Koh Hong And Environs, 1

On January 16th we did the day-long cruise to Hong Island and environs, a couple other islands. For most all the cruises in the area, you can go on traditional long-tail boat (more about which anon), speed boat, or larger craft. We chose the former, along with seven other couples (one Norwegian, six German: the name of the firm was Krabi Specialisten), and a crew of three...guide, assistant, and pilot. It was all actually excellent, except for getting in and out of the rolling boat, down the ladder, into the water, etc.

Our route, the upper left; actually we did the lower right a
couple days later in a privately chartered craft; but that's
another post

Tour guide and assistant and others

And we're off!

About a 30 minute ride to these islands

Landing first at Hong Island, beach and national park entrance

We have been warned; I noticed Vicki had requested top floor in booking our
room at Krabi; seemed wise especially in view of the Philippine volcano now
threatening to explode

Helpful map

We headed for a shaded portion of the beach and set up there; this is what you do on
these cruises...go out to "uninhabited" islands, lie on the beach for an hour, then
go to the next "uninhabited" island and lie on the beach or maybe snorkel; rinse,
repeat, etc. You are not alone.

About five minutes of lying on the beach was more than enough for us, so we
opted instead for the national park nature trail, 500 meters long; it was exciting
enough

So there we were, walking along, minding our own business, when I heard Vicki
scream; she had almost stepped on the tail of this 7 foot long water monitor; he
starred at us for a while, brandished his scary tongue, we took pix, and finally he
moved off the trail...

Helpful signage on down the trail

Big cave/overhang, where some 50 injured survivors of the 2004 tsunami were
brought

Stalactites, stalagmites, and columns are common all around these islands, by
no means limited to caves; another limestone wonderland

Returning to the beach to pack up

Us, there

Hong Island is famous for its interior tidal lagoon, through this narrow inlet; water
too low for our boat, but we'd return later

So we headed off at high speed for the next set of islands; the turbulence in the
water is the propeller, at the the end of a 20 foot or so drive shaft: thus, long-tail
boat

Piloting the long-tail boat: the engine--typically an old car or truck engine--is
mounted on a swivel; here, our pilot is controlling the direction of the tail with
his right foot, the level of the propeller in the water with left hand, the throttle
(a string attached to the engine throttle) with his right hand

Heading for these islands; and lunch

On To Krabi

Our last full day in Bangkok was part administrative, part exploration of the Thong Lor district (poor advice from a guide book), and part jet-lag recovery. On January 14, we packed up, indulged ourselves in the Marriott/Aloft breakfast, took a cab to Suvarnabhumi, and jetted to our next destination, Krabi, on the southwest Thai coast. Sun and fun and...long-tail boats and karsts.

One of the nicer breakfast spreads we've seen, both Asian and western

On approach to Krabi, aboard Thai Airways, one of the perennially top ten
airlines in the world

I think their perennially high rating must be based on international flights...

Yum...who could resist hot tuna and mayonnaise?! Interestingly (I checked),
there are no US carriers in the top 40, although eight are in the top 100...so much
for American exceptionalism

A forty minute shuttle took us from Krabi airport to our hotel, the Holiday Inn
Express at Ao Nang beach

 

Standard Thai housekeeping welcome

 

Including, day-time, a view of the beach, across the street, through the trees;
already feeling smarter

Next morning stroll along the low-tide beach; the karsts out there in the Andaman
Sea are what interests us about the area

Later in the day, walking up toward the western end of Ao Nang beach

Beyond the promontory is Railay Beach, which we'll visit in a few days

Obligatory sunset pix...

Khaosan Road And Return

Khaosan Road was another bit of Bangkok we did not see in 2008, and, as one of the world's great backa-packa ghettos, it was something I wanted to see. It's also the last stop on the hop-on/hop-off boat. And no, we did not see a ping-pong show.

Khaosan Road itself is less than a kilometer long, but the roads leading to it from
the river are pretty much the same scene

Did the Dude visit Thailand? We know he smoked Thai stick...

Are we back in Edinburgh?! No, it's the Golden Johnnie Walker

Restaurant decor

The Google Maps route to Khaosan Road led through this
and other interesting alleys

Finally, we are there

Grilled scorpion anyone?

Maybe some crocodile roti?

Well, one out of four isn't bad

On the return up the river

Wat Pho

Wat Arun

The IconSiam shopping center

Stunning place, Bangkok