Phuket and Krabi

Internet has been pricey down in the Phuket area, where we stayed for the last 3 nights, so my apologies for not letting anyone know where we were. Phuket: if you imagine Miami Beach or a high priced resort in Florida, you can picture how crowded and touristy of a place this is. According to most tourist books including the lonely planet's SE Asia on a Shoestring book (thanks Jess for picking this up for us...it's been so helpful), Phuket is one of the most expensive Southern Thailand Islands to visit.

Most backpackers lift a brow (and a nose) with the mention of Phuket, and travel to other less developed islands. We, however, have managed to live the life here while spending less than $30 a day for the both of us. How do we do it? We go where the locals go and sleep far away from the beach! And if you eat where the locals eat the food tastes even better and is half the price as the "American Food" restaurants. Luckily, the only Amercian foods we have consumed so far have been a couple boxes of Oreos, (okay...all my ND colleagues can laugh...I know not the most nutritious...but they taste incredibly good after a long day of hiking) and omelets for breakfast.

We had our first beach day yesterday, and burned our legs badly (only 3 hours in the sun w/ loads of sunscreen on...the sun is strong). Nothing like a day off from the sun and multiple applications of aloe and healing salve cant help though:) The beaches (Kata and Karon) were stunning with white sands, crystal clear waters, and some of the biggest and most beautiful looking jellyfish my eyes have ever seen (and luckily my body has not touched). The beaches were surrounded by small mountains. The whole scene reminded me of Hawaii.

Oh one more thing about Phuket. Basically, every time we walked down the street a man would come up to me, grab my hand, and begin asking me where I was from, or commenting on the shirt I was wearing, or asking me where I was going; a rude attempt to spark up a conversation to bring me into his tailor shop to sell me clothing. My God! Not more of this tailor shop business! I cannot take these salesmen anymore...:) So last night, for the 10th time or so a man came up to me and tried to grab my hand to shake and I said "look, where I come from that is very rude to grab a strangers hand unexpectedly," and the man asked "what are you afraid of Swine flu"? I did like his response, so I laughed it off. Like I said in a previous post, these vendors are incredibly tenacious at selling goods, and considerably annoying too (sorry if I'm not PC right now :)

I am appreciating more and more how 'free' we are to walk down the streets in North America without being hassled or harassed to buy this and that. I would say that we say "no thank you" with our hands waving "no" every 1 minute walking down the street...well I should be more honest and say that Briana does this...I've resorted to walking right past people. She's much more patient and polite than me :)

We arrived today in the town of Krabi, Thailand after taking a 3 hour bus from Phuket. A very pleasant harbor town that is the hub for international rock climbers. Tonight we walked around the town for 2-3 hours eating practically everything in sight, and taking a look at the street vendors and department stores. All the food looked divinely delicious. We ate 2 papaya salads, 1 noodle clear broth soup, 1 banana pancake, 1 green curry, 1 beer, 1 coconut smoothie, and we topped off the night's meals with a bunch of coconut "pancakes." Before all that craziness, we sampled durian, which for those who have never experienced this unique tropical fruit, it smells like rotten eggs (real stinky), yet tastes like custard (smooth and fatty tasting). I have seen them for sale at international markets in the States, and if you are brave enough I encourage you to sample, but don't let the smell dissuade you :)

We'll be staying in Krabi tonight then take a longboat to a peninsula just West of here called Railay Beach...only a 30 min ride (so we've heard). This beach and surrounding peninsula will be our base for the next 2-3 nights, and maybe head to Ko Lanta just south of here???