by Azure

We flew to Krabi from Singapore. It felt really good to be out on our own again. We had been to Krabi for a night in 2006 on our way to Koh Lanta and decided to spend a few nights there this time around. We rented a scooter and drove northish out of town and hooked back around to some of the beaches. We were immediately struck by the dramatic beauty of the area. Large treed cliffs rise out of the horizon in every direction and the roads are lined with rubber tree plantations, that give a dark, eerie feel to the drive even in the daylight. (read more photos)

by Mike

Kids playing in the surf – near Krabi, Thailand.

(more photos)

On Sunday, after taking care of a bunch of stuff having to do with stolen credit card information, Az and I flew out of Singapore and directly to Krabi, Thailand. In my first email from Singapore I compared the city to India. That was completely wrong. Singapore is more like a huge shopping mall, with banks here and there. Neither of us liked it much, but when we got to Thailand there were better associations… the smell of burning trash (really, it’s good), mangy dogs (not as good), poorly lit roads… I guess that kind of stuff is growing on me.

We stayed in Krabi only one night and caught a boat to Ko Lanta, aka Hot Lanta – it’s an island off the west coast of Thailand with a really nice beach that was damaged by the tsunami but is back up and running. We’re staying in a bungalow just off the beach, being lazy to start the trip. Sea Pearl is the name of the bungalow operator – I think they have a website if you want to look it up.

Every night at about dusk (6:30ish) the air gets really heavy and you see a charcoal colored cloud suddenly appear over the mountain in the middle of the island, to the East. The first night we saw the clouds and watched as a thick sheet of rain broke over the peak and slid down the hillside until it finally reached us, spilling onto us and the beach around. It was a DOWNPOUR, and it was so much fun. We were sitting in an outside hut-thing, so we were covered and lounging on pillows for the entirety.

Each night this kind of thing has happened, followed immediately by a long lightning storm, flickers to the north and south while we just sit and sip drinks or eat or whatever, thunder rumbling the entire time. The smell of the rain is great. During the days it’s hot but sometimes cloudy.

The food here has been exceptional. Green curry with fish, fish krari (?), pad thai, naan with indian veggie curry, bannana & pineapple pancakes… just about every meal we’ve had on the island has been jaw-dropping good. My staple is the mango smoothie – just mango pieces blended with ice. I probably drink 3 or 4 a day.

Here are the things I’m thankful for, on Thanksgiving:
1) Mango shakes.
2) Cheap massages
3) Azure & my family
4) Mike Washes Windows & my health
5) Windows
6) Huskies winning the Apple Cup
7) Best case scenarios – and the fact that they exist only in the future.

Thank you to anyone who’s written emails, I love reading them even if I haven’t had time to respond.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mike