Ao Nang, Krabi

Relaxing on Poda Island

We decided to stay in Ao Nang in Krabi (a province) because it had a plethora of restaurants and shops, was a good place to get a tour of the islands in the Andaman Sea, and had a decent nightlife option. The first day Andy and I got up late and then just lay on the beach for a few hours and relaxed.

Leaving Ao Nang behind

The next day we took a speedboat tour of the Phi Phi Islands, which are basically the places you think of when you think of Thailand and were once probably paradise. I say they're no longer quite a paradise these days because they're crowded. EVERYONE goes to them. They're still beautiful, don't get me wrong, but ever since The Beach was made into that dumb movie and flimed on location there, it's become somewhat of a Grand Canyon, or Disneyland, or insert other must-see tourist attraction here. Our tour was supposed to consist of 8 different stops but we only had about 6 and even then those were quick stops, about 40 minutes each. Our first stop was Bamboo Island.

Bamboo Island

Pileh Bay

Then we went by the Viking Caves where they collect the birds nests for birds nest soup. Then we went into Pileh Bay, a lagoon, and then stopped in Maya Bay for some snorkeling. There were tons of fish, the bottom was all reef (it was deep) and the water was so clear. Of course we were snorkeling between a bunch of boats who were also there for a tour. Some people on another boat were throwing bread into the water to feed the fish and I kept getting hit in the head by it, not cool, although being amongst the swarm of fish going after the food was pretty awesome.
Next stop was Maya Beach itself. We had 45 minutes to wonder inland, lay on the beach, or go for a swim. We wondered inland a bit, bought a can of Chang for 100baht! and then took a bunch of corny photos.

Maya Beach

Back on the boat and we were told we wouldn't be stopping at Monkey Beach because there were no monkeys there today. How our guide knew this, I don't know, but I do know we think we got a ripped off by not going there. We stopped at a seemingly random spot next to a cliff face on Phi Phi Don and got to go snorkeling again. Same same pretty much except a few more different types of fish and some giant clams!
Then it was time for lunch and 90 minutes on Phi Phi Don- the biggest island of the Phi Phis and the most inhabited as well. They even have a 7-11. We had thai buffet for lunch (included in the price of the tour) and then wandered around town a little bit.

The main street of Phi Phi Don

We got back on the boat once more and headed back to Ao Nang. A little Chinese(?) boy fell asleep next to me and sort of on me, hahaha.

The next day was our last full day in Thailand. My plan was to get as much sun as possible. Since Ao Nang beach wasn't looking to sunny we (only Andy, Tommy, and I were going, everyone else stayed in bed watching movies all day) decided to get a longtail boat out to Ko Poda, an island with a sunny, white sand beach that you can see from Ao Nang. We got tickets for a boat and had to wait around for like 20 minutes for a 6th person to "fill" the boat. The ride was about 15 minutes and not too rough. Upon arrival we agreed on a time to go back and then made our way to find the perfect spot on the beach. It was a hot day so we were in and out of the water regularly. I'd brought a few pairs of goggles and we could see a few reef with and sea eurchines not far off the beach. I also had a field day with the shell collecting... it was far past an obsession.

On the way to Ko Poda

Sand Dollar

The day spent on Poda was one of my favorites. It was quiet, sunny, the beach and sea were beautiful, and we got to take a long tail boat! By the end of the day we were saying we wished we had a few more days to have on these little islands.
At 4pm we got the boat back and showered and then went for traditional Thai massages. I ended up getting an After Sun Thai massage because I was a little burnt and it would probably be good for me.... and oh was it ever good! Even though the thai massuse was tiny, she was still strong as! And the milk and aloe vera did wonders for my skin.
We grabbed some average food afterwards and did a little shopping before calling it a night.
The next day it was time to leave Thailand :( We got up early and had street crepes for breakfast and then tried to spend our remaining baht... I still have over 1000.

Last picture taken in Thailand

At around 11:30am we were off to the airport and a few hours later flying back to KL.