Seven days in fast forward...

With mixed feelings, I left Koh Tao after eight days. I have to admit, I like to travel slowly, having a week or more in one place is perfect for me personally. It often takes some time for me to adjust to a new place, usually two days, initially I feel a bit lost. Once I have settled in, I usually reluctantly move on. Leaving means exchanging something familiar for the unknown. On the one hand, that is the purpose of the journey, on the other hand, arriving and saying goodbye always takes a lot of energy. It's not about seeing as much as possible for me, I want to simply be and not rush. Besides, it's simply annoying to have to pack up all your stuff every two days...

In the week after Koh Tao, I set a unusually high pace, constantly changing my plans, having eventful days, beautiful encounters and longing for deceleration at the end.

After more than a month in the Gulf of Thailand, I hopped to the other side of the mainland towards the Andaman Sea. The first adventure was already the journey there. In the evening at 9pm, I boarded the overnight ferry, there was bed after bed, on board there were only foreigners like me. Take a look at the picture. With earplugs, I was even able to think of getting some sleep. We arrived in Surat Thani at 5:30am, where I had to wait for an hour before continuing for three hours by minibus to Ao Nang near Krabi Town. I had booked a hostel for three nights here, but ended up staying only two.

AO NANG

I went on a sunset island tour, found it okay, but at the same time decided not to repeat it in the foreseeable future. With the busy boat, we went to five islands in total, in the most beautiful sunshine once again. The sight was beautiful, there was snorkeling, walking, eating and admiring the sunset... In principle, it was okay, but also very tightly scheduled, here 30 minutes, there 40... Everyone back on board! The herd obediently obeyed, I found it exhausting, in such a situation you certainly can't go with the flow. I admit, I should have known that in advance...

The next day I ventured on a little adventure, I wanted to go to the Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi. I still didn't dare to ride a scooter, it had to be different, without an expensive taxi. In Ao Nang, I jumped on a bus towards Krabi Airport and asked the driver if he could take me as far as possible towards the temple. Said and done, he let me out at an intersection, and I continued with a mototaxi to the destination. Mototaxis are nothing more than scooters. The highlight of the temple complex is the ascent to a large Buddha statue, at 34°C we climbed the more than 1200 different high steps, with distraction from the monkeys that were happily jumping around. Once we reached the top, we had a nice view of Krabi. When entering sacred sites, as well as shops and restaurants, it is customary in Thailand to take off your shoes. Personally, I have no problem with that at all, only the ground up there under the blazing sun was hot as hell, the only option was to dance, it was quite funny to watch everyone hopping from one spot of shade to another.

TONSAI AND RAILAY BEACH

The area around Ao Nang is known for its climbing rocks, many people come to Thailand especially for that, which I can't quite understand yet, probably I'm still too much of a beginner.

To get to the climbing beaches Tonsai and Railay Beach, you take a longtail boat. It's always a little adventure, because you have to wade a bit into the water to board the boat and when you disembark you also get wet - usually you jump off board. Occasionally, you end up with an impatient driver, who forces you to get off at a spot where you end up standing waist-deep in the water. And then you also have to somehow get your luggage ashore as dry as possible..

First, I ended up at Tonsai Beach, for one night, after originally booking three. I mentioned the constant changes in plans before. The climbing rock is located on the beach there, so I could directly observe the spectacle. I made my way to the bungalow complex, passing Reggae bars, and had a British roommate who had just done his diving certificate on Koh Tao, we enthusiastically exchanged experiences. I went on an exploration tour and didn't feel alternative enough for this place, also the climbing routes were quite demanding, and I have no experience in lead climbing. I decided to move on the next afternoon.

While exploring, I met a Dutch guy who had the same destination as me, and after a short time we philosophized animatedly about life. In the evening, an American girl approached me and we ended up having dinner together. Afterwards, I wanted to write on my travel blog, but my plans were foiled by a German guy and a nice chat over a beer. Interestingly, I started the day in Ao Nang feeling lonely, a few hours later there was nothing left of it.

The diving fever and the longing for the sea still had a tight grip on me when I reluctantly made my way to the basecamp the next morning, where I had booked a climbing session with a guide the day before. We were a group of two Americans, two Chileans, me, and two Thai climbing professionals, the difficulty level was medium. Putting on the harness and climbing shoes felt unexpectedly familiar after a month-long break, so some anticipation came up. The routes were challenging for me, but doable, and believe it or not, I actually had fun while hanging on the rock, in between, my heart beat a bit faster at times.

On the same day, I took the longtail boat one beach further to Railay Beach. It's more beautiful, but clearly more touristy and doesn't have that hippie vibe, although you can also go climbing here. The afternoon was dedicated to exploring, there are caves there - including a cave with numerous wooden penises, this is no joke, but a religious site. However, my first goal was a viewpoint, the way there consisted of one climbing part, and the athletic activity continued... It was worth the effort, the view of the sea, the surrounding rocks, and Railay was a pleasure. From there, the scrambling continued, because I also wanted to see the lagoon there. This time, a Slovenian had similar plans, once again a short conversation turned into an extremely nice encounter with intense conversations, continued exploration together, and a shared dinner.

The next morning, I already left the mainland after four days and boarded the ferry to the next island.

KOH PHI PHI

It was already May, my time in southern Thailand was coming to an end, for a while I was unsure how to make the most of the remaining days without rushing. I decided to spend nearly three days on Koh Phi Phi. Originally, I didn't want to go there because it is known as an overcrowded party island, and I wasn't in the mood for that at all. Apart from that, it is said to be beautiful, there are diving centers, hiking trails, and the option to go climbing, so I was confident that I wouldn't get bored and decided to see for myself what was going on on Phi Phi.

While waiting for the ferry at Railay Beach, I bumped into the American girl from Tonsai Beach again, she also wanted to go to Koh Phi Phi. I also met her brother and his friend. It turned out that we spent most of the next few days together. Koh Phi Phi is a small island, you quickly see the main promenade and the bars, there are some nice beaches and wonderful viewpoints from where you can admire beautiful sunsets.

One morning was dedicated to diving, that had to be done. The three Americans did a trial dive, while I went off with my French guide Julian and was blissful. I saw my first trumpetfish and three different species of pufferfish, on Koh Tao I had only seen one. It was wonderful to be weightless again, but every now and then, good old Julian caused a bit too much excitement. I swam behind him and suddenly saw an unusually large number of air bubbles and a slightly agitated guide. I hurriedly swam over, ready to share my air with him. In the meantime, the situation was under control again. The mouthpiece of his regulator had fallen apart, he quickly switched to the second regulator, which is primarily intended to supply the diving partner with air if he no longer has enough. In such a case, you immediately start to ascend. Julian even managed to fix the main regulator under water again and assured me several times that everything was fine and we could continue diving.

In the evenings, I let myself be dragged into the nightlife and found the spectacle strange, but also entertaining.