After a hectic Christmas day at the pool –
and an exhausting evening posing around the Christmas tree at the Majestic Hotel –
We were definitely in need of some R & R on Boxing Day, so headed off to the beach in Thailand.
Krabi was not quite what I was expecting. Despite the severe penalties for drug use in Thailand, the first thing we saw on our boat to the hotel was a stringy, tattooed expat in a santa hat –
– smoking a large joint.
Surprisingly, he didn’t appear to work here …
– but there were plenty of others in town.
I also saw my first magic mushrooms, which were a bit of a disappointment –
– I was expecting them to look more like unicorns and fairy dust, and less like a tupperware full of compost.
But Anthony wasn’t put off and eagerly got into the queue for his supernatural cuppa –
And if I wasn’t expecting drugs, I was expecting crabs. Why bother to call a place Krabi if there are no Krabs? Just imagine going to Cheddar and not being able to buy any cheese.
But if there weren’t crabs, there was very good fish –
– salt-crusted barbecued red snapper is my new favourite.
And we took a cookery class and made some splendid local dishes –
Although the heat in the kitchen did make me look slightly mad –
The geology is spectacular, and very similar to Halong Bay in Vietnam. There are all sorts of lumps and bumps rising out of the water –
– which are called Karsts and made of limestone from coral reefs which existed millions of years ago.
The karsts also form caves, and whilst I was slightly wary of visiting caves in Thailand, there was one at the end of the beach that was attracting a lot of attention, so I went to have a look.
It’s called the Princess Cave, and local people leave special gifts for the princess there.
She’s obviously not your average Disney princess. There’s not a tiara in sight … the whole place is full of rampant todgers –
I was interested to see that the description of the cave ended with a plea for appropriate gifts only –
It’s hard to imagine what sort of gift this particular princess would consider inappropriate.
But it wasn’t all hard work you’ll be pleased to hear. As well as slogging along beaches for cave visiting and whipping up culinary delights, there was also time for a few beach massages –
and the obligatory cocktails at sunset –
So, here’s to an equally splendid 2019 …
… cheers!