Krabi amore!!!

Krabi... we love Krabi! :) Here you have everything your heart desires... a great city, beautiful beaches, extraordinary temples, massive cliffs, and a great atmosphere! The further south we go, the more the food changes... in the south, curries are more popular than traditional noodle soups (we kind of miss them ;)). When you're there, have a beer at the Booze Bar... very relaxed people, sometimes there's live reggae music, and it's fun to read the guests' messages on the walls... :)

We spent three days in a great homestay called Chan Cha Lay in the city center... highly recommended!

On the first day, we went to the beautiful beaches Railay Beach, Phra Nang Cave Beach, and Tonsai Beach. These bays can only be reached by boat... Railay and Phra Nang can be easily reached from the pier via a paved footpath, to get to Tonsai you can either swim from Railay or walk on a rocky slippery trail... we swam there and walked back :) The white sand, crystal clear water, and massive cliffs are really impressive. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded due to the low season...

On the next day, we took on the challenge and climbed the 1,237 steps from the Tiger Cave to the small temple located on a hill... because the steps all had different heights, some as much as 20 cm, we sweated a lot. The temple is adorned with a large golden Buddha statue and the view is great!

On the way home, a little mishap happened to us, which Sergey will report on in another post... let's just say Krabi Tattoo ;).

When we returned to the city in the afternoon, there was a procession right outside our door... at first, we were very excited about the beautiful sounds of the drums and the colorful costumes, but then... what was that? Some of the men and women in costumes had a kind of sword in their hands and slit their tongues with it... others stuck metal rods through their cheeks 😱 the blood ran down their bodies but somehow they seemed to feel no pain... after we had recovered from the initial shock, we researched and learned that the festival of the nine emperor gods takes place in the first nine days of the ninth month according to the Chinese lunar calendar, which corresponds to the end of September or October in the Western calendar. In order to cleanse their body and mind, the participants of the festival abstain from certain foods during this period (meat, fish, seafood, eggs, and dairy products), as well as strong spices like garlic and onions, and stimulants like tobacco. That's why it's called the Vegetarian Festival... The focus of these processions are the Mah Song, they are the chosen ones who carry the divine spirits within them during the festivities and inflict great suffering on themselves through their bodies in order to bring good luck and health to the community.

To do this, they pierce their cheeks with thick metal rods, bicycles, knives, gas nozzles, needles, buffalo horns, and anything else they can find.

Others saw their tongues with giant saws, hack their backs with sharp axes, walk on burning coals, or climb ladders made of swords. (Excerpts from the following reports: https://www.phuketastic.com/vegetarian-festival-2018/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Emperor_Gods_Festival)

So for us, it was a slightly disturbing experience, but it was still interesting to witness.

Now we're heading to Koh Lanta... see you soon! :) Peace & Love ❤️