Marc & Nora ROUND THE WORLD 2005/2006 - Join us!

30th September 2005

Nora writes:
Having been to most islands in Thailand already in 2001 and 2003 (when I was working here) Krabi was a place i have never made it to. It is famous for its magnificent limestone rocks along and in the sea...
...so we definitely wanted to check it out!
we were meant to be picked up at 8am in the morning for a transfer to krabi...
...with the usual 20 minutes delay we were picked up and 2,5 hours later we arrived in krabi. from there we took a sangthaew (local bus or better pick-up taxi) to ao nang bay. checked in at J's Hotel (J's mansion where we wanted to go originally was full up). it is very clean, got huge rooms with air con, fan, fridge and tele...for 300 baht! (4 pounds/6 euros...)
Ao Nang is quite nice but very different to anything we both have seen before. it is very clean and there is a boulevard along the beach which looks like any Spanish coastal resort somehow...
the beach is shelly (tiny tiny pieces of shells - so very soft) and the water quiet with a few small waves (nice change to koh lanta where there were either huge waves or low tide...)
the weather was perfect (33`C), blue sky so we laid down at the beach. a massage girl came over and convinced us to have a massage later one...
this sounds lovely, huh? a bit boring too?
well, i can change that!
after marc has been for a swim i decided to refresh myself in the water....the water was very shallow as there was low tide and i walked and walked until the water reached my hips...then i dived in...
...i just started enjoying myself in the water when i had this horrible stingy pain all over my legs and belly...
...ouch!!! bloody hell!!! whats that? go away whatever you are...my hands got into the water to defend myself but i just felt thousands of stings - like needles....
...i kind of rushed back to the shore...i was in such pain...could see people at the beach pointing at me as my walking style must have been rather funny (limping, holding my legs, scratching, limping, jumping into the air in pain, holding my legs, limping...)
however, the man i wanted to see me and to help me (remark: MARC!) didnt look up - too exciting was his book...
...when i finally arrived i saw that both my legs and parts of my belly were covered in blisters....
...what the hell is that? it f**** hurts! JELLYFISH!!!! never had one before, never want one again!!!
the thai massage lady saw me and called me over saying she has something to reduce the pain...
...after getting some thai herbs over the affected area (and a pineapple because i have been such a brave soldier...) i felt better...
....1 hour later and the blisters were gone but my leg was still red with hundreds of little spots...
..but i neverheless had a massage...a kind of treat after this painful experience...

1st October 2005
had a sleep in...when we got up it drizzled a bit but soon after the sky has cleared up again. went to the beach but DID NOT go into the water (what a surprise)
my leg is ok, hardly any evidence from yesterday's jellyfish attack!
had another thai massage - it was great!
NOTE:
For travellers who are/go to Krabi and want to get a fantastic thai massage and can cope with some pain (very very strong but fantastic at the same time) go to the end of the beach in AO NANG and you see the bar "the last fisherman". behind that are some massage huts (all outside facing the sea)
go to number two and ask for oy and pen!
pen gives fantastic massages (1hour thai massage for 200 baht) - ask for a thai massage, then u get a hard one without oil, otherwise take a smooth oil massage (same price)

people in krabi are actually really really nice!!! people try to sell you stuff but in a really polite manner! no hassling, no pressure...everybody smiles everybody is happy...what a change after busy bangkok where almost everybody tries to rip you off and after samui which has become so commercial.
every hour at the beach we receive fresh pineapples from the massage girls at the beach...for free! how nice!
we will move on tomorrow to check out some other beaches around the corner which are only accessible by boat. (longtail boat)
plan to do some rock-climbing as well on these great rocks!
our original plan to do an open water diving course has been postponed...
we got a great offer in samui (as i was former hotel staff) but we decided NOT to stay but instead travel to koh lanta and krabi and do it there...
unfortuntaly the andaman sea is rather rough right now and the visibility is bad...(remark: koh samui and koh tao are located in the gulf of thailand) apart from that most diving schools in koh lanta were closed due to low season and the ones open looked rather dodgy...
...i also want to check my ear out before doing it as i was not given a diving permission by the nasty austrian ear specialist...
...had a tiny go though on the beach in samui and went down to 5m - without any problems.
best place to go diving right now is koh tao (next to samui) but we both dont really fancy to travel all the way up again or to delay our flight to perth...
it is a bit of a stupid situation as we both want to do the course and it is much much cheaper to do the open water padi in thailand than it is in australia...
...but we also want to enjoy doing the 4day course and having no visibility here would be not that great! so i guess we have no other choice than paying the little bit extra - but we also get more for it - e.g swim with great white sharks...