Krabi Thailand

Week 22

The one where she ventured out on her own

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Ahhh! So one of the things I wanted to prove to myself this year was that I can travel alone. I’ve never done it- this week was my first solo trip ever. Which tbh was equal parts exciting and terrifying. It’s awesome to not have to accommodate another person’s desires, but it does also remove that safety net (which unfortunately is a legitimate consideration when you’re a woman traveling alone).
k
Somehow I managed to find the compromise between the two by making friends halfway through my trip; however, reflecting at the end of the week has brought me to the conclusion that I’m not a natural solo traveler. I like to share my experiences. I honestly don’t mind bending my plans to incorporate those of others (most of the time) and as much as I have the capacity to talk to a fencepost for an hour, ideally I’d prefer to talk to a human.
What I did this week:
  • Landed in Krabi to an insane sunset.

Like what? You can’t be serious.

  • Successfully figured out how to get to my hotel from the airport cheaply (which actually was harder than it sounds #swindlecity)… Also my hotel was in Ao Nang, not Krabi town which are like 40 minutes apart.. #probablyshouldhaveknownthat #oops
  • Went out for my first solo dinner and this place was just such a gem. It was a totally local place off the beaten road- in fact it was literally down a random dirt road. Seriously. I got the red curry and fresh mango juice and mango sticky rice because I think I’m actually part mango. (Sidebar: Does that make me a cannibal? #showerthoughts)

I want to wrap this place up and take it with me everywhere.

  • Took a walk around town on Saturday morning to get the lay of the land and booked a rock climbing adventure for the afternoon while waiting for the tailor to open.

Thailand- Lives its life
Me- DAMNNN GURRRL
Thailand- K but really, chill.

  • Went to John’s tailor to start the process of getting a custom suit jacket made. South East Asia is known for their incredible tailors/custom suits and I’m not planning on walking out of Thailand without one. Thankfully the dad of one of my bffs is engaged to a woman in Thailand and often gets custom suits made when he travels there so he gave me the hook up.
  • Went rock climbing on Railay Beach on Saturday afternoon. Waited forever for the ferry over but when we got there it was so nice to get back in the harness and up the wall.

It’s no wonder Thailand is a world-famous rock climbing destination

  • I haven’t climbed in so long and was so antsy to scurry up the wall, so when it was my turn I basically donned wings and flew up the route. Then asked for a harder one. And then another.

Yoga or climbing? Why not both?

  • Went back for a second fitting for my jacket and asked Owen where I could get an authentic Thai dinner- aka no english menu, might get food poisoning, definitely will get strange looks, local af. After about five minutes he paused his explanation and said you know what? Fuck it, I’ll take you. So I happily hopped on the back of my Thai tailor’s scooter and we zoomed off to his favorite place which (of course) was delicious.

So local it wasn’t even on FourSquare. Is that a RY new high score? What does that mean? Is that bad? Did I break it?

  • Had him negotiate the local price for me for an island hopping tour the next day (and saved myself $40 in the process).
  • Discovered how hard it is to take awesome pictures of yourself in beautiful locations when you’re by yourself. #downsideofsolotravel
  • The tour itself was ok- the places were nice but decently touristy.
    • First stop was snorkeling

Am I doing this right?

Jk, that’s better.

  • Second was a long beach

Yep the water really is that clear.

Never leaving.

Swinging on a rope and taking selfies is unsurprisingly quite difficult.

  • Third was called Paradise Beach- easily the most gorgeous one

Not a postcard.

Still not a postcard.

Take me baccccckkkkkk
This was on the other side of the island. I finally got someone else on my boat to take a semi-decent photograph of me!
I LOVED these fish. Splitting the school in half and watching it come back together could have easily entertained me for hours.
  • My favorite stop was probably the last because we had a few hours there so I had time to lay out for an extended period of time, turn on my speaker, pull out my book and drink the booze I brought. Aka my idea of an ideal afternoon.

Definitely not hotdogs.

Peep that stratification. O__O

  • Literally as I was getting off the tour boat I started talking to this couple from KL and totally hit it off with them. The husband went to Ohio State and was just so American. Freaking great people- I wish I ran into them at the beginning of the day.
  • Rushed back to my hotel to catch sunset at the pool

#Worththehustle

  • The front desk guy offered to drive me to Krabi Town that night to go to the night market and in a ‘fuck it, why-not?’ moment I said sure, ok.
  • When we got there I agreed to meet him back at his truck in 2 hours because I don’t have a Thai phone number and have terrible service.. but then promptly forgot where his truck was. #whoopsie
  • Proceeded to wander around the Krabi Town night market for awhile until I turned a corner and *literally* almost walked into the KL couple from the boat earlier.

Get in my bellayyy

  • Proceeded to hang out with them all night- getting food and drinks and mango sticky rice and watching fire shows and chatting about life and love and home and everything you talk to new friends about.
  • Ended up getting a ride back to Ao Nang in their cab because I still had no idea where my guy parked..and it was hours past when I was supposed to meet him. Oops.
  • Spent the next day with them- got a quick breakfast and then took a longboat over to Railay where we aimed to spend the whole day bumming it on the beach.

SYKE. IF ONLY.

Instead we decided to walk around and were enticed by a sign that pointed to a trail for an off-the-beaten-path beach. Except the trail ended up being a hike. Up a mountain. Oh wait no. A mountain pass. I swear every time I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel there was another hill to climb. Oh and of course none of us planned to get lost in the jungle so we weren’t wearing mosquito repellent.

This was the start of our leisurely walk to Tonsai beach

In true Dana fashion I started getting eaten alive and promptly became absolutely 100% certain that the mosquito I murdered while it sucked the blood out of my left foot was *the one* that gave me malaria. (Still no symptoms but I stand by my word.)

After probably far too long they convinced me to retreat and we quickly scurried back to our original beach for massages and beers on the water.

View for the day. Could be worse.

I’ve never related to an animal more- we walked past him on the way there and then again on the way back and he hadn’t moved an inch.

  • Caught the last ferry back and cleaned up at home before meeting them for food and then a reggae bar where we proceeded to jam out to reggae songs sung with a Thai accent. (100% would recommend.)
  • In the middle of our second? third? fourth? pitcher of beer, a fire show started and somehow I got pulled up “on stage,” resulting in the following very safe, not dangerous at all video.

  • Grabbed some late night McDonalds with the cutest baby I’ve ever seen in my life and turned in at a reasonable hour for my early morning flight the next day.

  • Touched down back in Chiang Mai with a great tan, a head full of memories and the quiet confidence of someone who just took another step in proving to themselves that they are enough.

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