A journey and a half!

Our visas had almost run out so we needed to go over the boarder and come back to get another 30 day Thai visa. This was a great excuse to go over to Cambodia and visit the world-famous temples of the Angkor period. We booked another cheap bus ride to Bangkok (expecting a big air-con bus) and were surprised when we were picked up by a rickety little minibus. We assumed that it was just taking us to a bus station....but after being on it for an hour we were starting to get worried that this was how we were doing the whole 15 hour journey!!

Luckily it was just taking us to a bus stop, it was just that the bus stop was 2 hours drive away! After that it was a fairly relaxing night ride on the air-con bus back to Bangkok. Again people went through our bags but there was nothing to take so we didn't lose anything.

After reaching Bangkok we looked into the journey to Angkor. The border is about 500km from Bangkok and the temples are about 130km from the border. Amazingly, the price for a tour bus there was a ridiculous 800 baht. What with people going through our bags again and the high prices of a tour, we decided to be adventurous and do the trip ourselves using only public transport. This was not as easy as it sounds....

First we had to get to the main bus station, which meant bartering a tuktuk driver and hanging on for dear life as he tried to set the record for the fastest speed on three-wheel transportation! Next we had to find our way through the biggest transport center I've ever seen when everything was in Thai writing. We were actually the only white people at the station! In the end we figured it out and got a bus for 207 baht to the border. We spent the night in a cheap guest house and walked over the next morning. The security was so lax and there were people running around everywhere, it was complete chaos! We got through the Thai departure bit and were directed to the Cambodian visa area. The officials are completely corrupt so they overcharge everyone for the visa by about 30%. We tried arguing but it was impossible so we paid up and went over.

The next step was the 130km ride to Angkor, easy huh? Think again.... The journey would be done on, I quote, the worst road in South East Asia - 137km of dirt, mud and potholes bigger than your average swimming pool! Another story of corruption, it is rumored that Bangkok Airways is bribing the Cambodian government to keep the roads in poor condition so that people are more likely to fly the journey! Even more annoyingly, the government has recently 'regulated' the transport system at the border. This means that there are two ways to get to Angkor; an expensive government bus; or an expensive government taxi! We took the taxi option as it was only slightly more expensive than the bus once we had found another two people to share with.

Words cannot describe the terrible condition of the road! We had an average speed of about 30km/hr and were forever swirving around huge craters in the road. The Cambodians are even crazier than the Thais when it comes to driving and that's saying something. It took us about 15 minutes of driving to figure out that the Cambodians drive on the right side of the road (they actually drive on all sides of it). I didn't need to be so worried about being car-sick as being decapitated as my head was banging against the roof of the car the potholes were so bad! The journey took an amazing 4 hours but all in all it was quite fun and we got to a nice guesthouse in Siam Rep (just by the Angkor area) in time to get a beer to calm our nerves....tomorrow was temple visiting time!

I took a short video of a bit of the drive, we nearley crash a couple of times! See it here!




Me about to set foot in the Kingdom of Cambodia!



A really near miss while driving to Siam Rep



The road was so dusty I dunno how the driver saw anything!



Over 20 people in the back of a ute seems to be mandatory....just like 5 people on a motorbike!

Railay - like an island, but not!

The guidebook mentioned some cool sounding caves in a place called Railay, just 30km from Krabi. We assumed we'd be able to get a bus there or something but were surprised to find that, even though Railay is a town on the mainland, there were no roads to the place! The only way to get there was by boat but it looked like a cool place to hang out for a few days so we hopped on a longtail boat with all our stuff and cruised over in search of accommodation!

Railay is on a large peninsula that stretches out into the sea and is surrounded by beautiful beaches on three sides. There are no roads and no public phones (but oddly there are lots of internet cafes), its just like being on an island! Annoyingly there is a 5 star resort slap-bang in the middle of the place! Security was so tight that we couldn't even go in to have a look and a room for one night costs more than I've spent in the last month (infact almost double!).

Naturally we headed for the cheapest accommodation available and were amazed to find bungalows, made mostly of sticks, for 100baht (just under 2 quid) in the most beautiful forest area surrounded by spectacular limestone cliffs. They were smallish so we decided to 'splash out' and get one each. We spent the rest of the day checking out Princess Cave and Diamond Cave. The latter has a couple of big caverns with some spectacular Quartz formations and huge stalagmites and stalactites. However, Princess Cave was much more fun! Inside a large limestone cliff there is a network of caverns that you can scramble about in with only a few ropes and bendy bamboo ladders for help. We entered, armed with a torch, and climbed around to see what we could find. At the end of one tunnel was a cavern full of bats hanging from the ceiling, as soon as we entered and shined the light near them they all went crazy and started flying about all over the place! Another tunnel was so steep it involved many ladders and ended at a hole about 150m up the cliff face right over the sea with a great view all along the beach! The scariest of all was the tunnel that ended with a large hole in the ground...looking down, we realised that we were inside a broken stalactite hanging down from the cliff about 100m over the sea! One slip and I'd have fallen out and down into the deep blue sea...

Railay is a beautiful place, but the reason about 70% of people go there is to climb the huge limestone cliffs that surround it....and even though we had decided that it was too expensive to climb again, we couldn't resist! After bargaining a really good deal on all the gear we set out to do some serious rock climbing! After a few exhausting hours we had conquered three difficult, but rewarding, climbs.

I spent the next day chilling on the beaches and walking through the jungle. I also climbed a cliff to a lookout with views all over the area and almost killed myself climbing a very dangerous route to a lagoon (was worth it though!). That afternoon I went back to Krabi and met up with Andre (he had to go back the evening before to make a call) to start the long trip back to Bangkok....




Views from the boat on the way to Railay



The place was really beautiful



The area was full of huge cliffs



One of the cliffs we would climb!



The entrance to the first cave



Lots of stalactites



This formation looks like a waterfall of quartz



More strange formations from inside the cave



Who can argue with that?! We couldn't...



Stalactites on a cliff by the beach



An island just off the shore, good snorkeling here!



The second cave was inside this cliff



Climbing up a difficult ledge.....it didn't help that it was actually pitch black in the cave!



Looking out a hole in the cave



The view from the top of the cliff after scrabbling through the cave!



Chilling out and taking in the view :)



Bats trying to suck my blood as I took pictures of them!



The West beach



Absailing down after completing a hard climb, phew!



Railay from the lookout!



My beautiful (and cheap) hut!

Krabi

I was sad to leave Phi Phi , its the most beautiful and peaceful place I've stayed on my travels so far....I'll definitely make it back there another day!

Anyway, we got to Krabi and checked into the cheapest hotel so far (less than 2 quid a night). The next day we visited Wat Tham Seua, or 'Tiger Cave Temple', a small temple built inside a long shallow limestone cave, surrounded by natural forest. Upon entering the cave we made a donation and were given little bracelets for good luck! The cave/temple was full of monks meditating and big golden Buddha images.

Two staircases wind up limestone cliffs. The first one has 1,200 ridiculously steep steps. I had read about it in the book but for some reason I thought there was only 600 steps. At step 590 I was almost dead but thought it was only a short way to the top...until I got round the corner and saw hundreds more steps! Anyway, I just about made it to the top and was rewarded with a huge golden sitting Buddha, a golden pagoda, other golden artifacts and the most amazing view of the Krabi region. The second staircase (only 130 steps!) led through rainforest to a network of caves, with Buddah statues carved into them and other with monks living inside!

The whole area was also full of little monkeys! You'd see them jumping around in the trees and trying to steal food. Some Thai people were feeding them old bananas and gave me some to give them. No sooner had I held out a banana, I was surrounded by monkeys, all trying to grab the bananas!




A jolly looking Buddha at the entrance of Tiger Cave



A line of sitting Buddhas inside the cave



Up some stairs was a small cave with this green Buddha inside...



...and lots of money!



The inside of Tiger Cave



A snake!



Buddha statues in a cave, one of them is carved out of the stone!



Me feeding a monkey banannas!



A sign warning people about the cheeky monkeys!



A monk's house built into a cave



This Buddha has a crystal embedded in its hand



Some of the dreaded 1,200 steps!



The sights at the top of the 1,200 stairs!



The huge Buddha at the top of the 1,200 steps!



Amazing views from the top



Hilly views from the top on one side...



...and on the other side the land is so flat for miles...



...and there was a storm brewing, we could see lightning even from this far away!

Paradise.....

Had trouble adding some of the pictures to the last post but I've finally uploaded them all - enjoy!

So, myself and Andre waved Matt off on the boat to Krabi (where he'd get a flight to Bangkok then home). Now it was time to get over the other, quieter, side of Phi Phi Island. Unfortunately, this involved a 3km trek through the jungle over the highest point of the island, in 35 degree heat, with backpacks.... We were almost dead when we finally made it to the other side but it was definitely worth it!

We had trekked to Hat Ranti, a beach on the East side of the island. There was a small community of about 20 locals, a 'restaurant' (which was just a hut but served the nicest food) and about 50 little bamboo bungalows right on the beach. It's low season in Thailand at the moment so the place was mostly deserted. We got a bungalow right on the beach for 250 baht (about 4 pounds) a night each. Hat Ranti is such a relaxed place and there is amazing coral reefs right on the beach. For the first 3 days we just chilled out....our days mainly consisted of snorkeling, playing board games, reading and playing football with the locals (if we were feeling energetic). It really is the most beautiful, relaxing place I've been to on my travels....

After re-charging the batteries we got to one of the main reasons we had come to the island - rock climbing! The cliffs in this area of Thailand are great for climbing and attract people from all over the world. So the next day we walked over to the main part of the island and rented all the gear for two people and headed for the cliffs! I've done a fair bit of rock climbing but Andre has done loads so he had the honor of lead-climbing the first route. We climbed 3 routes in total. The climbs were hard but the views over the bay from the top were amazing! It was so much fun but the next day we were dead! We chilled out in Hat Ranti for another day before leaving by boat for Krabi....



If I was rich I'd have this house on Ranti Bay



The beach, beautiful...



Our beautiful hut - complete with shells



Looking left from our hut along the beach...



...and right...



...and forward, not an ugly building in sight!



The only local kid in the area, he was glad to have some big kids to play with!



Getting ready to climb



The cliff



The beginning of the climb was always scary as you're not connected to anything when you're lead climbing!



Made it to the top!



Andre absailing down after conquering the first climb



The view was beautiful!



The cliff where we climbed!



Our view just after sunrise



A beautiful sunset from the highest point on the island