North of the Border Krabi Day2

There were posters that claimed "Breakfast will be served at 7.00 am."

I was looking forward for some authentic Continental Breakfast, but____?

By the time we passed by the town, the only shop opened was a Thai hawker. We had our fill of Thai Breakfast and coffee while Zen had her half boiled eggs-say that in Thai?

After the meal, we strolled on to the beach. In the morning the sea was usually very calm, the tourist were not out yet.

Here you can see a row of long tail boats parked on the beach besides the jetty in Ton Sai Bay.

1 Good time for a group photo

2 First at the beach! Too early "Long tails" were waiting for the day's bussiness

3 Lohdallum Bay - white silvery sands

4 Lohdallum Bay - white silvery sands

Phi Phi Lay Here we come!

5 On the way out to the next Island - Phi Phi Lay

6 On the way out to Phi Phi Lay

Anyway, we met up and became the first tourist to go out to sea that morning. It was a beautiful morning, cool, calm sea and blue skies when we left Phi Phi Don! The unmistakeable shape in the background.

The beautiful scenery we left behind in Phi Phi Don was to allow us to see better views in this rocky outcrop - Phi Phi Lay!

The drawbridge into the cave was still raised when we arrived. This is to prevent any unauthorized entry into the cave at night.

7 Upon arrival, another long tail boat came alongside with workers servicing tourist at the Viking Caves.

8 The iconic ancient paintings on cave walls

9 The iconic ancient paintings on cave walls

It suited us fine. Being the first customers, we had the opportunity to compose our photographs without getting into the crowd’s way. Something new had been added since my last visit, there were a couple of new bundles of bamboo poles for tourist to try their climbing skills.

10 Without hesitation FK display his hidden talent.

Very soon the crowd started arriving and we had our fill of pictures. We waited for a while for the guide to explain the evidences in the caves of ancient mariners. Did the Vikings land in Thailand! From the profiles of the boats, the drawings depict of vessels in the early 1700's.

11 Next stop - Pi-Leh Cove!

We ran out luck, the water level was too low for the boat to enter the cove and we had to forgo this beautiful sight.

The boat continued round the tiny island and in a short time we were on the western side of the island, in the Lohsamah Bay.

11 Now at the Lohsammah Cove

The parking area was well shaded from the rising sun by tall cliffs. With some coaxing the lone diver FK jumped into the clear water.

Zen and myself sat in the boat and started composing our favorite shots. It didn’t take long for the many boats to start joining us. The traffic that built up and the swells from the boat traffic began altering what was earlier a calm bay.

12 Now at the Lohsammah Cove

If FK didn’t come back soon, Zen and me would start throwing out.

He took his time while we were praying that he had enough. The long wait was finally over when he boarded the boat to report his find-2 shell fishes.

13 At last the famous Maya Bay

Off we went to our final stop- Maya bay. This is the place - visitor would feed the fishes and those "must" do snorkeling would stop by.

Maya Bay - The sand there was superb. Fine, the beach is smooth as silk and with very little rubbish.

14 At last the famous Maya Bay

15 At last the famous Maya Bay

On that day and by 11.00 am the number of boats anchored in the bay and parked on the beach were frightening large! We decided that we would throw FK down in the middle of the bay then Zen and myself in the boat would head for the sandy beach. That’s what we did. We took out our little lunch packets and filled our stomach or rather Zen found the gelatinous rice rather hard and I had to finish her share.

16 At last the famous Maya Bay

17 At last the famous Maya Bay

18 At last the famous Maya Bay

19 At last the famous Maya Bay

She bought the Nasi Lemak from this lady and also the chicken liver that she didn't like very much!

In the meantime FK had reached the shore to join us. That was all for the morning and we returned to Phi Phi Don at 11.30 am. Our targeted time of departure is 2.30pm. We figured out that the break would give us ample time to finish our remaining chores such as bathing, last minute shopping, going over to Lohdallum Bay for some photographic sessions. We did! But the tide was out.

The final moments turn out to be mad rush including a mere 10 minutes for lunch and me, missing my chance to collect some coral sands. We made it to the boat on time.

This ferry was crowded. You can gauge from the huge stack of luggage and the closeness the crowd bundled up on the open deck.

This time around Zen took to the open deck with us. You can see that she and FK were the only persons hiding inside the towels. The journey back was equally pleasant and also the end of our sea journey, no strong winds and no rough seas.

20 We were on board heading back to Krabi

Back to Krabi it was back to hotel hunting, and we finally ended up in the hotel that I dreaded. This time around the owners had renovated the place and the rooms were lovable. The hotel personnel reminded us there would be a filming session in town center from 6.00pm till midnight that evening. Anyway we unpacked our belongings, cleaned up and headed for Ao Prang Nang.

These beaches as it always was, full of vacationers. Ao Prang Nang is a springboard for the boat to take visitors to the out lying islands.

Taking the coastal road we moved on to the adjourning local beaches of Hat Nopparat Tharat. These other beaches projected a shadier atmosphere and with couple of limestone islands offshore are scenic.

21 Without doubt we would never miss the Fossil beach.

From the beaches we headed for the star attraction of Krabi, the "Fossil Beach". This time around the tide played havoc; most of the fossils were under water. That didn’t prevent us seeing traces of it and our attempt to raid Krabi of its natural heritage. That was a joke we were making, seeing the huge amount of publicity and protection the Government had accorded to the place.

22 Taking the 4 Islands Tour Package. Here the Chicken Island

23 This is the biggest Tree Found in the enclave ofthe Forest Monk

24 The descending stair way into the sanctuary

25 The esplanade in Krabi. back drop the Mouse Island

26 The Bill board

27 See what they offered in the market - Baked Horseshoe Crab

28 The "Pasar Malam" of Krabi Town

29 The Morning market

Back in town by 6.00pm the crowd had started building up. The main streets were cordoned off and the filming crew was running all over the place setting up the stages.

30 The huge prop made into a stage

Anybody remembered seeing this shrine in the heart of Krabi town? Anyway, this prop was dismantled soon after the Movie was completed. Good that This picture was made as a souvenir.

Rather than hearing from the Thai, we inquired from the crew as to which movie the filming that was been made.

31 We saw the filming in action and that was Leonardo Himself. What a co-incidence

We were more interested in the activities that were going on rather getting a glimpse of the celebrities! Anyway, he wouldn't stay still to allow me the chance for a clean shot. Poor guy did that same walk for more than half an hour!

It was the controversial picture "The Beach" and "Is the leading actor Leonardo D’Carprio appearing tonight?"

Oh Yes! I found out from a Swedish teenager that the plot surround a Richard who has found this unknown beach with French actress Jeannie Delion acting as François and a rival Michelle.

The problem then was how would the 3 of us meet up again for dinner?

Krabi is not such a big town, 2 main streets. This is scene from the daily night market!

True enough, very soon we bumped into one another. Dinner was horseshoe crab and plenty of weird looking dessert.

We retired early only to be woke up in the middle of the night by the noises created by the dispersing crowd.

Khong's Travel Guide