The other day we traveled to Ao
Thalane, another beach area in Krabi not too far from where we were
staying. Here, we got the chance to kayak. There was a quick
training, though there wasn't a lot that had to be learned before one
could head out on the water. Then, with a pair of two man kayaks, we
departed.
Krabi is a beautiful area with its
nearly vertical limestone peaks jutting out of the water. And we got
to paddle our way among these and at times between them.
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| Family in the cove |
We visited a small cove totally
enclosed by high cliffs. This little sandy area went back to where
long vines hung down and some of the others on our trip climbed
halfway up these. In a back corner there was a rise over which one
could see a pass. We imagined that if one were to climb up and over
this, it was the secret entrance to a lost area where dinosaurs still
lived. At least, it looked like such a place, if movies and cartoons
are to be believed.
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| It's a lost world beyond that point. A lost world, I tell you! |
Another destination was a mangrove
forest. Here we could only go so far, because the water in places
would be too shallow. But you could see the mangrove roots all
around, sticking up out of the water.
To reach the mangroves and to return
from them, we had to pass through a beautiful lagoon. It was like
being in a canyon. We did not see a great deal of wildlife. Our
guides explained that in certain seasons there are many monkeys
about, especially at low tide. But we did not hit that season
apparently.
On the return trip, the wind picked up.
Sadly it was blowing into our faces rather than at our backs. As we
passed out of the lagoon, we had to travel between two pillars of
limestone. The guides made us go one at a time so that the wind
wouldn't blow any kayaks into each other. Carver and I were nearly
blown into one of the sides of the pass, but with strong paddling we
made it through.
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| Paddle hard! |
The rest of the way back was quite
tiring. Kayaking had seemed so easy, so it was impressive how much
impact the wind could have. Whereas in calm water, the kayak seemed
to respond readily to my every touch of the paddle to the water, in
the wind, it was as though my paddling were of little effect. The
kayak said, “Nah, I'm unconvinced Erich. Paddle a few more times
and maybe I'll get the hint.”
Don't fret, dear readers. The fact that
I am writing this means we must have successfully made it back.
After our adventures on the water, we
had adventures near the water and in the water. We went to lunch at
the Ao Thalane Resort. It was a delicious meal of three dishes served
with white rice. The first was a curry of some sort, not spicy,
almost sweet. It had chicken legs, onions, and potatoes in it. The
second dish was sort of a sweet and sour fried tofu with pineapple
and carrot. And the last was a salad, but not really a salad. It had
cabbage, carrot, and other salad greens, but they had all been
lightly cooked and sauced. Everything was excellent.
The Ao Thalane Resort has a beautiful
beach on the Andaman Sea with views of several limestone islands in
the distance. There were long wide benches one could lay upon and
just enjoy the sun and the shade.
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| The view from Ao Thalane |
The final part of our adventure that
day was swimming. We headed to another resort where a fresh water
river passes through. Here there was a swimming hole, complete with
wooden decks and a rope from which one could swing out into the
water.
The river was all natural though. Much
of it was too deep for us to stand, but throughout there were large
rock outcroppings on which you could stand, but more likely bang your
foot as you didn't know it was there. Some were so high that if I
stood on them I was only in water up to my knees. Others were deep
enough that I could barely keep my head above water on them.
It was a fascinating adventure with
many great sights and activities. Thank you water!
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