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I started
to make my descent, and all the school kids came down with me. It didn't
feel anywhere near as bad coming down the steps. In fact we came down
without once stopping for breath, let alone collapsing in a heap! One
girl belched loudly and all the lads shouted at once, "Buffalo"! She wasn't
at all embarrassed by it, and two minutes later she belched again, even
louder! And so was the chorus of Buffalo! Most of the way down I was deep
in conversation with the lad with the good English. We were talking music,
and we connected with Jimi Hendrix! Both singing lines out of Purple Haze,
and both squealing the twiddly guitar sounds! He also asked me about my
family, and although I had told him I had a wife and daughter waiting
for me at the bottom, he asked me if I had a girlfriend waiting also!
He must have seen us with the guide, perhaps? And assumed, because it
is a common practice amongst Thai men, that I had brought along my other
woman for a Sunday jaunt! Near the end, a couple from Finland were just
embarking on their climb, so we both warned them to take their time! At
the bottom of the steps Hannah and Julie were waiting for me, along with
my new girlfriend! I had done the climb in 90 minutes, which was good
going for a desk job.
Julie told
me that their 200 steps was hard work, but also rewarding as they found
monks meditating in their alcoves and huts, and countless monkeys hovering
around the people walking up the steps. They were asked, instead of donating,
if they could carry some sand up the steps as they were constructing a
new building in the forest area. If we ever return both Julie and Hannah
can rightfully say they helped to build that temple! She also said that
a group of school kids asked Hannah if they could have their picture taken
with here! They were smitten with her!
It was time
for lunch and we left the Tiger Cave and headed back into Krabi town.
We turned into a local restaurant and sat outside in the open air. The
whole place had a certain charm with its wooden huts, but that charm also
raised concerns over their standard of hygiene. Julie did say that if
there were ever a time we'd get diarrhoea it would be now! The four of
us shared four bowls of food, a green curry, a stir-fry veg, a seaweed
stew, and a bean curd sweet and sour. They were all absolutely delicious
and we all thoroughly enjoyed them all. Perhaps with the exception of
the seaweed, because it was seaweed, and tasted like you had swallowed
half the ocean!
The final
leg of this guided tour was an hour in Krabi town to do some shopping.
We were taken to the only shopping centre in town, and it was more of
a market hall crossed with a department store. It kept us occupied for
an hour though! We bought a pile of crisps, chocolate and beer! All at
over half the price of the mini bar in our room! Bargain! I also bought
a plastic Tak-Raw ball, (they're usually made from wicker). They play
the game similar to volleyball, but only use their legs. And as if lunch
hadn't filled us enough, Hannah and I enjoyed freshly made pancakes from
a stall inside the store! (Right next to the menswear and ladies shoes?)
They were truly scrumptious! They had a huge selection of fillings. Pots
full of strange luminous colours, which we had no idea what flavours they
were. We decided to go for the only colour we recognised, … chocolate!
We were
back at our hotel by 2:45pm, and as the sun was shining we went straight
down to the beach for our first proper sunbathe! Hooray! Lazying in the
sun was just perfect. My aches and pains dissolved under the warmth of
the sun. Before too long a dark rain cloud swallowed up the sun and we
left the beach and made our way up to the swimming pool area. It was about
4pm by now. Shortly afterwards the heavens opened and it rained quite
heavily. It was such a refreshing down pour though as the air was very
hot and humid, but the raindrops were actually cold! All the restaurant
staff peered out of their overlooking window laughing at us westerners
getting excited over a bit of rain! Julie overheard an old lady tell her
partner "See how lovely rain can be in a country like this!" We returned
to our room, and sat out on our balcony, just having a beer, stuffing
our chocolate, and watching the rain fall down through the leaves of the
coconut trees around us. It was here I noticed the strange phenomenon
of actually getting a cold draft coming from the inside! I had to close
the door on the air-conditioned room because it was too cold!
It was time
to get showered and dressed up for the Christmas Eve Gala Evening Dinner.
But before dinner, first it was to the lobby for Happy Hour! That meant
half priced cocktails, so we bought four between the three of us. Gin
Fizzes and Tequila Sunrises all around! We had previously tried phoning
home but there was no reception on the mobile at this resort. We had to
use the phone in the lobby. It was 7pm here so it was 12noon at home.
I needed to know the football results! United beat Ipswich 2-0 thanks
to Ole Solskjaer, yippee! Apparently Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-0, booh!
hiss!!
We moved
on to the Gala Evening, which was held at the Ocean Cliff restaurant.
There was an obscene amount of food on display, but none of it suitable
for vegetarians, except for the boiled rice! We had earlier in the day
booked our table, and noticed that they were hard at work putting up all
the Christmas decorations. Luckily at that time we had mentioned that
we were veggie and the staff said that the chef will prepare something
for Hannah and I. After ten minutes of getting confused looks from the
waitresses, we eventually got sense from someone more senior who told
us our food was on its way. Julie enjoyed a plate full of buffet meats,
but was then disappointed after I told her that she had missed the Roast
Turkey and Roast Beef . She did go back for a small amount of the traditional
fayre but was already full after her first plate. The veggie selection
came as a bowl of soup, and a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce. They tasted
fine, but not exactly what I was expecting. Where was the green curry?
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