Thailand Part 2

It has been raining quite a bit in Thailand recently, and I thought I would take this opportunity to update my blog. I'm currently in Krabi Town of Southern Thailand at the Pak-Up hostel. Only $7 a night and one of the nicest places I've stayed so far.

Being a food tourist of sorts, I had to try these chips. Spicy shrimp flavor. They weren't bad, but definitely not gourmet. Good crunch, very greasy and too much salt. Pretty much like putting the flavor packet from shrimp ramen on Lays original.

 In a hurry I had to pick up breakfast at 7-11 before my bus to Krabi. This is packaged toast with strawberry jam. It was actually very tasty, and I wished I had bought two.

Once in Krabi and waiting out the rain I took a day trip to Railay beach. The trip was in a long tail boat and took about 45 minutes.

Once on Railay, I hiked around, saw the wonderful beaches, checked out some caves and to break it up, went for a swim between each activity, because the heat was a bit oppressive.

Here's the sign at the trailhead to a viewpoint on Railay. This sign was an understatement.

It may be hard too see, but the trail is near vertical and is covered in a very slick clay mud. There are a few muddy ropes to help you along, but the best route was usually the least muddy and therefor not following the roped off route.

 A viewpoint from the top.

 Mud.

Railay has white sand on one side and mangroves on the other. Heres a few of the rockier mangroves.

A tractor brings some passengers ashore from the eastern beach.

R

A View of Railay West and the cliffs that surround it. The caves here are really cool and worth checking out.

The next day without rain I jumped on a local bus and went to check out a temple (Tigers Cave) and climb to the top of a mountain.

Here's the sign at the base of the hill.

The 1237 step thing is a bit misleading because some of the steps are a little steep to say the least.

 There are multiple shrines along the way.

 A view from the top.

A massive Buddha rests on top of the mountain. Notice the man below him for scale. It is a sacred place and a nice place to hang out and think about things.

My next stop was a forest park with a Jungle hike and several caves.

There were some very cool plant life along the trail including some old growth rainforest trees. The noise of the birds was awesome, and really made me feel like I had stepped into the Amazon.

 Shrines are in many of the caves and you will see monks walking around or praying silently in the lotus position. Out of respect I didn't take any pictures of the monks, but snapped a few pictures of the caves and shrines when nobody was around.

 A cave entrance.

 Me in front of "Big Tree" (note the sign)

 Monkeys were everywhere, but the pictures came out blurry. I saw one steal a guys water bottle from the outside of his backpack. Always be suspicious of monkeys, mischievous buggers.

These chickens were ginormous.

This chicken was Delicious. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thai freedom salchichas.  (bacon wrapped hotdogs for those unfamiliar)

Mai Thais with the guys from my hostel room.

The house band at Pak-Up Hostel. They are really good actually and play quite a few American songs with their own style.

There you have it, Krabi Thailand. I'm staying here a few more days and will be doing a trip to a couple more islands. Rain or shine, I'll post more pictures as I take them.


Much love to my friends and family stateside.

My next post will likely be from Bankok or Dubai!