Hard To Be Crabby In Krabi

Hey folks,

One of the beaches on my island-hopping tour

So the past week has been an interesting one... It was the start of travels on my own, things didn't exactly go according to plan, and it was the first time I stayed in one place for more than three days for the past month. Starting with traveling alone, this has not been an issue for me so far. Sure, I miss my buddies Goose and Dan and they were a blast to travel with but it has also been nice to have some solitude, to have my own single room, to explore the streets of the city without a timeline or an obligation to others, and to have a chance to meet new people (which I feel is easier if traveling solo). It's hard to say how being alone will affect me after a long period of time but so far, after one week, I'm doing all right. After doing a kayaking tour my first day, I followed it up the next day with a rock-climbing course. The backdrop for the climbing was magnificent, the course being held at a place called Railay Beach which is one of the nicest places in Krabi and in Southern Thailand. I realized after a few attempts that I'm getting a lot better at rock-climbing after having done it once already, and confidence is a big help when inching up a rock face at heights of 20 metres. Getting down is still terrifying for me, however, as you have to essentially lean back off a cliff and trust in the person belaying you on the ground. I also did an island-hopping tour of four smaller islands this past week, which was maybe the best deal I have had yet in Thailand. For a day where I was driven to the beach, chauffeured around on a longtail boat, given a delicious buffet lunch, unlimited bottles of water, and snorkeling equipment, 400 Baht ($12 CDN) is not a lot to pay! The sun was ready to make an appearance as well and was shining down the whole day in all of its glory, as if to say "I know you've missed me, well here I am!" The rest of the week, I have been lazing around the hostel, exploring the neighbourhood a little, and getting chores done like passport photos and finding more insulin. My original plan was a little different...

I planned to take a scuba diving course a long time ago and it is something I have been looking forward to for a long, long time. I know how many amazing diving spots there are in Malaysia so I wanted to be certified to dive there before arriving so that I could take advantage of the amazing sites around the country. However, things don't always go according to plan. Because of the crazy weather in Thailand, tons of people were stranded on the islands, thousands trying to get off of Koh Tao, the very island where my scuba diving was supposed to take place. This concerned me and so I called the diving outfit and asked them, "Is everything okay over there? Do you have water, food, electricity, all the essentials? And most importantly, are you still running diving courses for beginners?" They assured me that things were getting back to normal and that boats were running to the island. The people at my hostel told me it was a bad idea to head to an island where people were being evacuated, especially because that very day, the government had sent the only aircraft carrier in all of Thailand to rescue 700 tourists! But based on what I was reading online and what Ban's Diving Resort had told me, I was ready to go anyway. I wasn't ready to sacrifice my dream of scuba diving!

Fate had a different idea... I booked my ticket that day for a bus to the ferry terminal in Chumphon and a ferry over to Koh Tao, but the next morning I awoke to find out that the flooding in Krabi (where I was staying) had caused major damage to the main bridge in Phang Nga Bay and the bridge had collapsed! This bridge is the only way by land to exit Krabi and the gateway to all of Northern Thailand, and so my options were now either to fly somewhere close to Koh Tao (which would mean a flight, a bus, and a ferry, plus a lot of dough!) or to take several ferries and a very indirect route (which would take 24 hours or more). It seemed that it was time to give up my scuba diving dream and so I called Ban's and asked for a refund on my deposit, which thankfully they were able to give me. Because I had already extended my visa in Thailand for the course, I decided to take a few extra days in Krabi to relax, and that leads me to now...

Having a week to spend in one sole location has been quite nice. Things have gotten a little boring from time to time, but having a home base and not having to keep packing up my bags every night has been a relief. Now I'm taking off for Malaysia and a whole new set of experiences and I can't wait! I'm ready for a new culture and some new scenery and I'm sure I will find it there!

Hope you're all safe, happy, and healthy and more to come soon!

Ciao for now,

Max