Koh Kradan

On route to Krabi, I successfully flagged down a taxi and got to the right airport! Priya and I were going to go to breakfast, but I was able to get a hold of Mason, so we skyped! Very exciting ! Once at the airport, I did some “errands;” I stopped by the post office, dropped off post cards, got cash and small bills for while I’m down south and got breakfast, a fruit plate that was amazing because the fruit down here has just been delicious and then a sandwich to throw in a bag for later. I have a long day of traveling ahead of me!
I have not had internet while on Koh Kradan, an island in the Trang Sea on the western coast of Thailand, although I will describe my week there (it doesn’t take much, it was very low key!). Leaving Bangkok, I flew to Krabi where I then took an airport bus to the bus station in town. From there I was the only passenger to get off and was asked where I was going. Trang. I was immediately put on another busride that took 2 hours. Once I arrived in Trang, I took a tuktuk to the minibus station. After waiting an hour, I crammed in an older Toyota van for another hour to get to Koh Muk Pier where I would be taking a long tail to Koh Kradan. I found myself frequently repeating “Kalume Village Koh Kradan” many times in order to ensure I was going to the correct place. It was windy, and the sea choppy. I got splashed by the salt water several times. Then sun was going down and when we arrived on Koh Kradan we were at Paradise Lost Resort. Wrong place. No one was around and I ran up and down the beach to see if there was somehwere else. The driver was texting on his phone and I gave him the number of Kalume Village. He called, and we put my backpacks back onto the boat and headed down the beach. I arrived at Kalume Village where there were 3 Thai people there. The person who I was supposed to meet had left and was coming by the following day. I ate a silent meal, listening to small Thai conversation before finding myself in bed when the generator was turned off. I stayed in a bamboo hut, 25 strides from the beach, with a hammock on the front porch that looked out at the turquoise water. Not bad! I woke up in the mornings to take walks on the beach, swim, and then kill time by reading “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” by David Sedaris, doing Sudoku puzzles and studying Hindi. I had a lot of Jackie time, which I didn’t quite know what to do with. The owners did come the following day, but were working on figuring out restoration projects due to the last storm, and left that night to come back the following day. I did get awesome pictures, quite a nice shell collection, and some fairly prominent tanlines while on my own. Before the owners arrived to stay for good, I had silent meals with the Thai workers who lived on the island for what I presume to be yearround. I did however over the week appreciate the environment I was in, and it was much better once the Italian owners came. Social interaction was possible with people who spoke English! Although they did often have conversations amongst one another, it was nice to be included periodically, and they were so nice! Also, they knew what to do on the island, and I went snorkeling on the reef just off the beach, and hiked to the other side of the island to Sunset Beach where waves crashed in like off the Pacific Coast, and there was a boulder with really a ladder that I went to the top of. During the week, I ate fresh seafood everyday. From crab, various types of fish, to squid and calamari. The cook there was spectacular. I was going to go to Rai Leh, an area with great climbing, but decided against it because I did not want to get stranded and would be terribly disappointed if I was not able to climb. It is the rainy season techincally, and I didn’t know how the weather had been a little north. Another reason to come back to Thailand, besides enjoying their beautiful beaches and food. I had a flight to catch on Saturday, and the owners were going to the mainland, Pak Meng, Friday night for a friend’s birthday party which I was invited to. I went knowning that they would be able to set me the right direction in the morning to catch my afternoon flight, and I was at least on the mainland, so I cut out at least an hour of transport time. Also it was great because even though I paid for the place to stay for the night, I saved massive on transport because I went with a group of people to the mainland. So really, everything is working out about the same! I got too much money out before I left for Krabi, but I’ll just exchange it in Nepal. I figured better to have too much than not enough!

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/allen.jackiem/KohKradan?authkey=Gv1sRgCLKynrS6kp2W6QE&feat=directlink

the internet I am using is being slow, so I will update the pictures once I'm in Nepal or the airport