a coddle fish on the beach in krabi.
arriving on the andaman sea as the sun rose over the aqua ocean in thailand woke bryn & india up bright and early. as their bus zoomed along the coast line, the two kept their noses pressed against the glass in awe. in the same way that bangkok had wowed them with it's modern atmosphere and traditional people, the southern coast sparkled their eyes open and kept them that way until the bus finally stopped at an empty roadside cafe on the edge of krabi town. here, bryn & india hopped off the bus, grabbed their bags, and hailed a cab to the hotel that they had prebooked on the internet.
after twenty minutes of winding through coconut tree forests, passing remote open air restaurants facing the water, and families crowded onto smoking motor scooters, bryn & india were dropped off in front of the krabi tropical beach resort. is this right? their driver asked. bryn turned to the sign welcoming a misspelled mr. little and guest. oh yes, bryn said. this is it.
despite their early hour of arrival, bryn & india were immediately assured into their swanky room where they admired the towels folded in the shape of swans, tried on their terrycloth bathrobes and slippers, and bounced on the bed before donning their bathing suits and heading down to the pool.
the pool at krabi tropical beach resort.
bryn & india's first afternoon on the beaches of thailand was spent just like that: on the beach. the two swam in the pool, walked along the water, watched the longboats float out into the distance, their pilots off to catch dinner for their restaurants and their families. they sipped fruity cocktails and made friends with the few other guests at their hotel and, after bryn had properly scorched his freckled pale skin in the sun, the two showered, dressed, and began the walk to ao nang beach, the most frequently visited stretch of sand in krabi.
when bryn & india got there, they understood why.
the boardwalk at ao nang was a bizarre mix of international corporate fast food joints next to literal hole-in-the-wall bars manned by a teenage thai boy with a cooler full of chang beer. the small town feel mixed with the familiar sight of a starbucks reminded india of seaside, oregon. but, you know, totally tropical. the two walked hand in hand along the beach, dipping their toes in an ocean for the first time since goa, and felt comforted by being back on a coast again. they walked and walked until the beach ended against a steep brushy hill. here hung a sign warned against the feeding of monkeys. what monkeys? india wondered aloud. and then they saw.
across a wooden step bridge that hung over a small tributary hung a colony of lanky, chattering sand-colored monkeys, beckoning bryn over to them. hesitant at first, bryn was soon in the thick of things, the monkeys pulling at his thumbs with their tiny fingers, dangling from his hands, crawling up his arms and onto his head, preening his thick hair, kissing his sun burned ears. these were so unlike the growling territorial monkeys of india! the little guys of ao nang craved your attention and were shameless in their attempts to get it fully. for an hour, bryn & india sat in the setting sunlight with monkeys crawling all over them.
fighting over bryn.
mr. monkey man.
the next morning was cloudy but warm, and bryn & india put on their bathing suits for breakfast down in the hotel cafe. after munching on sliced dragon fruit and poached eggs, the two were approached by a blond and bronzed young couple in search of some coffee. aric & tracey were (like bryn & india's favorite travel partners in india, randy & avi) from toronto. after working in surfer's paradise in australia for three months, the two had flown to thailand for some asian travel before heading back home in the fall for graduate school. bryn & india immediately took a liking to these talkative canadians with matching stretched smiles. the four decided to adventure together for the day and, after breakfast, the four headed down the street to a pier where they rode a longtail for twenty minutes to the hidden beach of railay.
after being shoved off the boat into two feet of glass colored water, tracey, aric, bryn & india made their way through a sort of tunnel carved out of the rising limestone mountains. winding along the path, they were spit out into a curved bay protected from the wind by towering mountains on either side. here, thai women spread out coolers of beer, 20 baht a can, and set up table top barbecues that grilled citrus drenched shrimp and buttery corn. the four sat in the sand, sharing changs and leos, dipping into the wavy ocean, watching the tide roll in.
schmoozing on railay beach.
after soaking up the best sun they could through the fluffy gray clouds, bryn & india and their new friends waited patiently for a longtail driver to give them a ride back to ao nang. the thai people are a relaxed people. in thailand, with the small waves rolling and slow cooking food smoking around their feet, the pilots of the skinny wooden boats found no rush to leave the hidden coves of railay. after an hour of digging their feet into the cool sand beside the pier, the four were finally ushered into a boat and zoomed through the water to ao nang. here, still covered in sand with damp hair, the four found a happy hour and shared 'buckets' of gin and tonics. a few hours and a few drinks later, aric and tracey bumped into two british boys who they had met earlier in their thai adventure, and the six of them found an open air bar with a pool table where they made friends over drinking games which, in turn, gave tracey and india the confidence to take off into the dark ocean in the late night for a midnight swim. the evening concluded with india (in a burger king crown) dancing to four thai boys performing aggressive american classic rock songs in a dingy dive bar.
new friends share buckets.
bryn & india spent their last day in krabi lounging by the pool, reading their novels, making friends with their hotels employees. after saying goodbye to tracey and aric and promising to meet up the following week for the full moon party, the sun came out and prompted a series of death-defying launchings of india off of bryn's shoulders in the pool. more fruit salads, more sweet cocktails, and an impromptu viewing of a 'hot tub time machine' dvd purchased bootleg on the side of the street is how bryn & india recovered from their krabi party night.
early the next morning, the two set off on their first thai public bus ride over to the island of phuket.
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