Monday, March 05, 2018

Thailand 2018




Deb and I went to Thailand for a 5th time.  It was our longest trip thus far to one of our favorite places to visit.  Tully and a few friends told us they were going to Railay to climb this year so I convinced Deb we should join them over there.  This trip was different in that we first went to the island of Loa Liang.  This required more traveling and boat time as Koh Lao Liang is further south, almost to Malaysia.  The extra travel there by speed boat was worth it as Lao Liang was beautiful and quiet.  It had warm, soft sandy beaches with good snorkeling.  The climbing was right there on the beach near our tents.  We also took kayaks and explored the neighboring island where there was excellent snorkeling along the reef and deserted beach.  Sunrises were spectacular! The tents were large and comfortable and we had a fan to keep us somewhat cool at night.  The food was interesting and served 3 times daily under a thatched pavilion.  Sometimes we weren't sure exactly what we were eating but it was good and authentic Thai cuisine.  After a 4 night stay there we traveled to Railay.  At that point Tully and the gang went on to Krabi and eventually Bangkok.  Deb and I stayed 7 more nights at the Bhu Nga Thani, our favorite resort hotel in Railay.  We found the area to be much the same as before.  Still bustling with tourists from Europe, Russia and other Asian countries.  The early morning climbing sessions were cool and quiet and definitely the best time of the day.  We enjoyed the beaches and sun, but found the peak afternoon hours to be quite hot this trip. I did also take a rest day to go diving.  It was a particularly good dive around a small island.  Deb snorkeled above as usual.   Towards the end of the trip, Deb came down with a high fever and headaches.  I started her on antibiotics, but I think she picked up a viral infection.  Possibly even Dengue Fever.  Our flight home was very drawn out and long.  This prompted us to upgrade to better seats on our flight from Wuhan, China to San Francisco. It made that 11 hour flight much more pleasant.  We arrived home exhausted as we had been up for 51 hours and traveling for 41 hours.  Wish there was an easier way to get to our favorite vacation spot.