The Long Road Home

We returned to KL from Krabi on Tuesday, and had the afternoon to do some laundry and enjoy one last hurrah at the pool before packing up. We swam, played at the playground and played ping pong at the condo's rec center.

We also experimented with a ping pong ball in the fountain - it didn't go as quickly down the stairs as we predicted! Here they are ready to catch it when it comes down...

We packed our things and found that we needed an extra bag (thanks, Tiffany!) to haul home our treasures and holiday gifts. The taxi picked us up at 11:30 the following morning to take us to the airport. It all went by so fast! Here are the kids waiting for our taxi.

I must admit that all of our travels did put my nerves to the test, especially with the recent disaster near Malaysia. We flew Malaysian Airlines our first trip to Krabi, and Air Asia for our second trip. The crash between Indonesia and Singapore happened while we were in Krabi, and we still had to get back to KL on Air Asia. These last flights almost put me over the edge, but all went smoothly. My thoughts go out to the families of those on Air Asia flight 8501. Here are Chris and Tilly, ready to head home.

We arrived in Taipei, Taiwan a little after 8 and had 3.5 hours before our next flight. Chris and I were both feeling a bit under the weather so we just tried to keep everyone entertained. We had heard about these free massage chairs in the airport and they were a hit - you just have to collect tokens from an information center and relax. They even kept Tilly and Levi occupied for 30 minutes!

After that we got some tea and did whatever we could to kill time until we boarded at 11:10.

The kids didn't sleep at all on our flight from KL to Taipei so they were beat, and it became clear that Chris and I were coming down with something. The flight from Taipei to Seattle is quite a bit shorter on the way home due to the jet stream, so we only had a 10 hour flight. We left Taipei at 11:50, and just missed celebrating 2 New Year's Eves by 10 minutes! We arrived in Seattle on time at 5:50 pm on the 31st and stayed downtown so we wouldn't have to drive home in our weary states. The kids slept a lot on the plane so we ordered room service for dinner and tried to keep them up a bit longer in hopes of getting back on schedule. Levi fell asleep around 11pm, but Tilly and I stayed awake to enjoy the fireworks over the Space Needle! Our hotel looked out to the needle, so we were able to view them in pj's (and winter coats - brrrr!) from our deck. She thought it was the coolest, and Levi was really bummed to hear that he missed them.

So, we made it home New Year's Day and have been re-adjusting to normal life and time. The first night home nobody could sleep until late, and we all slept until noon the next day - Tilly logged almost 15 hours of zzz's! The last couple nights have been a bit better and I'm hoping that we will all be functional by 9am tomorrow. Monday is back to school and work, jet-lagged or not! We loved our adventures, and are already planning the next one. Well, at least I am - It is too cold here! I love sitting outside at night in a tank top and shorts. Cheers!

Back to the Beach - We love Krabi!

We could not stay away from Thailand so we searched for last minute deals. This was not a trip that we planned for, so we went into it with a limited budget and an attitude of adventure. We were not sure what to expect considering the mixed reviews of the hotel we booked and the lack of availability given our last minute decision to travel, but it turned out great! The kids were exhausted by the time we reached the hotel. Sticking with our low cost theme, we opted for the shuttle bus instead of a taxi to our hotel. We took the scenic route through Krabi town, which Chris and I thought was great, but the kids grew tired of the bus once the novelty of riding a bus wore off. Here they are in the lobby while we checked in.

We stayed at the Krabi Cha-Da Resort, just up the hill from Ao Nang Beach in Krabi. It was a busy area, with lots of resorts, restaurant options, and great people watching. After we checked in, we hit the pool, and were impressed by the view from our deck and the pool area.

After a short swim, we ventured out to get a feel for our location. The kids were hot so a quick ice cream stop was in order, but we were not planning on the mess! Chris had to locate some wipes to clean the kids up before we could continue on our way.

After some delicious dinner, we walked the strip along the beach, full of shops, restaurants and fun tourist traps, including someone offering pics with a spider monkey! The kids were excited to ride in a tuk tuk, so we flagged down a van-style tuk tuk for a ride back up the hill to the hotel.

The next day we wanted to take the kids on a long boat, so we researched some nearby beaches and decided to make the short trip to Railay Beach. Railay is actually on a peninsula attached to Krabi, but it is inaccessible by roads due to the steep cliffs surrounding the beach, so the only way to get there is by boat. We bought tickets to take a long boat (about $3 US per person each way - Levi was free) to West Railay Beach and it turned out to be one of the best days of the trip. The boat ride took about 15 minutes and provided amazing views of the coastline. We waded out to the boat, and climbed aboard with a few other passengers.

The beach was beautiful, with a swimming area that provided gentle waves to play in and numerous cafes and restaurants for beach refreshments. We stayed as long as the kids could handle the sun and surf. Ice cream, of course, always provides relief from the hot sun.

Tilly took the last photo above of us on the beach, and we caught a boat back to Ao Nang. The scenery on the way back was amazing, and we loved every minute of Railay Beach.

We returned to the Cha-Da Resort and swam for a few minutes in the pool before the rains hit. And boy, did they hit! We escaped to our room just before the downpour, that lasted about an hour. Then we ventured out for some dinner and chose a place on the beach called Thai Thai Restaurant. It had awesome holiday decor, and little did we know that it also had great entertainment - We were even serenaded by Whitney Houston!!

After dinner we stopped at a fish spa because Levi changed his mind after he heard Tilly's report of the fish nibbles at the KL Central Market. It was so funny to watch them squirm and giggle for 15 minutes of fish tickles. Tilly said these were much gentler, as the fish were waaaay smaller than she experienced in KL.

The next day was our last full day and we wanted to take a long boat to a different, more secluded beach. But our plans were foiled when I tripped on a rusty hook at breakfast. Tilly's chair tipped over as she was climbing in, and when I jumped up to grab her, the hook caught the top of my foot and I got a nasty scrape. The people in the lobby were very helpful and cleaned it up the best they could, but I wanted to see a doctor to get it cleaned. There were a couple walk-in clinics just down the street and I stopped into one that was empty and had it checked out. They cleaned it well, bandaged it up, but said absolutely no swimming or getting it in the beach water for at least one full day!! Not what I wanted to hear, but I was freaked out about the possibility of infection, so we scrapped plans for a long boat ride and decided to hit the local beach. And its a good thing we did, because about an hour after we set up on the beach a huge storm rolled in and we got soaked! We tried to hide under our beach mat, but everything got wet, including my phone (which has miraculously recovered from lots of moisture this trip - thank goodness for the rice treatment!) and my foot. We took advantage of a break in the downpour to scramble back to the main street and hail a tuk tuk back to the hotel. Here was my not so terrible view while nursing my foot before the rains began.

And here is the rainy view from our hotel room during the storm.

We couldn't sit in the room for long, so we grabbed an umbrella and headed out to find some street food. The kids declared their favorite tuk tuks to be the little motorcycle ones, and this particular driver gave us a memorable ride. There was a monkey riding on a pile of coconuts on a tuk tuk ahead of us and he was on a mission to catch up with it. Here we are holding on for dear life, and here is the monkey we were after!

We got dropped off at a strip of street vendors and found some local delicacies to snack on before dinner. The kids shared some grilled corn, and Chris and I shared some papaya salad in a bag. It was delicious, but I still think its weird to eat out of a plastic bag.

To finish a great trip, we had some amazing noodle dishes for dinner. Here is a pic of Chris's favorite meal (noodle soup) and his favorite chefs (great fro's, huh?) and here is my favorite - the Boat Noodle counter.

We love everything about Thailand - the people, the climate, the food, the culture, and the scenery. Can't wait to get back when the kids are a bit older, and hit Bangkok, Chang Mai, and some new beaches. We know a few words in Thai, but will definitely get some more lessons from Yaya before our next trip.