Beach Briefs, Day 2 - Morning

I watched the sun rise at about 6 am and I decided to grab some sleep on the beach. The long boat operators are awake and preparing for the day and the mosquitos have gone to sleep for the night. I think 3-4 hours would be good and then I will grab a Starbucks and explore my options for Phi Phi and Ko Lanta ... I have woken up and feel very relaxed but I desparately need my cafeine fix so off to Satrbucks I went for a latte and a blueberry muffin. It is now about noonish and time to explore my options. Oops, you snooze you lose! I have decided to go to Ko Lanta first and yesterday when I read the signs they indicated the ferry left at 10:30 and 3:30. When I enquired about the 3:30 ferry I was informed that they do not run the 3:30 ferry any longer. I guess I will spend another day in Krabi and take the 10:30 fery to Ko lanta tomorrow morning which will be day 3. I will add to this post as the day goes on.


Late afternoon - I took a long boat to Realey Beach, a short 10 minute ride and had an inexpensive lunch at one of the local restaurants. I also took advantage of the relaxed atmosphere at the beach to go for a swim, wash up, and have another 2 hour nap in the shade. I then caught the longboat back to Ao Nang and I decided to splurge and have dinner and watch the sunset at one of the beach seafood restaurants.

Evening - It is now about 6:30 pm and and I have ordered a couple of strawberry dacqueries and a grilled sea bass on rice. Both are excellent and I watch another superb sunset at about 7:30. I decide another dacquerie is in order and I pay the bill and finish up at about 9 pm. Time for another latte and then I need to find a bar with some live music where I can while away a few hours. After my latte I decide to walk the beach and people walk for a while. A commom practice on Ao Nang beach is mini hot air balloon launching. You apporach the vendor, write a bunch of wishes on the outside of the squarish balloon, and light the burner at the bottom. You end up holding the balloon for about 5 minutes and the air inside becomes hot enough and the balloon lifts off over the ocean with your wishes. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the balloon to diasappear and there are usually about 10 of them visible at a time. It is a beautiful clear, starlit night just like last night.

It is about 10:30 now and I find a bar with live music and a patio and proceed to people watch. Most of the clientelle is European with some Aussies thrown in for good measure. Despite it being Chinese New Year there are not many Chinese in Ao Nang. I chat with some Aussies for a while and decide to try another bar after a couple of hours. Before long it is about 2:30 and all the bars are closing and it is time for an early breakfast at the 24 hour McD's. I am lucky enough to find another newspaper and also type up this entry and manage to stretch my time out to 5 am. Time to head down to the beach area and watch another sunrise and then catch another couple of hours sleep on the beach.

I also need to purchase my 10:30 ticket to Ao Nang and find a wifi connection and start hunting for an inexpensive place to stay in Ko Lanta. I have never been there and have no idea what it is like. It should be exciting. I thnk the ferry takes about 2.5 hours to get there and I am looking forward to some time on the ocean. Oh, and yes, I have to retrieve my rollie and find some place to get cleaned up.

My next update, hopefully will be from Ko lanta.


TTYL,

Jim