72km

We slept in a little this morning. While it was nice to get some extra sleep, neither of us felt sick enough to lie around all day, so we got up and prepared to head out.

We went downstairs to get coffee in the lobby and eat the fruit we bought the night before. We rolled out of town mid-morning and enjoyed rolling hills and green mountains on our right as we made our way North. If was hot, but when we’re moving along we get a good breeze. Except when we’re slowly climbing a hill. Dave is nice enough to wait for me before we zoom down the hill together.

Buddha lives at the top of each hill

In the afternoon we decide to turn off toward Si Phang-nga National Park to see what there is to see. After about 5 km we find the entrance, and the park service employee lets us examine the map before we pay an entrance fee of 100 baht for each of us (just over $3). There looks to be a nice waterfall that has a pool that’s “nice for swimming” that we can walk to, and a small restaurant where we can have a late lunch. We pay and ride in.

We ate lunch first, some noodles and spicy papaya salad, then rode to the end of the road to the trail. A young man tries to sell us bags of fish food, and we shortly see the stream full of fish waiting at the surface for that food. Disappointed, they are. But fat. I’m sure they’re not starving. After a short walk we see a beautiful waterfall and a pool full of fish. They’re fat here too, waiting expectantly for more food. They’re surprised to find us jump in instead. The water is cool and feels incredibly refreshing on this hot afternoon. After a short swim we feel ready to get back on the bikes and head down the road. So we do.

We roll over a few hills and then start a steeper climb just as it starts to rain. It feels great to us, as it’s been hot and humid all day. But it must seem terrible to the locals, a couple of whom stop and offer us rides in their pickups. I almost say yes just to make them feel better because they want to help so badly, but this is the best part of the day so far. As we inch our way up the pass the rain cools us and it releases even more fresh jungle smells. Before we know it we’re over the top and sailing down toward the town of Khuraburi.

A couple of kilometers before town we see the Khuraburi Inn-see. We’d seen signs about this place back on the roadside. Out in front they had about a hundred tables dressed in red table cloths and a big stage set up with rows of speakers. Dave thought maybe they were preparing for a wedding or something. As we were paused on the roadside looking at the place a couple of people called to us asking us to come on in and take a look. We thought we should, they were so friendly. We walked our bikes through the maze of tables and talked with a woman in a beautiful blue sparkling dress who turned out to be the owner, Deekarat Preechaharn. What we found is that they were celebrating their grand opening this evening. I asked how much the rooms were and she said 800 baht. I knew when we approached it was too expensive for us on our intended budget. We said we’d probably have to look elsewhere as it’s above our budget. She asked how much we could spend, and I said we usually try to stay at 400 or under, with a shrug that said, “Sorry!” But she smiled and after a short pause said, “Then I make this a present to you. Please join us tonight, you can pay 400.” I couldn’t believe it! How wonderful! Dave and I looked at each other and smiled. We took a quick look at a room near the front and it looked great, but Dave was a quick thinker and asked if there was something near the back, remembering the big row of speakers out front.

Ms. Preechaharn then asked us to please join them for dinner out front, if we had the time, as they would love to have us. A short while after we brought our gear inside there was a knock at the door. They found the guest register and asked us to sign in. Dave came back in and said we were on line #1.

After showering and washing clothes and such we dressed and headed out front. In that amount of time the entire parking lot with all those tables was full of people talking and laughing and eating. There was an emcee running a complete show of singers and dancers.

Our hostess spotted us as we came out and showed us to a table, then sat down with us to talk briefly as platter after platter of food was brought to us just as it was to every other table. Soon after the food arrived she had to leave to say something on stage, and then fireworks started blasting up into the night sky, lighting the whole area with bursts of color. It was hilarious and fun and we had a total blast eating this wonderful food, watching Thai singing and dancing, and seeing locals from the town enjoy a festive evening. We kept laughing and looking at each other, wondering at our amazing luck.

The rooms were spotless and new and well furnished. The bed was incredibly comfortable. The air conditioner rocked. I thought it was quite nice for 800 baht per night. In the morning at breakfast we spoke with the owner a bit more and found out that normal room rates are 1200 baht per night, so her original quote of 800 the night before must have been a special for opening night. Once again we couldn’t believe our luck.

Lesson learned: never pass up accommodation with dressed up tables and a stage out front because if you stop and look you might be invited to a party, or a wedding, or something fun like that.

94 km

Winding our way up a small pass on road 4, we met a German coming down on a folding bike. We stopped and talked with him, and he urged us to continue on this road down to Phang-nga, where he was staying. He’d left his panniers there so he could do a loop in the mountains unloaded, and said it was a great town. But it was only about 11:30 and Phang-nga was about 15 minutes away to the South. We were in the groove and wanted to continue going North to Thung Kha Ngok at least, so we continued on.

I had wanted to take it easy on my knees today, build mileage back up gradually after taking time off to dive back at Ao Nang. I’d looked at the map and picked a couple of places we should aim for, thinking one of them would feel like the right distance and have a guest house.

When we got to the first town, Thung Kha Ngok, it was too small for a guest house. We looked anyway, and then decided to move on. No big deal, Kapong is just down the road a while.

At Kapong, a major dot on the map, we headed off the highway feeling confident we could end the day here. I was tired after climbing a little today and not yet used to being back on the bike after enjoying the weightlessness of diving. But we asked about a guest house, bungalow, or hotel–you’ve got to use all the buzzwords or you’ll get a no when there is accommodation nearby–and people kept saying no and shooing us down the road to Takuapa. “How many kilometers?” we asked, and got various answers. Our map was proving to be quite random on distance for these back roads.

Just past town we saw a Police Box. Yes, you read that right. We’d been seeing these one-room little buildings by the side of the road in small towns. They’ve got Thai signs, but always in English, nice and big, they’re labeled POLICE BOX. We stopped to ask one last time, even using the phrase book and asking about camping. The uniformed policeman didn’t speak a word of English, and was rolling on and on in Thai and making gestures in all directions. We got the idea that there was no accommodation anywhere nearby, including camping, and that we should continue 30 more kilometers to Takuapa. 30? But the thing I noticed, as he was furiously drawing us a map in my notebook (we thought he might be saying something about camping in response to our phrase book efforts) was that he was drunk. 4:30 in the afternoon and the Police Box officer on duty was drunk. This was one hand-drawn map we would not be using.

We decided we better book it if we were to have enough daylight to make it because we didn’t know how hilly it would be and we’d been slow today. As we got to the highway again a sign confirmed, “Takuapa 32 km.” Later, another sign said 13 km.

A few kilometers further there was a turn and a sign for Takuapa. Dave stopped to check his map to make sure we weren’t taking some random back road. As we were stopped, a smiling local rolled up to us on his scooter and asked where we were headed. When we said Takuapa, he nodded confidently and said, “Oh, just maybe seven kilometers,” and pointed down the turn-off. He also confirmed that there was a hotel in the town. And seven kilometers later, we slid into Takuapa.

What I had planned as a 50-60 km day turned into over 90. That’s not exactly an epic day, but it was more than we planned. What made it a little worse is that Dave and I are both fighting colds that we picked up while diving, and Dave’s was turning into a sinus infection.

The lesson learned today was this: don’t pass up easy accommodation unless you’re prepared to bike a lot longer than you want in order to find it again.

66 km

We said goodbye to the friends we’d made at the Laughing Gecko last night and this morning, including Swedish Kirk (I think I’ve got it right), who does both sea kayak and bike tours and has a wonderful joyful laugh, to Sven, an avid mountain biker German who spends his winters traveling, to a German couple, Rinatta and Clemons, who were such a delight to spend some of the evenings visiting with and with whom we shared a concern for the environment and a hope for its future. These were priceless days on the quiet end of Ao Nang, away from the scuttle of the tourists and their sun-fried bellies.

Clemons took a picture of us in front of our Laughing Gecko bungalow. Anyone notice anything missing on Dave’s face? He had to shave his beard to get his diving mask to work properly.

We headed out via some back roads that Dave found on the Krabi Province tourist map. It showed great detail. We enjoyed the quiet jungle and plantation setting as we rolled over the small hills. As often happens when we near an intersection, a local called out, pointing the way we were heading and making the Thai motion for, variously, no/bad/can’t/don’t/isn’t. That is, he held out his hand, thumb-side up and twisted his wrist back and forth, a motion American’s might make for so-so if they kept their hand horizontal. So, we stopped and heard him out, in all his Thai politeness but not understanding a word he said. We smiled. We nodded. Dave pointed to our location on the map, which of course did nothing, as usual. He kept repeating things with bits of English dropped in, like “No boxing, no boxing!” We had no clue. So, after we smiled and nodded some more, and shrugged our shoulders, and waited for him to leave, we continued on our way. We’d been really enjoying these lovely back roads. We’d been told by locals before not to go this way or that, simply because they were quiet roads and, what if something happened? No one there to help! We’ve gotten used to ignoring certain warnings.

About 500 meters down the road we saw a huge sign in English: “DEAD END.”

But we still have no idea what “no boxing” means.

After getting a room at the PN Guest House, we unloaded our bikes and hopped back on to ride 2 km to Than Bok Khorani National Park. It’s got to be one of the smallest of Thailand’s 100+ national parks. But the jungle-covered limestone cliff harbored a waterfall, Buddha’s Footprint Cave, travertine pools, and paths wandering through native bushes, vines and trees–plenty for us to enjoy in the hour and a half we had before closing time. We saw only a handful of other people, and it felt as if we were miles from the road.

We returned to town and ate at a restaurant called “79”, where for 79 baht you get a buffet with seafood, meats, and all kinds of vegetables and sauces which you then put in the hot pot or grill sitting on your table. It’s the perfect choice for a language-challenged vegetarian with MSG allergies. And I liked it too.

Today we slept in, and we plan to post stuff to the website, then spend some time on the beach. Dave is feeling a little bit sick with a cold, so we will just be taking it easy.

Tomorrow we will probably get back on the bikes and start heading North.

Today was a repeat of yesterday, but with fewer skills, deeper dives and more time to look at the underwater world. We are both totally hooked! Dave had problems on the second dive equalizing his ears because he was getting a bit congested, so we decided not to do a “fun dive” tomorrow. But other than that, it was beautiful and fun, and we are so glad to have done the course! We are now certified open water divers, and already thinking about doing an advanced course when we get to Koh Tao, further North on the East side of the peninsula.

Islands like these were the sites for our four dives. We’d get dropped off near one and follow the wall of coral around it.

The truck picked us up at a quarter till eight this morning to take us to the boat for our first day of diving in the ocean. We’d be diving in two places around the Phi Phi islands, one morning dive and one afternoon dive. We get into longtail boats waiting on the beach that will take us out to the big dive boat.

Longtail boats take us out to the dive boat in the morning.

The boat ride took two and a half hours to get to the first spot, during which we talked with our new instructor, Uchim (another German), and met his other student, Brigetta, whom we’d be diving with. We got a briefing of the dive location and the skills we’d be practicing. I was just a little nervous, but the pool sessions had gone well so I wasn’t worried.

When we neared the dive spot there was a flurry of activity, with divers and instructors getting their gear ready and into their wet suits. There were probably two dozen divers on the boat today, with about six to eight dive guides and instructors. We would prepare and enter the water last, with the advanced divers getting in first. When it came our time it seemed like chaos, and we had to prepare our tanks and BCDs quickly, then get into our gear. Dave and I didn’t have time for our pre-dive “buddy check” but Uchim did a quick check and then ushered us into the water. Everyone was telling us to hurry. I guess there were snorkelers that would be taken to a slightly different spot and the boat people were in a rush to use the boat time efficiently. Dave and I each took a big step out and fell in the water. Sploosh. For a second you’re sinking, and then just like that you breathe in and the regulator works. It works! In a half second you pop up to the surface, give the OK sign and swim backwards away from the boat.

Uchim, Brigetta, Dave and I gathered together on the surface and Uchim reviewed the skills we’d be doing on the surface and then under water on this dive. We did things like switch from regulator to snorkel and back again under water, flood and then clear our masks under water, simulate running out of air and switching to our buddy’s spare regulator, stuff like that. Once we’d performed a few skills we just swam around looking at the coral and fish. It was amazing and beautiful and peaceful. I was hooked.

After lunch Dave and I had to get in the water without our wetsuits or anything and do the swim test. We just had to swim twice around the boat because the current was so strong, then we had to hang on to a rope from the boat and demonstrate that we could float for ten minutes. We got back in and it was time to suit up for the second dive. It was a little less chaotic this time, but still a rush. The second dive was much like the first, with different skills. Then we just swam and looked at the sea life. We were lucky to see a big turtle near the end. I just wanted to follow him around all day.

The evening was as lovely as the last two, with more conversation and good food.

We had another day of theory in the morning and skills in the pool in the afternoon. Everything went well and we enjoyed talking with Uwe about diving skills, certification levels, and places to dive once we’re done with our Open Water certification. We were sad that Uwe could not be our instructor for the ocean dives because he had an ear infection, common among the dive instructors because they’re in the water so much. We would have a new instructor for the next two days of diving from the boat.

Another evening on Ao Nang Beach.

We had dinner at the Laughing Gecko again, this time chatting with a Swedish guy who was going to start his Open Water certification the next day. He had his book and was reading the assigned first two chapters. He’s also a bike tourist, though not on this trip, and he does sea kayak tours as well. We had a lot to talk about. The evening went quickly again, and we headed back to the bungalow to sleep.

The dive shop sent a truck to pick us up this morning at 8:30 to take us to the classroom. We would be spending the morning watching videos and learning theory, and spend the afternoon in a pool with our instructor demonstrating skills for us to practice. Our instructor, Uwe, is a small German who basically lives to dive. He is experienced, with over 2,000 dives, and was very careful with the details. We felt that we got very good instruction to compliment the videos and reading. The afternoon pool session was long, but fun. The first time we went down in the water breathing from the tanks was amazing but at the same time no big deal. It just worked. I was clumsy trying to swim underwater with fins, and it all felt foreign, but nothing was too difficult. We both performed all the skills well. We were done around 4:30 and the truck took us back to the Laughing Gecko.

Sunset on Ao Nang Beach”

We walked down to the beach to watch the sunset, then came back for dinner. Before it was served, people were gathering, some talking and some playing instruments that are sitting around. The daughter of the owners, probably ten or so, picked up one of the guitars and started playing old Eagles tunes and other things. I picked up another guitar and clumsily plucked out a few chords with her, though I didn’t know all the ones she was playing. She was absolutely hilarious, trying to get us to sing along with her and trying to get me to play things I couldn’t. She then put the guitar behind her neck and played some of the same stuff just as well as she did with it in front of her. I was just laughing and laughing, she was really fun.

The meal was once again incredibly yummy (a Thai woman cooks the food) and we had great conversation again, this time with a guy from California, just coming to the end of some time traveling before he goes back to find a place to live and work for a while.

We slept in and got up late, then packed our things and made our way to the Laughing Gecko down near the next beach. They had a bungalow available for us so we stashed our stuff, changed into our swim suits, and headed down to the beach with our books and some snacks.

We went to the beach near our guest house first. It appeared to be the locals’ beach, and we were the only non-Thais sitting down in the shade of the trees. Just after we settled with our bikes and things, a Thai woman walks right up to us with a digital camera held out. It took me a minute to figure out that she was there to take pictures of US. But it took her a long time, she was standing there for what seemed like several minutes, positioning and repositioning the camera right at us. We continued doing what we were doing, which was applying sunscreen. I looked at her and said, “We look pretty darn funny, eh?” and she only smiled and nodded, probably not knowing what we were saying. Who knows. Finally she took her picture and walked away. I was wondering if they disliked having tourists invade their beach or something, but we didn’t want to be down at the busy beach.

We spent the morning reading our diving course book in the shade and swimming. When we were hungry for lunch, we packed up our stuff and found food, then went to the main tourist beach at Ao Nang and did the same thing there, but without the weird picture incident.

We are successful in this tourist town finding great Thai food! This is Pad Thai.

Red Curry (looks yellow, but don’t believe the color).

And the usual condiments for fixing up your dish, including more than one way to make it even hotter than it already is.

It was a nice, relaxing day. We came back to the Laughing Gecko for dinner. The food was incredibly good and there we spent the entire evening talking with a friendly and interesting German couple.

32 km

After breakfast and some internet time at our guest house, we set out for the short ride to Ao Nang beach. This is where we planned to stay for a few days to get our Open Water Diver certification. We had a booklet from the Krabi tourism office with prices of the guest houses in the Krabi area, with several in Ao Nang that were in our budget category.

We rode through grove after grove of rubber plantations between patches of coconut trees and limestone cliffs jutting out of the landscape. We saw a sign for a wat (Buddhist temple) on the roadside and decided to take a look. We parked our bikes and walked up to the side of the cliff, where underneath the rock overhang there was a huge gold-painted Buddha lying on his side. There were other little shrines, but the Buddha was the central attraction. A monk, dressed in the yellow and orange cloth draped around him and with a shaved head, approached us with a big smile. He pointed to the top of the cliff where we could see a small roof, maybe to a shrine, poking out of the jungle. He motioned for us to follow him, and he showed us the hidden pathway and handed us a bottle of water, wanting us to head up there. So, we did. It was a short but steep climb, and all of a sudden we were above the trees with an open view of the valley we were riding through, which headed down to the beach. We leaned out and waved to the monk, who was standing down there waiting to see if we made it. We looked to the direction we were heading but couldn’t see the water yet, because we had to go around other limestone cliffs nearer the water. It was a nice preview of what we’d be seeing.

Alter in front of the Buddha.

We got to Ao Nang and were overwhelmed with the busyness. Tourists crowded the sidewalks and the two-lane road was congested with cars, pickups fitted with benches and coverings for carting around tourists, and many scooters and motorcycles. Westerners were everywhere, though not all were white. There were many with bright red sunburns that made us wince just to see them.

We took out our handy booklet with the budget guest houses marked and started looking. What we found very quickly was that the booklet was very out of date, and the prices had all tripled at the very least. These places were no longer in our price range. So we ditched the booklet and went back up the road we had come in on, away from the beach, and started asking prices up there. We definitely couldn’t afford air conditioning, and even the bleakest fan rooms were ridiculously priced. We settled on a room finally, nearly as far up the road as we could go. It had no windows except one that opened up to the hallway, which had no outside ventilation at all. The fan was good, but it blew only hot air on us. We weren’t sure this was the place we wanted to spend a few days in while doing our dive training, a four-day event.

We then walked around to talk to the various dive shops and get prices and information. The first shop we came to was near our hotel, with a nice German guy at the desk who was very helpful. He filled us in on a lot of the details and told us how the course would go. He also told us about going down to the next beach to find a more affordable place which might be nicer to stay for a few days. The shop seemed nice and professional, and we immediately liked it. We then went to several other dive shops and talked with them, and found that all the shops charge exactly the same thing and went to the same places, and since the first shop seemed the most professional and knowledgeable, we decided to go back there and sign up. But not until we looked around for another place to stay so the evenings would be tolerable.

We looked and looked, and many of the places were also ridiculously priced. We finally found a place, the Laughing Gecko, with affordable rustic bungalows. It’s run by a Thai man and his Canadian wife. They offer dinner each night, served up family style and everyone eats together. People were hanging out in the big main house, an open, wooden structure with a thatched roof. This is where the meals are served. We liked the feel of the place and said we’d be back the next day to stay for a few days. We headed back into Ao Nang and signed up for our diving course, starting in two days.

We went out to find dinner and decided on various street-food items and were happy with our choices. It was fun to be out on the street with people walking everywhere and lots to see. We walked around a bit, and eventually made our way back to the hotel to sit outside and chat with the front desk guy. All the shops and hotels here in Southeast Asia so far are completely open on the bottom story, with accordion-folding gates that they pull shut to close them at night. So there is open seating here in all the restaurants and places, except a very few (touristy) places with air conditioning. We eventually made our way up to the room to sleep, and with the fan directly on us we slept OK.