Ao Nang, Krabi

 Well we were sad to leave one of our favorite spots Koh Lanta but knew we would have some fun things to do in Ao Nang, Railey, and the surrounding areas in Krabi.  The 2 hour boat ride turned into at least 4 by the time you arrive where you need to be.  The boats run at low speed, the tourist with huge roller luggage and the minimal directions for new comers to Thailand is the reason why this probably occurs.  We made it, they have a new pier here which is not near the main town, so we get carted of by bus for free to the main part of Ao Nang as we do not have a place to stay yet.
 We head down the main street and see a very significant change since our trip here in '07.  Starbucks, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, and 3 times the hotels and restaurants.  This place has become a very busy tourist area, but that is what it is known for.  One thing Ray and I have noticed  this time is that the main tourists are European and come with big families.  Last time we were here it was low season and mainly couples and backpackers.  We find a place to crash for one night, then spend the evening scooting around to  find a new place to stay for the remainder of time, we thought we would spend a bit extra for xmas and New Years.  A present to ourselves!
 All checked in the next day we start to explore. We do and old scooter trip we did last time and it was fun again.  Except the sore ass for like 24 hours after.  We find some good restaurants, Italian is big here, and Western food, but only some of it is good.  The Thai food is good but the Indian was just ok.  There are some really good places to eat and some really crappy places to eat so we choose wisely each night.
 We book our first climbing trip through Ao Nang Climbers, really nice people, met a nice couple of guys from Malaysia who were hanging out there, we hope to meet up again with along our travels.  We leave bright and early the next day, to Railey, at the 1 2 3 wall.  Which is very popular for all climbing companies.  It almost seems unsafe at times with so many people around who don't understand climbing etiquette.  We did the full day trip from 8 am to 6pm which in the end was too much for our first time in months climbing.  I have never been so tired as I was that night, xmas eve I was asleep by 8:30 pm.   The guides were funny and helpful, and met some nice people on our tour.
 Railey is beautiful but full of people, plus it costs more to stay there so we stay in Ao Nang.  We want to do more climbing but realized the next day we pushed it a bit and our arms and hands may not work quite yet.  So we relax a bit, did a yoga class, and some swimming at the beach.  Then Ray wants to go Deep water soloing, so we talk to our climber friends at Ao Nang Climbers and they set up a group with another company.  We head out later in the day as we need a high tide to do this, around 9am or 10am each day is different.   We board a bigger boat and head out to a small island off of the mainland.  As we make the corner around the back we see some people climbing with another company.  Looks like fun!  I did not pay for the climbing so I am a little jealous now but enjoy watching and taking pictures, I did swim and snorkel to pass time.  We have only ever seen it on you tube and videos so it's so cool to see it live.  One guy from Singapore in our group is a very good climber he does really well and climbs quite high.  Again the people from Singapore are so great, funny and really easy going.  Ray said the climbing is not too bad, but the ladder at the bottom is harder than the climbing.  He said it's weird swimming in climbing shoes, I bet!  The day is hot so being in the water is nice.  The first spot is easy, the second spot was a bit harder and only a few people try.  So all in all most people only climbed 4 times the whole 5 hours.  Ray said the mental ability is different when you have to jump down, seems way higher from up even 10 feet.  Hey Ray, did you see the big Jelly fish! AH!
 We decide to stay here till after the New Year, so we book our hotel longer.  It was definitely weird being here for xmas but a nice change from the craziness of it at home.  Missed the nieces and nephews at this time of year as they are fun to watch.  Now we are planning to move onto Ko Tao a top choice of ours since our last trip to Thailand.