Koh Tao, Bangkok & Ko Chang.

Well we made our way from Ao Nang early January 1st to Koh Tao.  We were the only ones on the minibus seeing as probably half the world was hungover from New Years Eve.  Worked out good for us, but did end up being a bit tired due to fireworks and drunk people during the night.
We got to the Ko Tao Ferry fairly smoothly, but about 1 minute into the boat ride we noticed it was really rough water, huge swells, the boat was back and forth the whole way.  So for the next 2 hours we hung on and tried to watch the horizon, but nothing was going to help.  I never threw up but felt sick but many people were, Ray was even  a bit queazy.  When we arrived we tried t find a scooter, or anything, and almost everything was sold out, we got a shitty bike but at least we got one.  We made our way down to a different spot( Sairee Beach) than the last time we visited, and found very little available and all very pricey.  Welcome to the tourist season once again, everything was way more money than our last visit to Thailand.
We found a place, pretty dumpy but a place nontheless.  The next morning we ate, then I wasn't feeling very good, ended up in bed all day with a fever,  Ray was a very good nurse, you would be proud Al.  We took it easy that day, but went and found a better place to stay, with aircon for me.  This took me awhile to kick at least over a week after this first day, but slowly it got better.
The next day we took a scary scooter ride out to our last favorite snorkel spot, out at Blacktip Dive Resort.  As soon as we arrived the waves looked rough again.  Obviously March/April is calmer and cleaner, the water was full of garbage and it was hard to stay afloat, more work to swim out and in.  Sort of disapointed but we made our way back to the main part of the island again and tried to find the bouldering company in town.  We did but they had no mats, but gave us an idea of where to go  and to go check it  out befor we rented the mat.  The area we looked at was really beautiful, called the Secret Garden.  Ray tried a couple befor we rented the boulder mat, they were pretty tough.  It's tough work in warm weather and we need to get alot better at bouldering.
We decided after a couple days in that we were not as happy with Koh Tao as the first visit and wanted to remember it the way it was the first time.  Quieter, cleaner, and less expensive, so much building has happened there and it is so busy now.  Still nice, but not the same feel, so we decide to make our way to Bangkok to decide the next move, which is really up in the air.  The boat ride back was not as bad, but the long ride to Bangkok on a stinky, semi-airconditioned bus began.  We left at 10:15 'ish and arrived in Bangkok at 9pm.  Grabbed a taxi and headed out of Kho San Road toward our Dream Hotel.  We missed this place, it is stil very nice, showing a bit of wear but still so great.
We spend the next 4 days, sleeping, eating, shopping, going to movies, researching on the internet and just chill'in in Bangkok.  Sorry dad still can't find " Lucy's Tiger Den", though it is our running joke to find it when we get here everytime.  We always have one eye out for it just to see if it's true and still exists.
Ray wanted to finish his tattoo with "One" the guy who did his and mine the last time in Thailand so we book a trip to Ko Chang for a couple days and just bring the daypack as we will return to Bangkok after this.  So far so good, another fairly long day but much smoother than alot we have done, we are settled in to a new Bungalow and will start his Tattoo work hopefully tomorrow.  This island is still nice, was pretty basic befor especially around Lonely Beach but it has improved for the better, bit more here now, and it will be even better in like a year or two I think, and cheap finally!!!!!!!  150 Baht for dinner last night which is like $4 Canadian for both of us.

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.

Koh Lanta

On Koh Lanta we hit up our old favorite bungalow "Seapearl" and they were even better than we remembered. With a new owner they had added beach platforms for dining and a new restaurant, and menu. We stayed on the island 5 days and only ate at Thai cat (attached to sea pearl) food was awesome each and every time. We did alot of nothing on Lanta, relaxed and took some time to just chill in one place. We did do a scooter tour one day  and went to Old Lanta town, a place we missed on the '07 trip but we made time for it this time around, it was pretty cool old trade town we took a few snaps and had a coffee, before heading back to our bungalow.

 "A" had read about an Animal shelter who always needed volunteers so we stopped by one afternoon to check it out and see if we could give a hand, as you all know we are animal lovers. After a quick tour of the place, we each got hooked up with 2 dogs, "A" walked Punk and Sara, and I was walking Sorry and Chili. things started off with a bit of excitement, about 30 feet from the driveway we passed another lady who was on her way back from walking one of the other shelter dogs. well apparently Sorry didn't get along with this dog and went after him, she slipped her collar and there was fur and growling going in ever direction. Having some smarts I didn't want to use my travel insurance for a rabies shot just yet, I grabbed Sorry from the hind quarters and pulled her off the other dog, meanwhile poor chili was getting dragged along behind me as me and the other walker lady were trying to separate the two dogs. After a few minutes of excitement we manged to get the dogs apart and settled down, after a quick check for damage my flip flop was the only casualty.
With a new collar and no other dogs to get upset over the six of us (me, A, and 4 dogs) went off for our walk with no more excitement just a nice walk in the tropics with some really nice dogs who could use a good home.
We felt pretty good for helping out, it wasn't much but some fun, exercise and play time was had.