June 1, 2002. Took this boat to Na Thon, back on the mainland. I already don't like it and want to go back to the islands. There's a distinct difference between the islands and the mainland. Outside of the physical differences, the people seem to be more laid back in on the islands. I guess being surrounded on all four sides with water mellows you out. After arriving in Na Thon, we caught a bus to Krabi.

I really hate long bus rides, no matter how comfortable the bus is, you're still in a moving vehicle that seats 50. How comfortable can that possibly be? Anyway, we got dropped off at the Krabitown bus depot in the middle of the night. The place was totally deserted and thoughts of masked thieves swooping out of the darkness crossed my mind a few times.

At the bus depot, we had to make a decision as to where we wanted to stay in Krabi. I had no idea where we were and where I wanted to go, so we just hopped onto a taxi/truck with a bunch of other English-speakers and headed to Ao Nang with them. As usual, the taxi was packed beyond capacity, so I ended up hanging off the back of it with another guy. This is how I met Tuan, from Denmark.

He was travelling with Tao, from Boston and also in the truck was Kim, from London. Kim had been to Krabi less than a week ago, so we were all relying on her for advice.The guest house Kim was staying at was full, so the four of us went to a hotel right beside it called Jinda. Abok and I went the cheap route and got a room with no A/C, which was conveniently located on the fourth floor (stairs only). We made plans to meet up for dinner the following day.

June 2, 2002. We rented bikes and rode around Ao Nang. There wasn't too much to see or do there, as we weren't really in the choicest area (that being Railay Beach, accessible only by boat, during the day). There were still quite a few days left before I was leaving and I was near the end of my last disposible camera, so I had to go look for another one. One thing I learned in Ao Nang: don't buy cameras there. You'll see why in a moment.

We were totally bored out of our minds, so we went for a dip in the sea. That's the nice thing about being close to a beach, there's always something to do. This many look like a shot of just water, but I'm there, right in the middle of the picture. You can't see them, but just to the left are two topless women.

Abok had this crazy notion that he would learn Thai cuisine while he was here. So we went off in search of a cooking school for him. We followed the main highway up for about 30 minutes before we saw one. He decided to go in and check it out while I kept exploring the area alone. I was low on gas, so I headed into the cooking school to find Abok and tell him that I'd meet him back at the hotel. The cooking school was located about a kilometre off the highway, on a little dirt path.

I went in about a half kilometre and didn't see any sign of a cooking school or Abok, so I turned around and headed back to the highway. I figured at worst, Abok had been kidnapped and was on his way up north, where he would be forced to slave away in some coconut plantation, and I would get his Discman.

Turned out that Abok couldn't find the place either and took an alternate route back to the highway. I bumped into him as I was riding around. It was starting to get dark, so we decided to get back to the hotel and get ready for dinner with everyone else.

All of a sudden the sky opened up and started dumping buckets on us. It got so bad that I had to pull over for a bit because I couldn't keep my eyes open in the heavy rain.

Once we got back to the hotel, we ran back out into the rain and stood there for a bit.

This and the two photos above were taken with the camera I bought in Ao Nang. The salesclerk scammed me into buying this one. I should have known better than to buy the last of the cheapest kind available. Of course, I didn't know that it was shitty quality and had that annoying little band across the bottom until I developed them back in Bangkok a few days later.

I took this photo while riding around earlier today. I don't think that you can really make it out all that well, but it;s a field with row upon row of something or other planted. With the way the sky looked, I thought that it was reminiscent of one of those UFO movies where the main character is out walking around alone in a field and all of a sudden, a silver disc appears just over the horizon.

I was so caught up in my little fantasy that I almost wet myself when my leg brushed up against a tree branch lying on the ground.

June 3, 2002. The previous night, shooting pool at Bernie's Guest House. L to R: Me, Abok, Kim, Tao and Tuan. I sat out most of the night with Tao, because we both sucked, while the other three played until closing time.

It's 8:05am right now and I am waiting to go to Ko Phi Phi Don with Abok, Tuan and Tao (I forget where Kim was heading).

I have a story to tell you. We spent our last night here in some spectacular fashion. I locked our keys in the room by accident. Abok wasn't too impressed with that, but we spent the remainder of the night searching out the hotel manager. It was about 10pm, so all the staff had gone home, and the manager who usually sleeps here, decided to take this particular night off. Just my luck.

Luckily, Kim let us stay in her room (she was going out for the night) on the condition that we wouldn't read her diary. I didn't read a word, but it will be posted on this site in its entirety soon (just kidding Kimmie). What a great gal.

And what's more, I can back to check at Jinda, in hopes that someone would be there to help me, and met a Thai man named Pao. he worked in one of the hotels in the area, but he was obviously off duty at the time (he was entertaining a rather attractive lady). Still, he took the time to walk down the street with me to find a payphone and tried to contact the manager for me. And when he failed to do so, he even offered to let me stay in his room! I was totally blown away by the kindness of the people here. Makes me wonder why I'm always such as bastard. =)