Krabi Elephant Riding and Sea Kayaking

Krabi, Thailand January 29, 2008. Elephants are considered lucky in Thailand. Riding one you can quickly consider yourself lucky because it is so enjoyable and elevating.

I’ve ridden elephants several times in Thailand and Nepal. This ride is relaxing and part of a 2 in1 tour I booked for 1300 baht. Here is a picture of 2 kinds of "Elephant Ears", 1 plant & 1 animal.

Normally kayaking comes 1st in the morning followed by elephant riding in afternoon. But the tide was too low in the morning so the creative Thai guides reversed the order and we rode elephants in the pleasant morning sun, had lunch, and then kayaked the mangroves and watery canyons in the afternoon.

Saw 3 troops of monkeys while kayaking. Two troops were on the rock cliffs patiently begging for fruit and 1 troop in the mangroves actually jumped onto our kayaks and commandeered all our remaining fruit and most of the fresh water.

This is part of my Thailand tour package so I wanted to reconfirm it belongs as a primary option on my 10-day Thailand package trip. Yep, this is a grand trip.

Koh Prayam

Koh Prayam, Thailand January 25, 2008. “Like Koh Samui in the 1980’s.” That was the advertising slogan on a poster that caught my eye in my guesthouse in Bangkok. I had got those itchy red skin dots again, so was eager to leave the city for some clean less developed tropical island paradise.

After an all night 10 hr bus ride I took the daily ferry to Prayam Island from Ranong about 8:30 am. We passed some scenic jungle clad islets on the way to Koh Prayam, docking at the village pier about 11 am. We stopped in route at a remote island resort that had small plastic boats that came out to gather their new customers.

There are two main tourist beaches on Koh Prayam. I stayed at the longer one on the SW corner of the island. It has powdery sand near the trees and grayer firmer stuff at wide low tide areas. There is a nice reef with excellent fish life on the North end of this beach, however the water visibility is very poor. There is also the jelly fish larva stinging in the water like is common at beaches in the spring in Florida.

I rented a bike and bicycled the hilly island for exercise and scenery. The other tourist beach on the NW side of the island is even more scenic at high tide than the one I stayed at. The higher priced accommodation and food places are located here. My camera battery died before I could photograph the wonderful see thru rock formation arches at the Northern end of this beach.

Had ok massages at “Welcome Massage”. This place has affordable food in nice garden setting. There is in a cluster of good value restaurants and a convenience store that are here about 2 km inland from the main tourist beach. A restaurant and bakery owned by a French lady (just next to the massage place) has the best muesilie on the island.

The season is Dec to March when the winds and weather are not monsoon. I stayed at Bamboo Bungalows which I don’t recommend as the attitude is too high prow there. I moved to Long Beach bungalows at the north end of the beach but I don’t recommend them either as it is too far from everything except snorkeling and has a noisy Rasta weed smoking bar next door. But nice owners and great value right on beach for 200 baht.

I would stay at Smile Hut next time with best all round location and value bungalows on the beach for like 300 baht. They also have a wind turbine to generate some green electricity.

Other logistics:
Island is in Adaman Sea just south of border with Burma (Myanmar).
One ferry leaves Ranong at 8:30am for the island, and leaves the island at 2 pm.
There are no cars on the island and motorbike taxi is 70 baht across the island.
Can rent a motorbike for 150 to 200 baht a 24 hr day.
Can rent a basic 6-speed bicycle at the inland convenience store for 70 baht for 24 hr day or 50 baht for half day.
Is no central power grid so electricity is generally only on from about 6:30 pm to 11 pm.
Mostly European tourists, almost no Americans have discovered the island yet, except Chuck a Californian who lives here 6 months a year.

Bangkok Street Food - Fresh Fruit

Bangkok, Thailand January 10, 2008. Fresh cold sliced ready to eat tropical fruit is my favorite breakfast. While that may be a do-it-yourself or forget idea in America, it is a readily available street food experience here in Bangkok.

This is one of my favorite fruit vendor ladies. I remember her from years ago when I 1st stayed on Khao San road here in Bangkok.

For 10 or 15 Baht (30 to 45 cents US) I buy my morning Papaya, or watermelon, and another 15 Baht for a cold young coconut to wash it down with. Actually these vendors operate into the late night hours or until they run out of fruit.

These carts are so well designed. They show their yummy fruit thru clear sanitary glass and drain the ice melt out the bottom. There are wheels and handle for pushing the cart to the best selling spot or for dashing down a side alley to avoid the police ticketing vendors clogging the roads and sidewalks.

Fruit, my breakfast for champions and another reason I love Bangkok.