Wednesday night, November 27th, Krabi Town, Thailand

Krabi Town

Yesterday we flew from Bangkok to Krabi. All went smoothly with the flights and as promised, our hotel had arranged for a driver to pick us up. A sigh of relief when arriving in a new place for the first time to see a sign with your name displayed as you exit the baggage claim area.

Orange Tree House, Krabi Town

We booked our first two nights at the Orange Tree House in the downtown area. It is a two star hotel in a fabulous location just a block from the river, around the corner from the main shopping area and marketplace and plenty of restaurants to choose from within easy walking distance.

This is one step above a hostel, but the room was clean, bed comfortable, free WiFi in the lobby and the staff friendly and helpful. Oh, did I mention the price? Two nights grand total came to $50 including taxes.  After staying in 4 and 5 star hotels while on the Gate 1 portion of our trip, we are now back to the “real world”.

After sleeping in this morning and finding a good local breakfast we walked the town area. We had noticed the unusual traffic lights when we came in last night so walked a block to the main street to get a picture to show you.

Traffic light

Through our hotel we arranged a 4 hour boat ride with Mr. Ann.  He met us at the hotel and walked us to his boat a short block away.

Mr Ann’s boat

Our first surprise was to see monkeys.  Mr Ann has been taking sliced bananas to a certain area of the mangrove forest for years.  As we approached the shore, he started whistling, and one by one little heads started to appear along the bank of the river.  Slowly he cruised past tree after tree, giving another whistle or two.  Then he killed the motor and we eased toward the edge.  After a couple of minutes the monkeys appeared in the branches above us and along side the boat.

And then PLOP, one jumped from a tree onto the canopy of the boat as others leapt from the banks onto the boat in hopes of getting a banana slice from Mr Ann.

Curious hopeful faces looking down on us

Before we knew it our boat has teaming with monkeys, pregnant momma’s, little babies and everything in between.

Tim and several monkeys on the boat

I realized that I had a wild monkey sitting on my lap and I was petting it like a dog.

Yep, that is a monkey on my lap.

On our way again we relaxed as beautiful scenery passed by. We were a bit shocked however in a low hanging tree to see what was described as a very poisonous snake.

Big Bat Cave

Our timing could not have been better, arriving at the cave just as everyone else was departing.

Next stop was a fish farm and lunch.

Fish farms

And as we ate the heavens opened up and it poured!

Rain, rain, go away

As we finished our excellent meal of roasted white snapper with lemon and fresh crab, the rain slowed enough for us to enjoy a walk through the local small village where Mr Ann lived.  He took us to his home, cut down two fresh coconuts for us to enjoy the sweet coconut water and introduced us to his wife.  I talked several beautiful children we encountered on our walk into letting me take their picture.

I highly recommend using Mr Ann if you are in Krabi.  Our four hour boat ride excursion turned in to 5 hours and 45 minutes.  It was fun, educational, relaxing, safe and friendly.  You can check out his face book page for more information and how to contact him directly.

Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving in the USA.  As I reflect on how blessed we are to be enjoying this amazing adventure 1/2 the world away, I give thanks for our abundance, our health, loving families and wonderful friends.

And a special thanks to all of you that are taking the time to read about and follow along with us as we explore.