South to Krabi ..Ao Nang
I stayed in a 4 star hotel along the seafront called Oa Nang Buri, the staff were very friendly and eager to make me happy at thier hotel (and also stay longer). I have attached a little review of the hotel to the bottom of this blog .
I rented a bicycle from a German shop owner in town , for only about 100 bhat per day and kept it for 3 days.I cycled the whole seafront and also onto the beach and left it there when i went in the sea . The water was so shallow that i could walk out 100 yards and still only be up to my waist !! I enjoy beach combing and there were lots a small shells (see pic). The seabed was kind of muddy and squelchey underfoot and little clouds of murky water came up as i paddled and waded thru it.When i returned to the hotel and showered , there was a brown tidemark on the shower floor .
The German sometimes left his shop in the hands of the lady who ran the shop next to his , otherwise i could have asked him about motorbike rental , he had a furry ginger persian cat on a lead which spent all of its time sleeping .
There were several internet cafes in town , charging about 50 bhat for an hour and lots of T shirt/clothes shops where i bought T shirts and polo shirts reasonably cheaply .I still wear them and they are quite good quality , I did barter for them ,
but not down to the last ‘penny’.
I took several tours , including the Elephant tour/ride , 4 island boat tour , the rain forest tour and kayak tour. These can all be booked from the hotel or from about a dozen other tour places in town , and a minibus comes along and picks up everyone from thier hotel , I found that it is a bit cheaper to book the tours on the ‘high street’ rather than at the hotel (it will nearly always be the same tour anyway).
It was raining during the rain forest tour and we got soaked , but it was warm rain ,and pleasant , there were several warm water springs/pools in the forest in which we wallowed for 15 mins or so (take swimwear).
We had a lunch after the walk thru the forest and it was a table full of mostly fruit with lots of pinneapple , a little cat came to share .
I am a veggie and although this is a buddhist country , they do have lots of meat/chicken and fish for sale , I ate veggie pizzas during my stay and they cook nice little banana/pinneapple/raisin pancakes from cooking stands by the roadside (see pic) for only about 30 bhat and there is always lots of fruit and drinking coconuts .
Also i took a torso massage one evening which lasted for about 30 mins , i did explain that i had a stiff shoulder due to an injury but they dont always understand and i shouted in pain a few times , i was on my front , i think she must have been standing on me .She was a bit like a femail wrestler and certainly did some pounding on my back ;-) There were two scotsmen also receiving a massage next to me and we exchanged a few jokes whilst
The elephant tour was also good , i love elephants and we got to feed them afterwards ,I was with a Norwegian family of man + wife and two boys and the husband shared an elephant with me and we exchanged news of each others countries , I found we got onto politics and I did not/do not have a high opinion of the UK government and told him so .
As I recall we fed the elephants with bananas afterwards , me thinking that I should save some for the Uks’ garbage government , but enough of that . An elephant ride is a strange kind of rocking lurching 
The islands tour is a must and there was some snorkelling amongst some very colourful fish , i did not participate , cant remember why and they offered me a snorkel too .They were friendly fish and seemed to come and visit those in the water .I used Barracuda tours , if anyone else uses this company , be sure to note the number of the longboat , because they have about 9 and they will all be out at the same time , sometimes at the same island . We visited 4 or 5 islands (they all look the same ) and we passed many other longboats and speedboats also visiting islands , often full of european tourists .Generally the boat would beach itself , we would have
about 50 mins before it left again , some would simply sunbathe , I would usually walk around the whole island beachcombing if it was small enough , I came home with a small collection of shells .
The kayaking was also enjoyable and quite lengthy , we took a picnic ,and we had it on a sandbank island .
Although I have said elsewhere that the driving is orderly and disciplined in 
There were mopeds available for rent in Krabi and although i have never driven one , i thought that if a i got an automatic and had 5 mins tuition then i would be fine .
They are pleasant people and geniunely wish to please , but unfortunately , although they said 'yes yes yes' , i could not arrange the tuiton or properly make myself understood ,and got fed up and shelved that idea .
Krabi is a good place for families and people looking for a quietish time , the only rowdy behaviour I saw or heard during my week there was from 2 couples in their twenties who were a bit drunk in a full Italian restaurant (and not really aware of anyone else )and made enough noise to disturb the other diners .
The Thais are quite tolerant and full of grace and smiles and there is a gentleness about them that I like , they just seem to shrug off such behaviour .
I stayed bed and breakfast ,it was done in buffet style , help yourself .
Friendly staff , speak english quite well .
This area was not affected by the Tsunami , the sea is too shallow there , you can walk out over 100 yards and still only be up to your waist .The sea floor is slightly muddy/clayish
