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Thailand, January 2006

We entered Thailand through the small port of Satun which we reached by boat from Lankawi Island in Malaysia. A couple of bumpy bus rides took us to Krabi where we stayed for a few days and explored the surrounding area.
 
view over river from Krabi seaview hotel Ashy and Sveta kayaking through limestone gorge Kayaking out of the mangroves

We stayed at the Krabi City Seaview Hotel - a place with a weird name because Krabi is more like a small town than a city and the sea is miles away. The hotel had a cracking river view, however, and was a very pleasant place to stay. Sveta had never been kayaking so we booked onto a day tour of some limestone gorges and mangrove forest. Lucky for us, no one else booked the tour and our group consisted of just us and our very freindly young guide. We explored the maze of waterways in near silence and saw sea-monitor lizards and crab-eating macaques up close. A fantastic day.

Ao nang beach with limestone karst islands View of Laem Phra Nang peninsula East Ria Leh beach with cliffs and mangroves
On the other days we explored nearby beaches. The first one above is Ao Nang, which has great views of some very interesting limestone karst islands but is otherwise a bit of a dump - a muddy, stony beach and millions of package tourists. Much better were the beaches of the Laem Phra Nang peninsula. The easiest way to get there is by boat and we set off from Krabi early in the morning to beat the crowds. The scenery there is truly spectacular, with sheer cliffs, mangroves and beautiful golden sand beaches.

©Ashy Macbean 2006