Way down South

By Shelly

 We had planned a trip back down South to celebrate Matt's birthday and show Sadie around, only this time, we'd be going to much less touristy places further south than before. We had quite the eclectic mix of somewhat rustic, really rustic, back to civilization and then ending in a more well-known spot. Each island had it's own unique vibe and beauty about it, but I think my personal favorites were the beaches that looked like they were straight out of a deserted islands calendar. The photos you will see do no justice for what was experienced in person...

Koh Kradan

Getting to Koh Kradan was a bit of an adventure for all of us. Matt and I had booked cheap tickets to fly during a sale some months back and Sadie took the overnight train and met us in the province of Trang. Since we were told there were no convenience stores on the island of any sort, we took a trip to the local TESCO lotus to fill up on snacks and gallons of water. Sadie and I each grabbed 2 gallons while Matt grabbed 1, looking at us like we were crazy. Hey, we didn't want to get dehydrated!! (or pay a ridiculous amount for water) :) There were a total of about 7 or 8 resort/bungalow places on the island and the rest was a protected National Park. We did a lot of relaxing, swimming and snorkeling on Koh Kradan since that is really all you can do there (and the point of going there).

Sadie made this board for us to sign and put up in the restaurant/lobby area of the bungalows we stayed in since there were boards from all over the world pointing in the various directions of those countries/cities.

Hydration :)

Early morning sunrise

Koh Rok

 Even more rustic than Koh Kradan, Koh Rok didn't have ANY resorts -- only a campsite. We camped right on the beach where the sand was the softest I've ever felt and had the consistency of flour. The snorkeling at Koh Rok is supposed to be amongst the best but is also still a real hidden gem. It was incredible!! We even found a Nemo fish (check out the picture!) :)  There were hermit crabs all over the island, particularly as soon as you went into any leaves or trees of the national park (also where the campsite bathrooms were) right off the beach. It looked like the entire ground was moving there were so many!! And then there were the monitor lizards roaming everywhere...lizards about oh 5-6 feet long. Luckily, the Thais told us they only ate rice, but that didn't exactly make us any less weary. There were maybe 20 people total on the entire island and I think it is safe to say that this place was one of the best experiences we had here in Thailand.

Our campsite

This is how populated this island was...truly a deserted island!!!

Even though this island was barely hit during the '04 tsunami, it was crazy to see that it got a meter high here!

Our Norwegian friends we met on the trip: Sarah and Matts

Unbelievable how the sand just melts into the water...

The monitor lizards!!!

We found Nemo!!!

Koh Lanta

We made our way back to civilization and returned to Koh Lanta since we liked it so much the last time we were here in October. Basically long enough to do some more stand up paddle boarding and catch a couple beautiful sunsets :) 

   

Railay Beach 

To round off our vacation, we returned to land via Railay Beach to take in the beautiful limestone cliffs, see some fire shows and of course, see the monkeys again before departing.

                     

Land Ho at Krabi Town