Transiting in Bangkok was different. Three different lots of queues, but no big dramas. Wifi needs a password but no one tells you that you have to go to an information desk to get it. Note to self. Remember for next time. Consequently I bitch and moan to myself about the lack of connection. Oh well, nothing new.
My flight to Krabi was in a virtually empty plane which again bounced all over the runway on landing, just like the others. This plane was also clunky and sounded as though bits were falling off all over the show. We arrived and so did my bag, so all good. No issues about not having had bag cleared in Bangkok. They dont care.
With bag in tow I go straight to the arrivals hall where I see signs for taxis, shuttles and tuktuk. The shuttle was 150baht, the taxi 600. I ask when the shuttle leaves and am told 10 minutes. That's me so I pay and go to wait. The 10 minutes passes and I am the only one in the queue. Everyone else is being collected by their hotel. I didn't even think about it, so used as I am, to making my own way. I ask nicely when the shuttle will be coming. 5 minutes I am told. I wait.
10 minutes are up and I ask "what time is the shuttle coming" pointing to my watch. He tells me shuttle on stand by... Yes but what time will it be coming. The conversation continues along these lines for a while and he refuses to answer. I ask if he understands the question and point at my watch. Long and short of it is that I go back to the counter and without question they give me my money back. And they tell us westerners that we should not get angry with the locals as they take offence. Hello who was the rude and angry one.... Half an hour later and I pay the 600 baht and a very nice cabbie comes along and takes me to the door of my hotel at Aonang Beach...
The AoNang PhiPi Maan resort is lovely. Two lovley muslim ladies welcome me and get me settled. A lovely big room, double doors onto my own private deck, super bathroom that smells of sewerage but I figure that it will pass and I am not changing rooms. The smell doesn't go away but the room is so nice and quiet I am not going anywhere.
After a quick walk through the town, I grab some supplies, buy an ice cream and return to my room. Quite perplexed by this place. I had not expected it to be as touristy as it was. It is exactly the sort of place I hate and have sworn I would never come to and now I know why. Lots of restaurants, mainly multi ethnic, few street food stalls, maccers, subway and 711's. The streets edged with sleazy guys wanting to take me places in a sleazy looking tuk tuk, and sleazy dirty looking women who want to give me a massage in some sleazy looking room. Not for me, and in comparison to other places, not particularly cheap either. If it were not for the over abundance of power lines, broken pavements and the litter I could mistake it for a Westerrn sleazy resort. Nothing Asian about it other than the tuk tuk and the masseurs. Maybe it will look better by day...
The rest of the evening was spent lolling, catching up on blogs, emails and stuff. I had a glorious sleep in my super king, comfortable bed that also came with fluffy duvet and skinny soft pillows and woke this morning feeling human, almost.
I mess around the room for a while then venture into town. Its only a short walk and I enjoyed the exercise, but this further confirmed that I do not like the place. By day it is just as sleazy except now you can see the litter everywhere, the crumbling pavements and the dirt in many of the shops.
You can also see the tourists walking through town (a considerable distance from the beach) in swin wear and no cover ups. Women in bikinis, ugly, overweight and hairy men walking through town with shorts and no top. Sorry mate, even your wife shouldn't have to see that. Ugly and gross. At least the women in bikinis are generally young and with good figures. An over abundance of over weight, loud Russians seem to dominate.
The sewer smell is everywhere and at times makes me gag. The heat has made it more pronounced and I want to get away from it. Totally gross.
I walk along the beach. By our standards pretty grotty, but I suppose if you dont have beaches at home it could, with a pinch, be appealing. Long boats line the best parts of the beach making for an ugly display. At least they ahvent started to charge poeple to access the beaxh and that is a plus. The area along the beach front is not as sleazy as the main street and almost bearable with a few nice looking restaurants, but still not somewhere I would want to hang out. Something about it reminds me of the town of Port Douglas, which I didn't like much either.
The limestone kaarsts in the distance are magnificent and remind me of Vang Vieng. I can see why people come this way to climb and can imagine it must be awesome.
Returning to the hotel I stop at Maccers. A pork something or other is my choice. The set for around $10. Not only is the pork something or other tiny, it is greasy and tastes gross. Fries are fries and watered down coke is just that. Serves me right.
My afternoon was spent relaxing round the pool, quite small but plenty large enough... to start with.. with great jets along ghe side so you can get a water massage. Yes. My deck chair set up I alternatebetween lounging in the chair, reading and a dip. Just what I came from. There were about 10 people round the pool, all quietly relaxing....
Until a couple of Russian adult males came along and started playing ball, in the water, along the entire side of the pool. As they played they talked, loudly all the way down the pool. Needless to say the pool and the surrpunding area emptied very fast. I came back to my room, carried on reading until sleep took over. It was a lovely few hours until the dicks wrecked it for everyone.
Tonight I wandered up to the walking street market. Waste of a walk. Plenty of junk and a few street food stalls which were interesting. Thai, muslim, chinese and indian all side by side. The quiet peacefullness of the Muslim people is a stark contrast to the loud nasaly Thai speaking people and then come along the smiling, heavily accented Indians. Interesting.
From there I walked through town before settling in a touristy sort of place for dinner. A tasteless Penang curry with rice. $6 including a drink so I shouldn't complain, but it was pretty bland and very little chicken, lots of juice that seemed to have the peanuts (the main ingredient of the penang curry) missing. Oh well.
I pass the occasional glimpse of prettiness on my way back, few and far between. The brochures tell me that the only things I can do involve water trips - not happening. So that just leaves the town which appears to be devoid of anything of interest.
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