We're all moving to Thailand!

Sarah, Nick, and I went to Krabi, Thailand for a long weekend. It was... amazing. As soon as we arrived, we joked about never leaving. On Friday night in Krabi Town we stayed in a typical backpacker hostel with 10 beds per room and lots of smelly Irish boys. We got Pad Thai and Chang beers at the night market on the river, then explored the downtown area and stumbled upon a hilarious local music competition. We ended the night in the hostel bar, where we met a group of folks from England just returning from Chiang Mai. They were taking full advantage of the "free shot for singing karaoke."  

Krabi night market

After a 5am bed time, we slept late on Saturday morning and grabbed a pickup truck taxi over to the Ao Nang pier. From there, the only way to our ultimate destination, Tonsai, was by longtail boat. They are called longtails because the prop is attached directly to the inboard engine by a long driveshaft. To turn, the driver shoves the enormous, noisy engine back and forth, which moves the "tail" and the propeller.

Longtails at the Ao Nang pier

Our fearless captain

Tonsai is on the mainland, but separated from any roads by high limestone cliffs on three sides and the Andaman Sea on the fourth. It's a sheltered nook with no vehicles and no power lines (all electricity is run by generator, which is on from about 6pm to 6am each night). Tonsai is tiny, so it was easy to wander up and down the beach and the one road to find a place to stay.

Walking down Tonsai beach

Limestone cliffs surrounding Tonsai

We found a bungalow - suitable for my standards at ~$3 a night, but one too many cockroaches for Sarah's liking - and spent the day exploring the beach. We ventured through the jungle to Railay, the next town over. It's a little more touristy (i.e.: the bathrooms have toilet paper) because the beach is nicer for swimming and sunbathing. We played in the waves, wandered the peninsula watching the crazy troop of monkeys in the trees, and explored Phra Nagn cave. Phra Nagn, AKA the "penis cave," is exactly how it sounds. It's essentially a shrine to fertility, decorated with at least a hundred wooden penises of varying sizes and designs. Local women come to the cave in hopes of increasing their fertility - I stayed far away.

Railay beach

Monkeys everywhere! And not shy at all

Yep... those are supposed to be penises.

Sarah on Phra Nang beach

As of now, Tonsai seems to have escaped the tourist crowds. There are no cheesy shops selling trinkets and t-shirts, just a few very cheap bars and restaurants. This is probably because the beach is a bit rocky and covered with pieces of coral, and everything seems to cater to climbers (not known for their expensive taste). I ate some seriously amazing coconut curry and had a mango mojito at the Sunset Bar next door. Courtesy of the friendly bartenders, we tried a couple types of vodka: one steeped for a year in the roots of a local tree, and the other steeped in a jar containing a cobra and a scorpion. They were... interesting. I released sky lanterns, listened to a really fantastic guitar duo, got my butt kicked at pool by Nick, held the tiniest kitten I've ever seen, and failed horribly at a variety of wooden puzzles. Sarah even got dragged behind the bar to serve drinks. All in all, one of the best nights of the adventure thus far!

Can you spot the scorpion and snake?

Bright and early on Sunday morning (after another night of 3-4 hours of sleep and a breakfast of Ritz crackers and something resembling a Twinkie), we took a longtail out to one of the many limestone towers jutting out of the ocean. From there, you can dive off the boat in your bathing suit and climbing shoes, swim right up to the wall, and climb as high as you want (or can) up the cliff. I've only been climbing a handful of times, but this was far and away the best experience. There's no fear because you will only fall into beautiful, warm water. Well, actually there is a little fear - sometimes the handhold you reach for is already inhabited by a crab!

Nick making his way up

Two climbers on the wall!

Sunday afternoon turned into a full on tropical storm, so we took shelter in a cafe and waited for the longtails to start running again. After the storm let off a bit, we waded out to the boat through chest deep waves with our bags above our heads. We met Michelle from Holland during the trip back to Ao Nang. She's just a few weeks into her yearlong adventure around the world - solo! She led us back to a hostel near town and we all went out to dinner and to watch the Holland vs. Mexico World Cup game.

Monday morning we chanced upon a bus going to Krabi airport for only 150 baht. We luckily made our 11:50am flight (we all thought it was at 11:20am, which we would have missed). We also managed to have just enough baht left over to buy Oreos and a water bottle in the airport. Great success.

Thailand is all about kittens and crazed joy

(I think this is the only facial expression I made all weekend.)

We were a little depressed on the flight home. The only bad thing about the trip: it reinforced for the nth time my dislike of cities. Singapore is just too clean and bright and busy for me; I'm out of my element! Now I have the travel bug and want to get out of town every weekend. So... we're all moving to Thailand.

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PS - I don't want y'all to think I don't do any work in the lab. After we got back around 4pm on Monday I went into work until 10pm! It's just not super exciting to write about. I'll be sure to include a post soon with some figures and a description of my project (feel free to skip reading that one).

PPS - Thanks to Sarah for the photos of me in this post!