking the streets, we saw a beautiful line of orange lights floating up into the sky.  We were so intrigued that we chased down the source.  They were paper lanterns, sold on the sides of the streets for about 80THB and the vendors helped us set them on fire and release them after we had made wishes for health and happiness.

There is something magical about watching the beautiful lantern float upwards, flickering and burning until it becomes a star.  Every time someone set off a lantern, others would decide to join in and the sky was filled with small clusters of lights.  It was tonnes of fun standing on the shore, clapping our hands and shouting "Hot guy!  Hot guy!" (just me) heavenward. 

I leave you now with a picture of the resort, the sea and me.  Jonathan took my photo and said that he was going to upload it to a matchmaking site at once.  So there you go.  If you know someone who might be interested, feel free to point them in my direction.  Thanks!