End of the Road

I had time for 3 more adventures in Railey Beach, Krabi and the surrounding area, and now I am just an hour away from heading to the Krabi airport for a short flight to Bangkok followed shortly thereafter by a 17 hour trek across the globe back to New York City.

After getting dropped off by the ferry from Ko Lanta at Railey Beach, I had an apparently short hike (probably 100 meters) to Ton Sai Beach where I was staying, which is right next to Railey, but separated by an ominous cliff that either requires a tough climb or a longtail boat during high tide, or a wade through the ocean during low tide. Luckily it was low tide, so with my large backpack and all, I was able to wade through the sea, over a bunch of rocks, and arrived safely at Ton Sai - mission accomplished - this trek back and forth was made several times (and I always refused to take the long tail) over the last several days, and was especially difficult during the darkness of night when the tide was high. Dark free climbing - gotta love it.

On my first day in Railey, I signed up for a half day Kayak trip, and what a trip it was. Just imagine kayaking on the North Fork of Long Island - except you are now surrounded by gigantic cliffs, mangrove forests, caves, and many many narrow passageways that required near perfect kayak navigation skills. Throw in the occasional monitor lizard, cobra (yes, those scary poisonous snakes, Kingfisher birds, tons of spider crabs, and upon further contemplation, the only thing this trip has in common with rowing through Long Island was the kayak itself. Oh, and I didn't even mention the monkeys - which were everywhere and quite aggressive. These monkeys took full advantage of he ability to laziness transport through the jungle by hopping onto the front of your kayak for a free lift. When I first saw a large group of them upon first entering the Mangroves, I opened my waterproof Oceansack bag that was provided for my use and removed my can of cashews in order to get my camera. As it turned out, taking out cashews in front of a group of monkeys is apparently not too bright of an idea, as I immediately had 3 monkeys jump onto my kayak and begin reaching for my nuts. I quickly put my camera and nuts back in my sack, and a monkey hand instantly reached his hand into my sack going right after my nuts! I was able to close the bag, and savage my nuts and camera - only to have a group of monkeys bear their teeth at me! Luckily, I was able to scare off the monkeys by waving my paddle in the air above their heads (a trick the kayak guide told us prior to departing). So, I avoided that crisis rabies-free with my nuts safely back in their sack where they stayed for the remainder of the expedition.

That night was Christmas Eve and parties were planned all throughout the beach. Xmas eve coincided with the Full Moon - which is typically enough of a reason to party in Thailand, so now we had 2 reasons - reason enough to party twice as hard as any other ordinary night in Thailand, which if you are in Thailand, you already have reason to celebrate. My resort had all sorts of activities planned - banquet buffet dinner, fireworks, fire shows, one of those ridiculous Thai cover bands that I love so much that sing American rock songs with the wrong words in Thai accents, and even a magic show. The magic show was doubly entertaining, with a bunch of fairly tame slight of hand trips, until it was time for the grand finale! - which required a volunteer from the audience. Obviously, I raised my hand (while jumping up and down on my chair), and was chosen. I was escorted onto stage by the superhotThai assistant dressed in a sexy Christmas eve outfit, and I was instructed to tie myself to the assistance with rope, chain, lock and key. Of course, I embellished this act by acting like a dirty old man who couldn't be happier about be tied to a hot girl, and got lots of laughs from the audience. After we were suitably attached to one another, we were placed under a curtain out of view, and the Thai assistance somehow untangled, untied, and unlocked herself from me (boo!), asked me to take off my shirt, which she then put on, and we were reviewed to the audience to much laughter and applause! After this, I danced and partied the night away, and slept to 2 PM the next day, and then got some more sun.

Which leads us to today - my last and final in Thailand, and my last and final adventure - rock climbing! Railey Beach is world renowned as one of the top places in the world to climb due to the great abundance of climbs, beautiful scenery, and lively beach scene. Many famous rock climbers often come to this area of Thailand. So, I tried my hands at climbing, and made it to the top of the three medium ranked climbs that we attempted with only minor cuts and bruises! It was all in good fun, and a great concluding adventure.
So, there we have it, I have successful completed my journey and now only the long travel home awaits me. I managed to do this pretty much exactly as I had planned, completing all my objectives, without injury, sickness, major delays or unplanned detours, or the lose of any personal artifacts - which is actually pretty rare considering the amount of stories I have heard about food poisoning, motorbike accidents, and other travel horror stories. Mission accomplished - case closed. I'll have more time to reflect on the journey home, but for now, I am happy and content and actually ready to get back to reality. I'm craving a juicy steak (the beef in Thailand is rough, chewy, and always overcooked), real coffee (powdered Instant Coffee is the typical standard here), and some NBA action (Soccer is the only sport I could find on TV) , so I would much appreciate it if these things can be arranged for me upon my return. Love you all and thanks for reading. While I don't promise it, I may post another entry or so with reflections upon my return to America.