Krabi - Bangkok

Woke up a little early since the night prior I fell asleep too early to pack my things.  I got everything together eventually and got ready to check out of the hotel.  We checked on out, and stopped by to get some breakfast at a shore side Indian/Thai restaurant.  They had little pillow mats, short tables, and a friendly cat that was on this bamboo dock platform.  I ordered banana pancakes with honey.  They were wonderful!  I might need to replicate the recipe once at home.  The bananas were in slices segments with batter poured around them.  The honey was a great taste in alternate to syrup.  Our boat pilot arrived and took our tickets.  We had a lengthy march out to the longboat during low tide.  I suspect it was about 100 meters or more before we got to water just below our knees and could then toss our bags up to the bow of the boat.  We climbed aboard, and waited for a few other tourists to board before departing back to the marina.  There we had a taxi arranged to pick us up and take us straight to the airport.  It was refreshing, and such a relief not having to worry about crashing head-on into a bus, or possibly killing moped riders.  We went through to pick up our tickets and check our baggage. Our flight didn’t leave for another hour or two, so I purchased some internet time for the equivalent of a few bucks and sent off a few emails and uploaded some photos.  We boarded our flight and made it back to Bangkok.  

 

Once at the airport we deposited our luggage in the lockers, and packed an overnight pack for the next day and a half.  From there we hopped on the train towards the downtown area.  There were a few more sights we wanted to see.  After visiting a few temple grounds including Wat Arun and taking photos, we hit up several markets to buy souvenirs for family/friends.  I got a few various items, statues and articles of clothes.  Haggling is fun at times, but I'm about worn out by now.  It was starting to get dark, so we headed out to find our hotel we booked for the night.  We got a taxi driver who agreed to take us there off the meter, but gave us a fair price.  We agreed, since it was in the middle of rush hour, and traffic was abysmal.  Eventually we found the address for the hotel, paid the driver, and checked in. 

The family suite was pretty nice for the price.  It had three AC units, that ALL worked!  The place cooled off rapidly to our relief.  After dropping off our things, we decided we needed food.  The streets were littered with dozens of street side food vendors.  We followed our noses to a little noodle wagon that made us some wonderful noodle dish.  All 3 of us paid less than 5 bucks combined.  They provided fresh basil leaves, sprouts, and an assortment of spices, oils, and peppers.  From there we stopped by a few more shops and picked up some little snacks for later.  One of our detours led us down an alley that had a baggie full of green tapioca balls saturated in coconut milk.  I got it for 10 Bt, and continued down the alley.  It got kinda weird when the shops diminished, and loiters increased.  I got a few funny looks from some young girls and it seemed to be getting rather seedy, so we headed back to the hotel.  I deposited the tapioca in the fridge, took a shower, and went online to catch up on some emails.  The soup I ate earlier was wonderful, but might have upset my stomach a bit.  Oh well, it was worth it.  The tapioca dish after refrigeration was divine!  I would happily pay twice the amount for more of it!  Went to bed.