I get a Chinese vibe here

Start of the 1260 steps to the top

Jolly old chap

If only these were made of real gold

Donations welcome

Steep steps

Yay! I made it to the top

Statue of Buddha

Small statues

Strong little guys

What a great day for this hike

Buddha, no idea what the thing on his head is

Yay! Free money!

Some large antennas here as well

Stunning scenery

I wonder what this one is made of, glass?

What a view!

More offerings for the elephant

And what’s the story behind the multi-headed snake?

Looking down, they’re constructing yet another temple down there

Almost at ground level again

Tiger, not a real one!

There are some caves her too

Buddha will be well pleased with the cool marble floor here

Tham Meu Seua, great colours

Proper cave stuff

You have no idea how hot it had become and how wellcome the cool of this cave is

More tigers, the tiger is very special here

Long ago a tiger used to live around here and now the temple here is dedicated to this tiger

You guessed it: statues of Buddha

Tiger looks happy

Reminds me of ‘De Efteling-elfjes‘

I’m leaving the temple grounds again, this is looking back at the entrance. It was another good hike with some great views

This is not even a bridge for pedestrians or anything, it’s just something to honour the royal family

It’s nice riding around here, not as busy as Phuket

Back at my hotel, lovely painting on the wall

It’s affordable here, it’s got a swimming pool, nice rooms, and I am the absolute only one here, nuts!

This afternoon I’ll be heading back to Phuket, I say goodbye to Nopparat Thara beach

And what a lovely beach it is

Lots of little shops ar the marina

I am at the Nopparat Thara Pier

A last photo of Krabi before the ferry leaves for Phuket

Despite starting early it was stinking hot and by the time I came out of the forest and into the open my t-shirt was absolutely soaking wet, I took it off and hung it up to (hopefully) dry while I continued to the summit, which is here in the photo

There’s a spot here that’a fantastic for photos but people have died trying to get that shot (if I’m not mistaken) so they’re now warning for it and something has been closed of with some fence

Nice views here

And this amazing landscape, Krabi is definitely very different from Phuket

To get to the very highest point here you must climb this ladder

And then you get rewarded with views like this

I’m on the way back, this is the track, a little later I could pick up my t-shirt again, it was still half wet

This is – no kidding – one of the things to see when doing this hike: the Nam Ta Nak ‘Pond’, which is nothing more than a puddle of water

From here it just goes down

And down

Until I get to the entrance again. Good walk, exhausting but worth it

I needed to cool off, which means: go on my scooter somewhere. I went to Kuan Nom Saow

Where the views are once again amazing

So lush and green

And the food is very good too!

Hmmmm, looks like some rain will be coming in

There’s also a campground here and they built a swing

So that’s where I just was, up there, enjoying the view. Now I want to get back home quickly because I expect rain

I was right, lots and lots of rain. It takes me a long time to get back to the hotel because every 10 minutes I need to shelter somewhere from the rain. And that was the end of yet another day in Thailand

Adn then taken to Nang An Pier

Where we board this speedboat

It’s not very diverse, I’m the only white dude on the boat

The speedboat is really fast, I deliberately chose the speedboat for this trip as I want to spend most my time on the islands, not the boat

Though these boats can be quite fast as well

No OSH issues for Thai

The first of four islands that we stop at

Which turns out not to be an island at all, it’s simply East Railay Bay Beach

But hey, there are monkeys

Friendly looking monkeys

Like this one

That’s carrying her baby

We walk south towards Princess Cave

Interesting rocks here

Now we get to Phra Nang Beach

I’m surprised to find a tent here, can you camp here?

Rock climbers

Princess Cave, a shrine to penises! You don’t see them here anymore (don’t know why?) but they definitely used to be here

Ko Rang Beach and Ko Rang Nok

Me

It’s high tide, we have to wade through the water to get to the other side of the beach, there’s some Bat Cave there but we are not allowed enough time to visit there, I’m already on my way back and just made it back in time to the boat

Then we go to ‘Chicken Island‘, it’s called that way because this rock in the photo looks so incredibly much like a chicken… We don’t stop here, it’s just to have a look

Then it’s off to Ko Thap (this is looking to my left)

Otherwise known as Tup (looking to my right), two tiny islands (but they are considered to be one island) with a land bridge between them when the tide is low, if the tide is really low you can even walk to Chicken Island from here

These boats do look great, don’t they?

Lovely warm water

Tide has gone out even more now, the land bridge is dry

There is a little area here where we can swim (where the boats aren’t allowed to come)

And after a short visit it’s off to the next island

Koh Poda

Where I enjoy a small lunch on my fantastic Dahab towel, I actually had a second lunch, they had some spares

The big rock is Ko Ma Tang Ming

The island is rather big and everyone seems to come here to have their lunch

We spend a few hours here

Lots of fishies in the water

And reminders of the devastating tsunami of 2004

Choices, choices

The local pub

And we’re back at Nang An Pier, what to do next?

I opt for the local Monkey Trail, which leads me past fancy hotels

To the start of the trail where this monkey is enjoying some peanuts, good choice!

And this one trying to bite through a coconut, good luck with that!

Awww

They are so used to humans they are just sitting on the steps we walk on

They’re all around us, I wonder what the white stuff is, is it plastic? Or some fabric? How did it get there? Did the cheeky monkeys ‘find’ it somewhere?

Social grooming

On the other side of track is another beach

You can’t even come here by car so these are fancy luxury hotels/resorts here

There’s a long pier made of floating plastic blocks

Some hotel guests were being dropped off

I wouldn’t like be on here when the sea is rough

More of these sand balls the crabs here make, this one is trying to fool us by making the pattern look like crop circles!

There’s even a wedding here. Hello!

I think I was ruining their view as I was asked to move on

Are we going to get another great sunset tonight?

Before the sun sets I first need to walk the tail again, back to Ao Nang beach. The monkeys are getting ready to watch the sunset as well

And soaking up some sunlight

Awww, a baby monkey

Shared use of the steps and railings

Serious monkey

Playful monkey

Descending on to Ao Nang beach again

I like the silhouettes

For how many thousands of years will people have gathered on this very beach to watch the sunset?

Sunsets have something magical, like watching a (camp) fire, you just have to look

The local mosque

Lots of stalls here, just like in Khao Lak, with affordable food, I like!

And smoothies!

Once they saw my camera they were like ‘Strike a pose there’s nothing to it’

No thanks. I’ve had enough for today, I get on my scooter and drive back to my hotel (that’s way outside of Ao Nang)

The bungalows don’t look like bananas either so I’m left puzzled why this hotel is named after a banana

They’ve got a nice swimming pool here but with so much chlorine in it that you can’t have your eyes under water, it hurts too much

I took another minivan from Khao Lak to what people call Krabi but really is Ao Nang. I’ve rented a scooter and am now exploring the Ao Nang area. This is the view NE from the bridge over what I think is called the river Son

Nopparat Thara beach, the tide is out

What’s that on the beach!? Tens, no… hundreds, no… thousands, no… tens of thousands (if not more) little crabs!

Cute little things

They disappear the moment you come near so you’ve got to sit really still and then they surface and you can take a photo

Feisty!

I wonder if crabs maybe gave Krabi its name?

The crabs also (like to?) make these little balls of sand, you find these patches of balls everywhere

Looking east

On the far west of Nopparat Thara Beach there are a few little islands, when the tide is out you can walk over to some of them

I had a nice little swim here as well

The beach is lovely but I’m not sure I’d like lying there on my towel knowing there so many little crabs right below me

Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park

I’d seen videos about these pancakes before, time to have one! They’re good!

Lots of people anticipating the coming sunset

And I can see why

While waiting for sunset I have a smoothie and listen to this fine Thai guitar player and singer. He has absolutely no idea what he is singing, he has clearly learned the lyrics phonetically but it sounds really nice with the odd lyrical quirk

Just a few more minutes

Meanwhile I get my pizza which tastes really good

Beautiful sunset, worth the wait

Still playing and singing

Beach still has a few people on it but most have moved to the bars and restaurants

Like the very one I was at, which by the way gets terrible reviews and I too had a small issue with them because when I got the bill there was a ‘service charge’ on it which was not mentioned anywhere on the menu, so I refused to pay it, which was fine. I guess they just charge it to everbody hoping they will just go along with it and whoever complains doesn’t have to

Anyway, lots of little bars and smoothie stalls here

Wow, a dragon!

It was a short night because it’s another early rise, I want to do some nature hike

But what’s that on my balcony? A monkey! How cute!

They’re everywhere

They know where to find the food scraps in the bins

Little rascals!

No littering, monkey!!

This is the reception/restaurant of the Khaosok Island Resort, breakfast was good!

I’m at the entrance to the actual national park and of course an entrance fee needs to be paid

The Rafflesia

Map of the hike

Lots of bamboo here

Shade is very welcome because temperatures are already soaring

Heeey, another monkey

A whole family of them

They are cute

They seem to be looking for food

I have no idea what they actually eat

Lots of young ones

Supervised by their elders

The river

Approaching the endpoint of this hike

I have a drink here and try to get my t-shirt to dry (to no avail)

The view is ok, you can go beyond this point but only if you pay for a guide to keep you safe from all the dangers (like trees and leaves and sand)

Some moth (butterfly?) with a very long tongue, I wonder if it’s normal to hang out of its mouth like that

A snake, I’m guessing it’s the Yellow Bellied Black Striped Tree Snake

A wild elephant!

Just kidding, it’s a monkey

Finally one that’s willing to sit still and allows me to come close

So I can take some photos of it

That are sharp

Ok, last one

More bamboo, did you know some species of bamboo can grow up to almost 1 meter per day?

Back from the hike, I have a look around here at the park, there’s some Youth Camp here

Even a campground

They seem to be doing good work here with conservation and such

Main street through Khao Sok village

Back to my resort to pick up the rest of my stuff because later I’ll be taking a minivan to Krabi

Nice decorations on the houses here

I get offered another little ride in the back of a ute

I think these kind of mountains might be unique to Thailand, I’ve not seen them elsewhere

Main street again with all its restaurants and whatnot. I’m leaving for Krabi now. Bye!

Some others are also up already

The latest addition to this Raft House: some tents, they were pitching these yesterday

Looks idyllic, right?

But turn your head a bit to the right and see the less idyllic part where the Thai crew is housed

We go for another wildlife trip on the boats, this time we go closer to the shore

And indeed! We see a monkey at the waterfront, I guess it went there to drink, or wash?

Another monkey somewhere in the trees

Sunlight is slowly getting over the mountains

Another boat looking at another monkey

We’re boating around a bit

So far we’ve seen a handful of monkeys

Including this one with what looks like her young

A last look at what remains of some trees

And we turn around and head back

We see some birds

Almost back at the Raft House, some others used their time to go kayaking in one of the available kayaks

Breakfast! Pancakes! My favourite!

We’re about to leave

Yesterday, because we arrived 1.5 hours later than all the others, we missed visiting Khao Sam Kler, I spoke to the Thai crew and demanded we (our group) would visit it today instead, they agreed, now we’ll have to see if they keep their word, we’re on our way east here, at least that’s in the right direction

The area is really beautiful

Ah, this is it! This is Khao Sam Kler! Cool! Wouldn’t want to have missed this

Yay!

We’re back!

We drove from the marina to the Chiew Larn Lake View Point and were given this terrible lunch (with fish sauce)

Since I’m not having my lunch I walk around a bit and take some photos of the lake

Statue of someone

I sent up the drone again, hoping I would not be caught

Clear view of the Rajjaprabha Dam

Statue again and me hiding somewhere in the photo

The dam to my east

It’s a lovely viewpoint here, bit of a breeze, some shade, most welcome

Cool tree roots

Last view at the lake! Bye lake, nice meeting you

I will stay the night in Khao Sok, itself, the village, on booking.com I find that everything is rather expensive here, the only affordable place is here, in a tent on a raised platform, I decide to give it a try, I mean, I like camping so why not? I’m about to send up my drone here, more in the video lower down the page

The tent, the platform isn’t great, lots of big holes underneath that are covered (up) by those carpets. I really needed to have the fan going, it’s soooo hot here

Some drone photos of the area I am in, stunning!

The resort I’m staying at

I bought some snacks at a local shop in the village and noticed a cute cat so I bought some cat food in the shop and gave it to the cat, she loved it!

A quick breakfast

And then it’s off to Khao Sok National Park, I’d seen photos of its lake it and I just had to go there! An hour’s drive from Khao Lak I have to wait here (photo) for an hour for more people to arrive before we continue to the lake

Here’s a map of the lake, I’m currently at the ‘you are here’ (duh), and the trip will continue to the damn on the east of the lake from where boats will take us to Raft House 3 (middle of the lake, southern end)

The view is getting more interesting here with these unfamiliarly shaped mountains

One of the typical Thai scams here: later in the day we’ll be going to a cave, we are 15 minutes from where we need to be and stop at this little shop, we are told that because we all go into a cave we must all have specific torch and here we can buy one if we don’t have one. So clearly the trip organisers have a deal with this shop: we bring you customers and everyone will be buying a torch so we want a commission. Everyone reluctantly buys a torch (they should have told us beforehand) and we continue

We have just arrived at the Ratchaprabha Marina and see boat after boat leave with people to take them to whichever Raft House they’ll be staying at. It looks fabulous here!

Not that many boats left though by the time we finally get there and of course the little group I’m part of arrive when there is absolutely no boat left, they’ve all gone! We have to have to wait and wait and wait and wait in the heat and nobody tells us anything. Everytime we ask one of the Thai crew that just sits there on the ground: ‘When boat come!? We wait long time. We want boat!’ we get told in very bad English: ’15 minute’. We are all royally pissed off of having to wait so long while everyone else has already left and with zero communication from the crew. But after 1.5 hours finnally a boat came back and took us on our trip

We tried to forget the stress and enjoy the view, which is nice, and the apparent wind is very welcome too

This is an artificial lake, a reservoir, created by building a damn and flooding the area, I wonder how deep it is

Some lovely views

And lots of boats, speedboats…

…and these traditional ones

I guess the lake can’t be that deep if trees are still poking out above the water

And then, as if we hadn’t had enough of our patience tested, the engine breaks down!

I use the time we’re lying still to talk to this lovely Dutch couple (I gave them url of my blog so they might visit here one day, if so: “Hoi! Hoe gaat ie?”)

They fixed they engine

We arrive at Raft House 3

Which looks deserted but that’s because all the others – who arrived here 1.5 hours ago – have already left for the cave trip

We first have our reheated lunch

Brings back memories… in this case however they are shoes for people to use in the cave, Luckily I brought my own shoewear

Anyway, so this is it, this is where we’ll be spending the night, lots of little bungalows on floatation devices

Time for our cave trip, first we need to go on a little boat trip again to get to the start of the walk

Our group is maybe 10 people in total

Start of the track, lush green jungle

At some point we overtake a big unrelated group

Shouldn’t be far now

It’s a nice jungle walk I must say

The cave!

Entrance, cave looks cool, I hope to take some great photos here, I even brought my tripod!

Oh yeah, it’s the Nam Talu Cave

Damn, I’ve only just set up my tripod and now the group that we overtook is already right behind us and catching up

Ok, by now my group is 10 minutes ahead of me, followed by the other group (of maybe 60 people) and I am at the very end trying to take some cool photos. I can forget about that, there will be people in every shot, besides that I feel the urge to hurry up because my group is so far ahead of me now

Some big spider species this cave is known for

Between this and the previous photo was a lot of wading through sometimes waist deep water, which was cool! No time whatsoever for any photos, I guess a private tour would be needed

I’ve managed to overtake that entire group of 60 again and am now hoping to see a sign of my own group, I don’t remember this little bridge so I hope I’m still following the correct path back to the boat!

Sweet! I made it just in time. Hungry now, looking forward to dinner

We arrive back at the Raft House

But no food yet, after a short rest we first we go on yet another boat tour, looking for wildlife! Exciting!

Unfortunately the boats stay so far away from the shore that you’d have trouble spotting even an elephant

So we just enjoy being on the water and the views and forget about the wildlife

Nice sky

I was sooo looking forward to dinner and then they put this smelly and ugly looking fish on the table! Luckily there’s a massaman curry as well, which isn’t bad to be honest, but the smell of that fish…

Everyone having dinner

The bungalow. It’s absolutely stinking hot in there and there’s no fan or anything. It’s me and two other random guys sleeping here, the bungalows are welded on floating barrels, so there’s a lot of metal and also a lot of metal on metal contact when the bungalow moves on the water which results in loud squeaky noises, I am not expecting a deep sleep…

Nite nite everybody

And tigers

Snakes

It’s quite busy here, between me taking photos a few people came here to bring some offerings

Here they say it’s the shrine of the Khalok God (whoever that is)

Whoever he is, he can’t be thirsty as he’s not drinking much from the offerings

The brown thing guarded by elephants in the background turns out to be a little shelter to set off fireworks, see the video on this page as well

Where’s Waldo?

Second item on the agenda, bamboo rafting. I’m here in the wrong season as all water has almost gone by now. The water level is so low that you get a discount

They have tried to ‘dam’ the water, make little canals in which the water level is just high enough to at least float the raft

My ‘guide’ (doesn’t speak a word of English)

Sometimes we go extra slow to see if there something up the trees, like a snake or so

Often the guide needs to get off the raft and actually pull the thing forward, I felt bad about it and got off the raft to make his job lighter but he gestured I could stay seated, ok

Some Thai seem to have their house here

The water is a bit deeper here and people are swimming in it

There’s also a campsite here

Tent, shade, power, water, should be fine

The locals seem happy

End of the trip, it was maybe 40 minutes? Here the rafts get taken of the water and will be trucked back to the beginning

Next, a waterfall, should be a beauty, this is the path to it, I slipped and fell here and almost destroyed the camera that was in my hands, in a split second however I decided to break my fall with my knee instead and saved the camera

Look at that amaaaazing waterfall!

As if I’m back in Norway!

So this is the Lampi Waterfall

Not satisfied with Lampi I decide to go to the Ton Prai Waterfall as well

Not much better, at least not in this season

One of those cute little houses again. You would think birds would occupy them but I’ve seen no evidence of that

Thai Mueang Beach

Looking north

Looking south

Big turtle here

I think this place itself is called Thai Mueang and it looks like this is like the local Chinatown?

Nice mural, better than graffiti, no idea what it says. Leah?

Wat Lak Kaen

I’m back in Khao Lak

Won’t be long before it sets

I tried to get so the sandy beach area here but I get the impression that’s only for resorts

So I watch yet another sunset (the best, with a Diet Coke!) from a restaurant

Where I also enjoy a curry

Very cozy here

Khao Lak has got some awesome looking nightlife

Lots of food stalls

Bars

Restaurants

Streets full of them and they all look great

Phet Kasem Rd, the main road going straight through Khao Lak

They have got lots of stalls here with really cheap food, I like!

No idea what they’re dishing up here, some kind of soup?

Looks like seafood to me

This is more my thing, skewers with some meat. I do have to ask them to explain what’s what because even though it might look yummy, there’s some odd things they are offering

But this is (should be) just some chicken, thanks!

I don’t think I want to even know what this is

Oooh! This is good! Lots and lots of sweet things, like donuts

But what do we have here!?

“You vill eat ze bugz”

No thanks!

Anyway, lots of really affordable food here, lots of it very yummy but no place to sit anywhere, so it’s really just to get something to eat elsewhere (or just while standing here)

I end my ‘shopping spree’ here with another great mango smoothie

Off to a good start! Just look at the clarity of that water!

Photos look so much better without particles in the water that scatter the light

Aargh, this one again. The ‘white-striped-but-also-spotted-yellow-lipped-black-tailed-fish’

I’m going to miss these views

There’s a prize for the first person to tell me the exact amount of fish in this photo

Close to the shot I wanted

I’ve seen photos like this on the cover of diving magazines and my goal was to be able to recreate such a photo. Mission accomplished!

So colourful

I could dive an entire month just here at Richelieu Rock (not without surfacing though)

Just look at that!

I think I’ve learned a lot in the past few days when it comes to underwater photography

WTH is that blue thing!? Stunning!

What could it be? Not sure I’ve seen these before

Yeah, nah, I’m at a loss, no clue about this fish

So. Many. Fish.

Christian right where I need him in this photo

Another Lionfish. How they can stay vertical without falling I don’t understand

Magnificent fish

Lots of opportunities here to try to get shots with a bright colourful foreground and nice blue background with hopefully something interesting like a diver

Oooh, I love this shot!

The dive is almost over. Bye bye Pink Skunk Clownfish!

Best time of day (around 07:30) to take photos here I think, water still dark enough and fishies fungry

Breakfast, salad, egg, sausage, fries, bacon

The ‘Western’ table

The ‘Asian’ table. Zero interaction between the two groups

Lots of aircos on the boat, one for every cabin

Our guide, who’s Thai, can dive, finds interesting stuff underwater to look at but doesn’t speak a word of English, which severely limits the interaction with him as well. There was another Thai guide also didn’t speak any English and looked like a Geisha because he always had some white powder or lotion on his face, it wasn’t sunblock, strange dude. There was only one guide who did speak English (but wasn’t very talkative) and another one who spoke Chinese. Room for improvement here

Me

Dive #2 and last dive of the trip. These things here are once again something rather special but I utterly forgot what they are called. And what were they doing? Eating what I think is an arm/leg of a starfish?

You can see how much brighter the blue is now compared to dive #1

Three in a row

You again, I had already said goodbye!

Bye to you as well worms

Back to the mainland, Thap Lamu Pier to be precise

Thai Navy vessels

Fishing boat going out

That was it! Thank you Gentle Giant for a nice trip!

Ok, now comes the difficult part. I’ve booked a room at a hotel in Khao Lak via booking.com, that’s 20 km away from here. I had asked the hotel owener to arrange some transport for me but he’s not replied. So I was hoping to find something here at the pier, there’s lots of taxis here, problem is that they’re all booked. I am left with no alternative but to walk the 20 km!

Luckily after walking maybe 10 minutes a lovely thai lady who was coming from the opposite direction did a U-turn and asked me where I was going. I explained the situation and she offered me a ride to Khao Lak, which was totally out of the way for her! She is one of the people that make Thailand so special, that smile, that willingness to help. Awesome! It took some convincing from me but eventually she excepted a monetary thank-you from me. Win-win. Thank you Thai lady, much appreciated!

My hotel

Today’s schedule

Heeey! A Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray (we just called them blue spotted stingray), haven’t seen one of those in ages

They’re so elegant

Since they are so underrepresented in my photos, this one deserves a second photo

And even a third

Close up of some coral

I think this is the best dive site so far here in the Similan Islands. Visibility is awesome. It’s teeming with life and all very colourful

I mean, look at that!

Stunning here at ‘3 Tree’

Beautiful fish this one, an Orangespined Unicornfish, and boy are there many surgeonfishes!

I just love the dark blue, red, green, purple and white combination

I think it’s the Common Bluestripe Snapper (or is it a Bluestriped Grunt?)

Nah, it’s got to be the snapper

These fish often swim in big (loooong) schools

Another octopus

They’re very smart animals

I don’t remember now what kind of fish this is but what I wanted to point out was the two cleaner fish, one of them is actually cleaning in the big fish’s gills

Oh come on, what are these called again?

Blue Surgeonfish, they’re called surgeonfish because of the (allegedly very sharp) ‘scalpels’ they have where the body becomes the tail (bright yellow within blue in the photo)

Surface interval at Koh Bon, we’re not the only boat there

I’m practising my ‘coral foreground blue background’ photos

Moray Eel with Cleaner Fish

Puffer

Parrotfish

Ginormous Clam

Emperor Angelfish

Approaching Tachai Island

The staits leading to the sun deck

Blue Surgeonfish again

Batfish

Lovely undamaged corals here

Like this one; closer to Phuket (eg at the Phi Phi Islands) there are a lot more inexperienced divers who at some point will accidentally damage the coral, it’s much more pristine here. Also because if I’m not mistaken the national park here is always closed for half of the year (to limit the exposure to humans). Not sure if just for diving or even just to visit the islands

What is this? It looks like someone took a Spiny Cushion Star and told it to act up and put some effort into looking like an actual star, I mean it has the colouring of some of the cushion stars I have seen but also some arms (legs?)

Another Crinoid

Ooh, I love the shape and colour of this coral!

Close up, it looks like some upside down purple broccoli

Mr Titan is triggered again

Big fan coral

Crinoid, still haven’t seen one swim

Batfish getting a proper clean

Soaking up the last rays of sunshine

Isn’t it funny how we still say ‘The Sun goes down’ when it’s really more a matter of Earth turning it’s back on the poor Sun?