Krabi
The next stop in the Thailand beaches was the area called Krabi- and when you are there you feel anything but “crabby”! What a perfect place to spend what Joey and I like to call “The Week”. This week in February has a lot going on for us- Joey's birthday, Valentine's Day and our Anniversary.
I know that I always mention how much I love our Starwood points all along this trip- but I was really loving the idea of using our Starwood points in a beautiful beach resort- which brings us to the Sheraton Krabi. The hotel was a spectacular property set over acres of lush landscaping with a private beach. One of the real highlights was the infinity pool looking over the beach with a swim up bar. The other highlight was the beach itself. The water was beautiful with classic Thai longtail boats anchored to the shore. During our stay we went kayaking in the ocean to explore one of the nearby islands and the water visibility was amazing. It was more like being on a glass bottom boat then a kayak. We actually found a jellyfish (they seem to be everywhere out there) and saw lots of small fish swimming along the rocks. Sitting in one of the hammocks looking at the beautiful ocean and watching the sun sink into waves is just the sort of paradise we were hoping to find.
This was the perfect place to celebrate Joey's birthday. I woke him up Sunday morning with the best version of a birthday cake I could find- a Hershey's bar. I then showed him a slide show of pictures sent from friends and family wishing him a happy birthday. He was really touched to see friendly faces, and really appreciated the birthday wishes. (See the next blog post for Joey's birthday pics).
Joey's birthday celebration continued as we moved on to another Krabi beach in the afternoon. Everyone who we spoke to about Thailand beaches said that we must go to Railay Beach. Since valentines day was coming up all the hotels there were booked- so we decided to stay in Ao Nang- which is the closest beach town to Railay. Ao Nang turned out to be pretty cool too. There were a lot of bars, restaurants, galleries and shops, not to mention the beautiful ocean views.
The next important celebration during “The Week” is Valentine's day. Since there were no Hallmarks around, we had to find a creative way to celebrate. We went to a bar that was having a 2 for 1 special. Valentine's day didn't seem to be a big deal in Thailand- so aside from the happy hour special- there was not much going on. We weren't sure if sitting in a empty bar on Valentine's Day was romantic or weird. We were literally the only 2 people there. But the night got even more interesting when the waitress brought over the game of Jenga. What a great way to celebrate love- with a little healthy competition. At this point Joey and I pretty much know each others strengths and weaknesses- for example- Joey is better at Monopoly, and I am better at Taboo... but Jenga- it could go either way. The competition was fierce and the suspense was nail biting. I really thought that with my graceful finesse and Joey's shaky hands my victory was inevitable- but I was so wrong when the highest Jenga tower ever seen came crashing down on my overly confident self! I am a sore loser, but of course I still love you Joey.
The next day we decided to go check out Railay Beach. To get to Railay, you need to take a longtail boat as there are no roads. The boat ride over to Railay sets the stage for an amazing scene. You pass by huge limestone cliffs and wrap around to see a curved white sand beach at the bottom of huge rock formations. Railay gets a lot of attention for its beautiful setting but also as one of the premier rock climbing destinations of the world. We decided that while we were there we needed to try rock climbing for ourselves. We signed up for a beginners class for the next day, to celebrate the next event of The Week- the 2 year Anniversary!
On our way to rock climbing I said to Joey that it was so fitting to go rock climbing for our Anniversary. He said, “Why, because our marriage is rocky?” , I said, “No, because our marriage is rock solid!” After two years, its nice to know where we stand, Joooooeeeeeey!
The next day we got fitted for our gear and walked over to the designated rock climbing area. Aside from our group of 6, there were several other groups and individual climbers. This seemed like the thing to do, and the place to be so we were really excited to try it out. We had two guides with us this afternoon. While one of the guides helped us prepare for the climb, the other guide set out on the rock to weave the rope through a path up the rock. While we waited- we watched how our guide and some other professionals just hung on to the rock with their bare hands, pulling themselves up and clipping on a safety rope below them. Rock climbing seemed to be a quiet and respectful activity, where people just encourage one another, and everyone is respectful by staying out of each others path on the rock. This was true until we heard a scream from above. Everyone looked up and saw two climbers fighting mid air! One climber fell several feet down the rock and literally got saved by his safety line. There seemed to be a fight going on between two climbers- one of them happened to be one of our guides. No one knew what caused this argument because it happened too high up on the rock for anyone to see. After mid-air kicking, punching and cursing between the two, our guide quickly lowered himself, and within seconds unclasped himself, ran and vanished from the scene The other climber undid the rope that our guide was working on. No one knew what was going on, or what to do next. Everyone seemed a little shocked and speechless. It was a scary thing to see during our first rock climbing experience. I was a little uneasy and not so interested in climbing anymore. Our other guide, was now left alone with the 6 of us, which is a a considerably big group. He just stood up, disregarded the whole thing, and started to teach us how to tie knots, and how to climb. A few minutes later it seemed to blow over and out of everyone's minds, even mine. After a short pep talk from our remaining guide- and from Joey- I was ready to ROCK! Rock climbing is much harder than it looks. It is also much more fun and rewarding then it looks. I really enjoyed climbing, pushing my muscles to work a little harder and my fingers to grab on just a little longer. I also enjoyed watching Joey climb and cheer him on as he figured out the best way to maneuver up the rock. It was really exciting, fun and rewarding- just like our marriage :)
We also decided that for our anniversary we should upgrade from our ant infested hostel to one of the nicer, newer boutique hotels in the area. We got really lucky when Joey asked for an upgrade, and they gave us a pool access deluxe room. The pool access was just as cool as the origami towels folded into the shape of elephants that were sitting on our bed.
Before we left Krabi we signed up for a tour of Koh Phi Phi and the surrounding Islands. The tour was on a large speed boat that carried 30 people. We sat up front and really felt every wave as the boat zoomed across the water at full speed. We hopped to a few paradise beach islands, explored pristine waters and sands, visited monkey island, and got to snorkel in amazingly clear waters. It was a great trip with beautiful scenery from both above and below the water. What a great day to end The Week.
