Thailand, Day 5

We arrived in Ao Nang Bay, a small beach town, this morning. We took a night bus for eight hours from Chiang Mai in the North to Bangkok in the middle, then a flight early this morning from Bangkok to the famous Krabi. It's not quite Koh Phang An which is the island of the massive Full Moon Party happening on the 27th. I thought of going there but then realized I'd rather spend a quieter time on the beach, so I chose the west coast instead of the east.

Originally the plan was to stay at a somewhat secluded gorgeous beach called West Railay, near Krabi, but we found that our guest house was really quite nice so we decided to book three nights here. It's called the Andaman Inn, and I really should get some pictures of the place posted. There's this shifty looking Thai man who helps run the inn who goes by the name of Oddly Beckham, and always wears Beckham jerseys. His first name is Thai and I suspect he adopted Beckham so that tourists would recognize him more easily. He's quite nice and helps us out with getting into town and pretty much anything we need. the Andaman Inn is not in town, you see, it's across a river and around a large rock outcropping, and we must take a "longtail" water taxi to get there.

The scenery is basically white sand beaches, jungle, clear blue waters and monolithic rock formations in impossible shapes. It is just gorgeous here and I heartily recommend it to everyone who isn't a boor, which means everyone who is reading this pinnacle of literary acheivement, obviously. I haven't gone into the water yet, as I've spent most of my day trekking around Ao Nang trying to get a feel for the place. It's very touristy and the main things to do in Ao Nang are shop, book tours, drink, or get a massage. I think there might be other things you can get in Ao Nang, but I'm not into trading my self respect for cheap thrills. As far as I know, no one in the group I've been travelling with is into that either.

Ao Nang is arranged as a long street lined with shops on one side and a beautiful beach on the other. Toward the south it curves inland, away from the beach, and becomes less touristy and more local. Much construction is going on here, and I came across a local market in which raw beef and chicken was on display in the sun for all the flies to feast on. Mmmm delicious. I suppose that's what I eat when I get chicken and noodles in a restaurant. I also went down a side street because it looked more run-down and therefore less touristy. It turned out to be an alley of bars full of Thai whores. They called to me but I was too scared, until one of them started asking about where I was from and so on, and this is a question I can rarely refuse. For some reason I like people to know I'm Canadian. I told her and she asked where I was going, and I explained but she didn't seem to understand, so I left. Walking out of the alley I saw that the last place was a "restaurant" consisting of a cart and a shack, and several tables under an awning. A family was having lunch there, so I decided it was safe. It was safe, except for the full hot green peppers they put into the rice and chicken, sneakily masquerading as normal green peppers.

With a burning belly I ventured further along Ao Nang and had a broken English conversation with a Thai policeman. It was about 10 minutes in when a tour guide came up and he immediately called to her and told her in Thai that he didn't understand what I was saying. Very polite and friendly fellow, though. He really had me convinced that he understood.

Tonight is Christmas eve and we JETs have played some card games - a game called shithead mainly. It's pretty fun and I was only the shithead a couple of times. Then they all drank at the bar and I watched a bit of "Home Alone 2" which was playing in the restaurant area of the hostel, and then went to bed.