18. Goodbye Krabi, you will be missed!

Oki doki smoki poki's..

Let's just say.. I've fallen in love. True love. This is it. This is what every one looks for their whole lives.. and I’ve found it. How lucky am I? :) Her name is Krabi. She lives in Thailand. And I love her. Yes, we can fall in love with places as well as people :) In fact, I’ve never fallen for a person like I’ve fallen for this place..

It's Sunday today, the town is quite. (The locals call it a city, but who are they kidding? I've lived in a city, and this is definitely not one.) Anyhoo..sitting at “Old West.” drinking a Coconut cooler-back on the booze.. haha.. been five days and not a drop – not that I’m trying not to or anything, but who drinks while on an Elephant, on a canoe, hiking, snorkelling or while in a cave? Maybe my uncle Martie..definitely my uncle Martie..lol..

Today is my last day in Krabi, and I'm sad. I don't want to go, but I know that I need to continue on my journey..the only thing stopping me from cancelling the rest of my trip and parking off here is that I know I will be back, and hopefully to live and teach here for a year.

On Thursday I went on a long tail boat, with a group of people – some lovely Spaniards! My Spanish is better than I thought it was – yay! :) I suppose it's the first time I've been put in a situation where I had to speak the language, but it was a surprisingly delightful conversation! Although I ended up spending that day with two German-Italian girls – Betty and Nicky. We had a lovely day together, snorkelling around the different Islands! We went to Tup Island, snorkelled for an hour (The beach was delicious but not so many fish to see.), and then Chicken Island for an hour and a half – They say that when you arrive it'll be obvious why it's called “Chicken Island.” and they mean because of it's shape. I thought it looked more like a turkey..or even a camel lying down. No chicken there for me :) I must say that the fish there are luminous! Incredible – we just jumped off the boat and snorkelled away. They feed the fish by the boat (they must do.) because there are just zillions swimming around you!It was my first time snorkelling and I think I may just have found my new hobby! Looking at the fish, I remembered the market in Rawai where I saw them – still alive – for sale.. and my heart grew a little heavy. But, I’m on holiday so I’ve vowed to myself not to let my sensitivity get the better of me. “Maybe I could set up a campaign and try to save them..no shut up Megan. You're on fucking holiday, leave that alone.”

We then went to Pranang beach and looked around – Railey beaches etc..swam and snorkelled. It was lovely. Just lovely:) I got on so well with Nicky and Betty. Betty in particular. It's times like that, that I LOVE facebook, as it means we can find each other and who knows?

We also went to Poda Island, where the turquoise water was so god damn turquoise, I couldn't help just jumping in the water,flapping my arms about and squealing for joy! Betty said I looked and sounded like a four year old having an epileptic fit..haha! Said with much love of coarse:)

When I got home I went to the night market and shopped a wee bit too much – dunno how I'm gonna fit all this in my back pack:)

The following day I went on a canoeing trip around James Bond Island. Wow. I didn't think this day was going to be so intense. Got picked up at my hotel at 7:30 am and arrived back at 6pm.

We went to Pang Nga Bay and swam at James Bond Island. Looked around the cave there, and did a wee bit of marketing – I nearly shot all of them marketers'. They harass you like I’ve never been harassed before – and I could feel myself getting rude. “Stop it, I'm just looking. No buy. Now leave me.” Eventually I bought a 400 Baht (ppppffft yeah right. sure.)– turquoise stone ring – for 100 Baht. “I live in Phuket. You can't rip me off darling.” “OK. ok. How much you pay?” There we go.. :)

We went to Pang Nga Bay – went to the floating market and did some shopping, checked out the “population” - as our tour guide – Ms Mayo (a lady boy.) kept telling us to do. “Maybe you like to see population. See population. Maybe population. You see population.” She was a darling. A monkey leaped onto me and wouldn't let me go, was super adorable! I played with him for a good half hour and then her owner tried to get me to pay 100 baht for it. “Are you ting tong?” (Mad in Thai.) ” Before we left, we had a HUGE lunch there, chicken, veggies, prawns, rice, pineapple and watermelon..delicious!

After that we went to the Swankuha temple, which is in a cave. It was a real treat, and the monkeys are cute cute cute!:) Holding onto my skirt with one hand and onto their babies with the other:) Then we got back onto the bus and I honestly passed out, longing to go home and sleep..and the next thing, Karina (from Austria – we were canoeing partners.) woke me up, “Time to swim Meggie.” I was so confused, I thought surely the trip would be over by now.. but no. I must admit I had to drag myself out of the bus, but once I saw the waterfall – I was all in. The water was so refreshing, crystal clear and as cold as ice – muchos appreciated in this weather.

After an hour there, we went to the Pang Nga 7/11 which was the prettiest 7/11 I have ever seen in my life! I wouldn't have minded staying there for a while – haha! But seriously!

When I arrived home, I was dragging my legs up the stairs, every muscle in my body aching and how I looked forward to waking up late the following morning – nothing booked, nothing planned..yay!

I woke up at 12:30 this morning..bliss. First time since I’ve been in Thailand..and walked around the town, checked out prices to get to Koh Pangang (includes a bus trip and a boat trip.) You've got to look at so many places before you settle as it's easy to get ripped off.. I was told 800 Baht, and in the end..got it for 500 – no stops – pick me up from my hotel, go by mini bus – SO much better than the bigger one's..to the peer in Surat Thani (main stop for most places.) and onto a ferry to Koh Phanang.. Get picked up at 6:30 am and in Koh Pangang by 12:30am. Yay! Going to stay in a Bungalow on the beach..haven’t booked anything yet, just going to arrive and see what happens.. I'm all for the universe deciding my fate..she always has the best idea's for me.

For the rest of the day, I plan to drink a few cocktails and listen to the locals playing guitar – my friend Mas is fetching me on his scooter from here (Old west.) and taking me to his friends place, where I can jam with them! Stoked! :)

I must say, I am sad to leave Krabi..and on that note:

My darling "monkey Island" Krabi,

I'm heartbroken to leave you, but my trail must move onwards and upwards. How I have loved getting to know you, enjoyed your company, with the friendly people you host, and the lush mountains you bear. Your turquoise waters', waterfalls', fishies, Elephanti's and caves'. I will cherish my memories here and will meet you again for more. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! As I go, I leave you with a piece of my heart.

Forever yours,

Meggie.