Krabs...

Krabi is only really a port town that acts as a gateway to Phang Nga bay; an enourmous expanse of water that contains hundreds of small uninhabited islands and limestone rock formations that rise from the sea a random.

We stayed further up the coast, in a place called Ao Nang which, judging by the amount of fmilies/old people/normal suitcases we saw, seems to be a regular holiday destination. Athough I don't think I'd recommend it for a 2 week package break, it was quite nice to be back in civilization for a couple of days, and Kerri was exceptionally excited about her first hot shower in 3 weeks!

We took a tour of a few local islands by longtail boat and did a bit of sea-kayaking and snorkeling. It was about this time that Kerri was warned of the dangers of Sea Urchins by our guide. Subsequently I have been banned from saying the words "Sea Urchins!"in a Thai accent through my snorkel as, for reasons best known to herself, it immediately sends Kerri into several minutes of hysterical yet silent laughter.

We also took a trip to James Bond Island, the secret base of Scaramanger in The Man With the Golden Gun. The same day we visited a waterfall, some sacred caves and a "floating village" which, apart from not actually floating (it was actually on stilts) was a tourist trap and complete shithole.

At one point 2 girls came up to us and literally threw 2 monkeys at me, they then took the camera from Kerri and started snapping me. This all happened very quickly and as the girls became distracted by some Germans behind us, we took the opportunity to make our escape. It was far from a clean getaway as one girls spotted us aqnd chased after us demanding 100 baht for the privalage of holding a monkey for 10 seconds. Clearly she had no chance, I played the confusion card and started bartering for the sale of one of her monkeys. This worked a treat and before long she was successfully shooed away with a payoff equivalent to about 6 pence.

The next day we decided to lave Ao Nang and headed cross country for the Gulf of Thailand. After 2 busses and a ferry we arrived n the island of Koh Samui some 12 hours later. We fully expected to be greeted by the usual throng of room touts waiting to whisk us off to a bungalow somewhere. But nobody was there, so there we stood, at the end of the pier, wondering what to do.

And then the rain came...