Project Sun Tan Part 1

Having sun tanning in mind, i headed off to Krabi Thailand. Famed for its throng of Mat Sallehs, sandy beaches and sunny skies, Krabi certainly lived up to its expectation. The itinerary i planned was simple enough, 2 nights in Krabi town, 2 nights in Railay West and 1 night in Ao Nang.

First day activity is rather easy as we just touched down hence we didn't want to do anything too tiring. We hopped onto a long tail boat at Chao Fa Pier, the pier in the smack of town and went on a short tour to visit the landmark of Krabi, Khao Kanap Nam. It is two stone hills carving an arch above the river and you can visit the cave in one of the hills. There are stalactites and stalagmites in the cave. Of course those are nothing compared to Pancing Cave in Lembing, if you read my previous blog entry.


Having a few hours more to spend before dinner time, we decided to visit Tiger Cave. Our long tail boatman Buddy recommended his friend Minai to bring us there with his taxi. After bargaining a price we deemed not exorbitant, we hopped onto his taxi to Tiger Cave.
It was a very peaceful and quiet place. No tourist crowds, no blaring of honks or loud murmuring of voices. This is what I prefer, to blend in. Definitely no problem for me as i can pass anytime as a local Thai with my tanned skin. We went for a swift visit in the smaller cave at the foot of the hill. After that, we headed towards the staircase, altogether 1372 of them!
We started off lightly but slowly, we started to feel the strain on us. We huffed and puffed, dragged our legs along with us. This was not even half or quarter of the whole journey! How are we going to complete this?? Along the way, we did bump into other avid climbers. It was a good mix of local Thais and foreigners. Some even took off their sandals, even though i have no idea why. The surface of the steps certainly isn't smooth. I wouldn't want to have any abrasions on my feet.
Beautiful scenery as we hiked up.

Look at the amount of steps we have to conquer!

Some parts the steps are so steep and narrow that we had to ascend sideways. It gave me the shivers when i thought about my trip down. I have always preferred uphill as i do not need to look downwards, perhaps i have a slight phobia of height. Gosh....we really felt like giving up. It seemed forever to us. When there were questions raised about how many more steps, i didn't dare to disclose that we were able to know by reading the carvings on the steps itself that identify the number of steps that had been conquered. It definitely wouldn't serve as an encouragement!
To cut all the hardship short, we finally arrived at the peak gasping for air. However, the moment we lay our eyes on the scenery all around us, we knew that all the turmoil we went through was too minute and trivial. It was paradise!


The wind blew away all our tiredness, the setting sun recharged us with its last calming, soothing sun rays. The fresh, cool air refilled our lungs that were so deprived of oxygen. In the middle of the plateau sits the huge sitting buddha statue. We were so busy checking out every angle of the scenery as the place is huge till we forgot that the sun is setting and as night falls, it will be hard for us to snap photos!
Throughout our conquest to the peak, not only did we find peace and beauty, we found friendship too. They certainly aided us a lot during our ascend, deepest gratitude to Vern, Rossana and her family. How ironic that different nationalities would bond under weird circumstances.
By the time we headed down, it was already dark. Oh yes, the sun sets earlier as compared to Malaysia, by 5.30pm you will notice that the sun is setting and by 6pm it is dark. The trip down hill is surprisingly relaxing and quick. Amidst chats and laughter with our new found friends, we got down in a jiffy. After bidding farewells and exchanging email addresses, we parted ways.
We went back to town to serve our growling tummies. Recommended by the taxi driver, we tried our luck in a simple-looking local thai restaurant. We didn't want anything commercialized, we wanted the most authentic thai food that locals would consume. It turned out well. I had my thai coconut drink yummy yummy. It was so sweet and tasty! It puzzled me why all the coconuts in Thailand are sweet whereas the ones we have here in Malaysia just taste plain. With a big burp, we left back for our hotel and called it a day.