Having only used Krabi as a whistle stop, I had no idea what to expect. I found myself downtown not long before sun set. I dumped my kit at a guesthouse and started exploring.
The view from Krabi town.
Just off the wharf, I could see the mangrove swamps. I started talking with a boatman, trying to negotiate a good deal for a private tour. Just then, my phone rang. I was Pannee. Despite the fact she knew I left Hatyai, and despite her almost total lack of English skills, she called me. I struggled with her for a few minutes, and then handed the phone to the boat captain, asking him to act as interpreter.
The long and short of it is that she wanted to come see me in Krabi. Huh? I couldn’t get a clear signal from this girl any time we were together, now she wants to travel with me? Ahh, but it gets more interesting. She wants to bring her brother and niece/nephew. I told my new friend that that wasn’t practical. He passed the message on and gave me her response; she would come alone and could take the first bus in the morning. Sheesh! I decided to pass as I didn’t expect to spend very long here. A pity she hadn’t shown more interest the day before. Oh well.
After we concluded the call, and my captain decided that I was a sanuker, he offered to take me to the local brothel area. I had no doubt that girls could be found in Krabi, I just didn’t know where. He ended up missing our appointment, so I satisified myself with a couple of ice-cold Slurpees from the 7-11 (I’d become addicted to the damn things recently).
The next day I rented a bike and checked out the local beaches. What I like about Krabi is the fact that you see very few tourists on the beach. This is a Thai holiday destination. However, there are plenty of hotels and boutiques catering to Western tastes. I think the Thais like it because the water is so shallow.
Thais play in the water.
The next day, I bid goodbye to Krabi and caught the boat to Phi Phi. I was pretty sure I’d once decided never to go back, but the snorkeling around the islands are just too good to pass up. The boat was, naturally, crawling with Westerners; mostly Euopean.
A Euro-babe catches some sun on the boat deck..
Having been to Phi Phi before, I knew not to go with any of the touts crawling around the wharf like crabs waiting to see what the tide had left behind, but strode off into the interior where the cheap accommodations could be had. Cheap accommodations? Prices have gone up in the past two years. Where I used to stay for 200THB/night had been torn down and a new development was in its place. There was new construction everywhere. The cheapest place I could find was 500THB/night. <sigh>
Walking down the main path, it’s about 10 Farang for every Thai.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, no. You have to bring your own girl to Phi Phi … unless, of course, you can nail a Euro babe (which happens quite a lot, as it turns out).
There are very few Thais on Phi Phi, or so it would seem. It’s simply overrun with backpacking Farangs. I tried to organize some people to rent a long boat and spend the day snorkeling. It’s a lot cheaper than going with one of the package tours, but only if you can scare up a few more people. It was my bad luck that I found only drinkers, no swimmers.
So, I joined the other sheep and signed up for a one-day tour. It ended up being quite nice, very social event and excellent timing for the snorkeling. There were also a couple of knockout babes on board.
Oh, how I love water sports.
One girl, I’m sorry to report, was on her honeymoon. She didn’t have a swimsuit, only her Victoria’s Secret bra and panties set. I kid you not. She was so well built that she could have stood in for any of the models in that catalog (not that I spend a lot of time reading that, mind you). Two others of note were a couple of Israeli babes who pretty much kept to themselves. The larger of the two was incredibly well endowed. I may have to make a pilgrimage to the holy land some day.
Cruisin’ Israeli babes.
On my last day on Phi Phi, I woke before dawn and headed to the beach for some sunrise shots. Out on the wharf, a young couple was standing together in a most romantic pose. By the time I had finished my pictures and heading back, there were necking up a storm. I was quite sure they’d be goin’ at it in any minute. After I walked past, they broke up and started along the path I was walking. They said goodbye, engaged in another slobbery kiss and split. I hung back a bit because the girl was going my way. As she passed, she asked me if I knew where a particular hotel was located. “Sure,” I said and engaged her in conversation. She was cute, young, friendly and either a bit stoned or a bit drunk. She’d been up all night.
She told me she loved swimming in the morning. I suggested a dip and she agreed. “Hmm, this could get interesting, Wombat.” She had to get her suit, so I agreed to meet her in front of her resort hotel. Had we been in a more secluded setting, I’m convinced she would have gone for a skinny dip with me.
I went to my room, changed, and dashed back to the beach, getting lost when I tried to take a short cut. She was already in the water by the time I returned. We spent a good hour lounging around and man I was playing this girl for all I could. I was convinced that the stars were in alignment just so I could nail this twenty-year old Norwegian. It may be just as well I didn’t as my ego would probably have achieved critical mass and I’d have exploded. She was tired and thought her boyfriend (who was not, by the way, the guy with whom I saw her tongue wrestling) was wondering where she was. She hugged me goodbye, a kiss on the cheek and dashed off through the trees.
Well, it was time to fill my boots in Phuket. I got cleaned up, packed my kit and headed for the ferry. On the boat, I chatted with another sunbathing beauty.
Another sun tanner.
She was a twenty-two year old Swede on her way to meet her friends at the airport. She told me that she had spent the past six weeks in Thailand. “Cool!” I said, “Where’d you go?” Only Phi Phi; she’d spent six weeks in Thailand and never got further than Phi Phi. I couldn’t believe it. It turns out that she was with a bunch of girls from Sweden. They’d all fallen in love with a bunch of Thai musicians playing on Phi Phi and decided to stay. Some of them, she told me, have actually started researching the option for moving to Thailand. So, gentlemen, it appears the bread is also buttered on the other side! Or what goes around comes around. Or when the cat’s away … or some other philosophical platitude. You know what I mean.
Next port of call: Phuket town!