Krabi

As soon as Alex drove us off the car ferry, officially gone from No Lanta, it's like the skies opened up. Suddenly it was sunny again and we couldn't wait to get back to Krabi. Krabi seems to be a place that people go through on their way to various islands, but they have beaches, too, so we decided it would be the easiest way to get back to our overnight bus on Monday. Using the dial-up, we randomly chose Ao Nang Beach as our destination.

We couldn't be happier here! Ao Nang is a great little town. As soon as we got here, Matt started saying that "no one can be crabby in Krabi". It's true; it's too perfect! We found a great little guest house, the Ao Nang Grand Inn, with big and immaculate rooms, about 300 meters from the beach. As soon as we got here, we started exploring the town. Even though it's the low season, there were people here! Not like Ko Lanta! We immediately went to our new favorite restaurant, Mama's Kitchen, where I had my new favorite food, Mango Sticky Rice. It is amazing. As I ate it and drank a Leo, with a view of giant limestone formations jutting out of the Andaman Sea, I was completely at peace. It's still hot, but the sea breeze completely relieves you. The water is over 80 degrees and the beach is beautiful. There are fun bars and restaurants lining the streets and alleys. Mom, there is even a Haagen Dazs shop!

After lunch we ventured down to the beach, where we swam and laid out a bit. When Matt started getting antsy, we took a walk down to the other end of the beach where we saw monkeys. On the beach. About three feet (and sometimes closer!) to us. Like, 50 of them. I am not exaggerating. We took tons of pictures and video and can't wait to share them with you. We went back to Mama's Kitchen for dinner. Although it was tempting to get sticky rice, I am trying to branch out, so I had Pad Thai, which was absolutely fantastic. We watched an amazing sunset while we ate and drank.

After dinner, we had a great experience...Thai kick-boxing! I had been hoping to do this, but we weren't in Bangkok on the right nights. While sitting at Mama's a van drove by announcing it was Thai kick-boxing night in Ao Nang. Life is perfect in Ao Nang and it seemed like everything was falling into place here. After our tuk tuk driver dropped us off at the arena, I was a bit surprised. I turned to Matt and said, "Wait, are these KIDS?" He said, "Uh, yeah." Apparently he knew this from his 2002 trip. He told me they start training at age 5, but I had no idea they started fighting so young. It was such a fantastic time...they have live "music" (I think it was an oboe/drum/gong trio) throughout the fights, and the local fans go nuts! We were in the cheap seats...the eighth row! The expensive seats are literally giant black leather couches that are ring-side. Nuts. And the fighters are ripped. The energy was great. Very exciting night for us.

The following day, we hired a longtail boat to take us out to some of the islands right off Krabi. We took a four-hour tour of Chicken Island, Railay Beach and Poda Island, which had...more monkeys. Matt got up close and personal with them again, as I kept my distance. It was such a pristine day; we enjoyed every second, and then made it back in time to get a four-pack of Leo and watch the sunset. The sunsets here are really picturesque. Such vibrant bright colors. They cap off the day making you feel that everything is as it should be. We finally gave up our loyalty to Mama's, where we had also eaten the morning's breakfast, and went to Dragon. I guess I am getting used to the food here because I hated the spring rolls. They were just like you would get in the US...nothing like what I had at Bulan. And my rice dish was not nearly spicy enough. Matt could not believe I put the entire dish of chili fish oil they provided into my food. I am really enjoying the food...way more than I would've thought.

We capped off the night at a Reggae Bar at the end of the alley near our guesthouse. Another perfect day in Ao Nang. We are getting sad that we'll be leaving soon, but are so happy for our time here. We would recommend Ao Nang to ANYONE. I can envision all of my different friends and family members loving it here...if you can stomach the long trip. It is like paradise. And, after all this time, the only way I will be crabby in Krabi is when we have to leave.