Ton Sai

Ok time to backtrack:

We are heading to New Zealand TOMORROW so I wanna try to catch up with posts before I have to spend a bunch o money on internet!

So after Khao Sok we headed to a beach. I loved the National Park but it was really nice to get to weather where I didn't feel damp all the time. We went to Ton Sai which is a beach near Krabi, it's still the mainland but you have to take a boat there. It's interesting because a longtail is 800 baht ($20) for about a 10 min. ride so you have to wait for 8 people to fill the boat up. I thought we wold have to wait long but it was only 30 minutes or so. Oh and our minibus there was the most TERRIFYING drive EVER. Ha worse than Corps members driving! I sat in the front seat and usually the driver was going about 90 mph and to pass people he pulled up within an inch of their bumper and would pass on blind turns going up a hill. It was nuts buuuuut we're alive:)

We were really lucky with the beach we stayed at. There are 4 beaches on the strip of land. Ours is the climbing beach which is apparently crazy full during the high season but it was so chill. There are monkeys everywhere on the cliffs which is so cool. We went to this one bar, Chill Out bar, that was recommended by a PeaceCorps volunteer in Khao Sok and it was great! We also met two guys traveling from the US and they went to school in Tuscaloosa! The guy was wearing a U of A shirt and I should said Roll Tide! to him but we started talking and he was so nice and thanked us for working in Tuscaloosa. It was cool. We also met a guy from New Jersey with his Thai girlfriend who sets people up for teaching english in Thailand! Hey if I really need a job...
Also at the bar we saw a baby Finn and a mama Finn (my cat). SO CUTE! Mama Finn sat on my lap for a long time:)

There were three other beaches, Raileh East, West, and Phrah Nang. East has all the mongrove trees, but no real beach. West is a great beach but with all the resorts, a lot more family focused. And then Phrah Nang...beautiful! It only has one CRAZY expensive resort but you can go to the beach anyway. Along the walk there were tons of monkeys walking along the fence holding on to their babies! So cute! In order to leave Ton Sai there was an area of rocks we had to climb to get across. During low tide you can walk through the water and it's faster but a little crazy...we had some interesting times. One time we went for a snorkel trip which was ok...the best park was that they had a phosphorescent swim which was like the bio bay in Puerto Rico! It is plankton that lights up like a lightening bug when you disturb the water around it. These weren't as bright as Puerto Rico but still really cool. But we were supposed to be dropped off at our beach after which didn't happen so we had to walk across at night, in sandals, with no light! Pretty rough. Then the next morning we had to cross again because the only ferry left from Raileh East to get to Phi Phi at 9 am and no longboats are going anywhere that early. Ugh I was not happy to do all that climbing with all our bags but we luckily made it with no real injuries, surprising I know.

Ton Sai was great and really relaxing for us!