Our much-hyped Krabi cruise turned out to be something more of a passenger ferry, where the majority of passengers roasted under an unforgiving sun on deck, or breathed dirty diesel fumes down below, while we paid the extra fee to sit in an air-conditioned cabin on the upper deck. Here, like a hundred other places in Thailand, Ong-Bak 2 played in an endless loop.
We had a short stopover on Phi-Phi island, so I ventured into the gaping tourist hole that spread out from the dock like a tropical fungus. Mia, furious about having to pay an“island cleanup fee” upon our arrival, chose to stay behind and fume. With the sun blazing and little interesting to see, I returned 10 minutes later with a strawberry smoothie to chill us out, and we continued on to Krabi.
At $33 a night, our Krabi accomodations were the most expensive of our trip. They were also fairly far from the core of Krabi culture at Railay Bay, but with our “Private Sea View Villa” booked, I was confident that we would—just this once—get a taste of luxury. I could picture the sea air blowing in through big curtained windows, waves practically lapping at our feet as we fell asleep to the soothing sound of the changing tide.
Yeah, not so much.
While the sea was technically visible (provided you stood on the porch with your head turned 90 degrees to the right), the “villa” was a cobwebbed hut with no electricity between 6pm & 6am, and no hot water, ever. On the bright side, they made some pretty good food for decent prices, had a couple of beat-up kayaks for rent, and it was quiet. We took what we could get, which included books and beer on the beach and some time on their single computer, and slept.
