Our final few days in Kata Beach were spent in similar fashion to the last update: swimming, reading, eating tropical fruit and delicious Thai food. Rod and Hamish had a bit of a break from Thai food. Rod hasn’t been so lucky in his pursuit of western foods: he ordered steak which was both tough and tiny; he ordered a chicken fajita which was a chicken breast stuffed with mushroom and cheese, with some corn and peas and other random things on the side. Hamish’s pizza on the other hand looked incredible. I have only ordered Thai food because in a blink of an eye, we will be back in Wangaratta wishing we were not.

Cat Cafe – by Rod

Eighteen months ago we all visited the Neko Cat Cafe in Phuket. Hamish and I were hungry to get reacquainted and jumped in a cab. It’s a short trip, full of anticipation. We are not disappointed when we arrive, as there are only two other families present and we are shown straight in. There appears to have been some turnover in staff, so we don’t recognise many of the cats. Hamish thinks a couple look familiar, though. We order some smoothies and purchase some cat treats, too. The cats must get lots of this stuff, you’d think, but they seem ravenous for more. We have several instant friends, ostensibly due to the food we provide, but we are sure they would prefer our company in any case. We are clearly more “cat people” than the other clients. This is confirmed when one family leaves and stands (for some time) with the door open whilst they are putting on their shoes! The owner almost has a conniption as she calls out something in Thai and rushes over to close the door before any recalcitrant staff member contemplates an adventure on the street. Then the other family wander from their table, leaving a half-eaten chocolate-based dessert within easy reach. More hysteria from the owner as she removes the plate from the opportunistic employees. Hamish and I exchange eye rolls as we keep other cats comforted and entertained.

After an hour we meet our cabbie and head back to the apartment; tummies replete with smoothies and our fix of cats sorted.

Ferry Transfer

The day after we arrived at Kata Beach, we booked our transfer from Phuket to Krabi with a young travel agent we’d met on our last trip. No longer on her L plates, she was a picture of confidence when we asked about our options for getting to Krabi. To clarify, Krabi is a province – part of the province is a beach town called Aonang and Krabi town (a bit further away). I digress… We chose the ferry transfer – 2 hours, $45 each and accommodation pick up/drop off. I watched a few reels about horror crossings with huge waves, tourists being sea sick and luggage rolling around! In light of this (and my need to be organised for any possibility) we prepared a little pack of emergency items: spew bags we’d collected from flights along the way, travel sickness tablets, wipes and anti emetics – we spoke to Hamish about what to do if we find ourselves in the water. Yes, I am that parent.

If Phuket was Little Russia, the ferry terminal was Little Australia: lots of young Australians sporting their tattoos, mullets and tans. After having a few snacks and washing our travel calms down with some coke, it was time for us to board. The Thai deckies helped many people heft their luggage up the steep stairs – then they just take your bag, stow it and you hope it’s going to be there at the end of the trip.

Question: what do you do with airline seats from planes that are no longer in service? You put them in a ferry of course! The cabin was very well air conditioned – in fact, it was colder than my Mum’s air conditioned lounge room! (If you know, you know). Other than that, being a bit cold, nothing eventful happened. I had a nap, Rod and Hamish listened to music, our bags made it to the other end and we arrived at our beautiful oasis with little stress.

A note on aging: I pride myself on being able to carry my suitcase and backpack without assistance. That’s kind of the rule of travelling isn’t it? If you can’t carry it, you’ve overpacked. At times, I ask for help or Rod just kindly assists me without being asked. At the Krabi terminal, I was skilfully carrying my bags, walking down stairs and the gangway, when a deckie just took my suitcase out of my hands, hoisted it onto his shoulder and delivered it to the dock. Grateful, but perhaps I am starting to look old in a sea of young tourists! Hamish said he’d wished someone had carried his bag!

Krabi Green Hill Villas

I can’t remember how I found this accommodation, but it is heaven. We are in a very modest 2 bedroom ‘villa’ (stand alone, self contained apartment) and it’s perfect. Mr Pat is the onsite Mr. Manager – he is softly spoken (even by Thai standards). On our first morning, Rod and I were sitting on our veranda having coffee and Mr Pat tells me he’ll bring me a watermelon. Five minutes later he returns on his scooter with a shy smile and a little round watermelon. We have prepared two curries in the tiny kitchen (one hot plate, one rice cooker) with local ingredients and spice mixes from the small supermarket.

It’s about 1km to the small shopping strip of the semi rural village of Ban Nong Thale. We walk along the busy two lane road – there’s a hairdresser on one side, a fruit market on the other and a couple of dead snakes thrown in for good measure. In town, there’s a couple of tiny little restaurants, a 7-11, a variety store and a mini supermarket. Last night we had dinner in one of the restaurants and the total (3 x mains and 2 x 600ml cokes) was $10. The dishes came out one at a time (because there’s only one wok) but they were delicious and very filling. Ten dollars – I still can’t believe it. There are not many white tourists in this part of town – little kids hold their hands out for high fives, last night a kid just poked Rod in the back.

Four Islands Day Trip

Through our host, we booked a day trip on a speedboat, the “Four Islands” trip (book through the host, pay in cash to Mr Pat). Mr Pat practically helped us into the mini van – he is like an overprotective Uncle, making sure we are OK and that everything is OK! We were transferred to the beach where our names were taken in a very orderly and organised fashion. It felt like every tourist in Aonang was on the beach yesterday morning waiting to be whisked away to islands by speedboats!

Whilst we waited, I bought a little pack of fresh mango for a dollar (everything is packed into plastic bags) which I ate whilst Rod walked along the beach taking photos. Just after 9, our group of about 20 were given a short briefing by our guide, whom I’m going to call Will (because he reminds us of a Will we know!) and also I didn’t understand most of what he said that day (including his name) except for key phrases like: now we go, islands, low tide, be back 1 hour 15 (50?) minutes, snorkel next island, there are no sharks here and so forth. We followed Will and another crew member and boarded our speedboat and took off at pace with no mention of life jackets.

During the day we visited:

Railay Beach – famous for rock caves and beaches you can only reach by boat

Chicken Island – yes, a rock which kind of looks like a chicken.
We snorkelled in a quiet spot near Chicken Island

Tup Island – which is connected to another island via an isthmus at low tide

Poda Island – quite large, we had lunch here (rice, chicken, chicken stir fry – none of it refrigerated and/or heated up!) and a swim

It was a perfect day. We had plenty of, “I can’t believe we’re here” and “we are so lucky” moments. We have four more days in Thailand before we fly to KL for the last week of our trip before we come home.