Thailand Travel Log: Krabe

I'm home now, but spent the last part of my stay in Thailand in Ao Nang. This is a small resort town on the Indian Ocean in Krabe province. This was notably my first time to swim in the Indian Ocean, although there's no real difference between the Indian Ocean vs. the Atlantic or Pacific.

There really isn't too much narrative information to post about Krabe. The pictures will play well once I get them on line, but the time was spent swimming, snorkeling, eating, and drinking, for the most part.

There were a few sailboats in the area, but not too many. I suppose that Thailand is fairly out of the way for those that cruise around the world, but I think it is probably worth a stop. There appeared to be very good anchorages, and the water was always calm in the days that we were there. Prices were right. I had a tuna sandwich, large plate of fries, and three beers for the equivalent of $4 and change.

The topography was unlike any I've seen. Islands tend to be huge limestone towers, which jut up steeply from the water. Kayaking through them was like hiking through a canyon. There were spots where cliffs with stalactites hung down over the kayak menacingly. There were also caves that you could float right into, but for some reason, it was just too creepy (not to mention potentially dangerous) to go into them alone.

Here's one amusing story: The place that we stayed had one of those bars that you could swim up and order food and drinks. Mom went up the last afternoon and ordered an ice cream sundae, which of course, Americans pronounce "sun-di." The Thai bartender looked puzzled. Mom repeated the order, and he continued to not understand. When she pointed it out on the menu, he actually corrected her English: "That's Sun-Day."

The other amusing thing that I wanted to point out is that the Thai word for "cat" is "meow." How perfect is that? It's like their Webster equivalent went ahead and asked a cat, "What kind of animal are you?" Unfortunately, the word for dog is not "woof," and the word for elephant is not "aarannnnngh."