Around The World In 72 Days - Krabi/Ao Nang Lazy Days Almost Over

Our planned recovery time is about at an end. It was just about the perfect length to allow us recuperation between the intense first month of travel and the last 3 weeks which promises to be every bit as intense. Krabi/Ao Nang is not a place we have any desire to return to being as intensely tourist and outdoor activity oriented as it is. However, because of the specifics of the home we are renting and its location on the very outskirts of the tourist area, we've actually had a very tranquil stay.

Our days have fallen into a pattern. I get up early and take a walk to the waterfront and back. Wife joins me as she is in the mood. It is pretty hot and sticky by the time I get back. Breakfast is either made (eggs) or purchased (fried chicken, fried bananas & small donuts...yes the ultimate health diet! And who would have thought that fried chicken would have become a go to breakfast item). 

Every other day we will put a load of laundry on because it is easier for us to find hanging areas for small batches. Then its into the pool. I do some laps. Wife does some water aerobics. None of it is very intense. And there are lots of breaks for talking. We're doing a LOT of talking. There are just some things that we're really putting our heads around. We've jokingly called the pool The Boardroom.

I usually shower & shave after pool/boardroom time. We do online stuff after that - some blogging, research, work (for me), Rotary, etc. I will typically nap early. We eat a snack. Then we either go to the outdoor market or order food in. Delivery here is so fast that it doesn't really pay to eat out. Mon-Thu I frequently have meetings anywhere from 4pm to 9pm to various parts of the world for Theodora, paying clients, or Rotary projects. Then its relaxation time with a nice after dinner drink. 

Repeat as often as necessary. It is sort of the antithesis of the crazed de-I/Wife assault touring.

Another Morning Walk

Fighting Fowl?

Every night and early morning we are serenaded to the sound of two roosters in our neighborhood. I thought roosters are territorial. But these two hang around together all the time. And I don't see any chickens. I'm wondering of they are fighting cocks. They sure the heck prime specimens if you ask me and the back of their feet have these nasty look spurs. (Though on close examination of this picture, they appear clipped)

The weather has turned rather dramatically over the last four days. We've gone from dry season extreme heat and humidity, to afternoon torrential downpours, slightly lower temperatures and extreme humidity (this is SE Asia). The rain has caused the view at the waterfront to be slightly clearer.

 Hunt for Espouses Fotograficus 

Loyal readers will know that de-I makes a point of researching in depth the likelihood of find the rare and elusive Espouses Fotograficus whenever he is in the world. Most of the time the shy Fotograficus is very aware of her surroundings and resists her image being captured. My studies indicated there were sighting in Ao Nang. One must be patient and very subtle in one's actions to capture this rare beauty.

I followed her up into town

Something was calling to her

 

 

 On deciphering Fried Chicken

I know I am verging on being poetic on my appreciation for the fried chicken we've been getting. But it is not just the local fried chicken (which is uniformly good), but particularly our local little vendor. She is one woman with one helper (at least every day we've gone there which is about six times so far). The helper is doing the cooking, the woman is filling the orders. 

It is a popup stand. It's gone by 10am. I have yet to see her miss a day so I don't know when she takes time off. She works her ass off. It is hot from the product being fried to the beating sun. I have never gone there when there isn't a number of people waiting to be served. Everywhere else I've seen, the chicken has been made earlier and is sitting out. Her orders are going out so fast that I've never seen the chicken last more than 10 minutes. I wish I could write a Google review or something but she's too small to be listed.

Fate would have it that I saw an article about Southern Thai food that confirmed how ubiquitous fried chicken is as a breakfast, street food item. And they had a recipe that simply called for the chicken to be brined. But the chicken I am seeing does not look like just a brine.

With us leaving in just another day, I may never find out.

Around The World In 72 Days - Around Ao Nang

Wife and I decided to overcome our aversion to the total tourist oriented vibe of Ao Nang and actually get out and look around. The vast majority of people who come to Krabi are looking for outdoor activities (mainly, but not exclusively, water oriented), or partying, or both. Going into our Airbnb pool was plenty of aquatic activity for us. However, the marketing material for the various boat trips to and around various islands suggested the potential for an interesting photographic experience. 

We discussed the options with one of the hundreds of people touting these tours. Our big question was getting in and out of the boats, especially with Wife's back issues. We made a trip to the Ao Nang Pier to get an idea of what we would be getting into. 

There were a lot of boats.

 

It was reminiscent of China. The idea that this would be us alone in the sea taking pictures was thrust out of our minds. Watching the on and off boarding sealed the deal that it was not something we were going to do.

We contented ourselves with taking photos of the activity

 

The next morning we decided to get up early, walk down to the water front and see if there was anything interesting to photograph

This is NOT a morning place

 

 

The Jungle is never far away

 

A good time for those who want to contemplate

 

 The family business

Hmmm, seems like management might have an employee engagement problem here

 SIGNS OF THE WORLD

 

 No thank you. I gave at the office in Taiwan.

Around The World In 72 Days - Krabi Thailand Dining

As a correction, we are not actually in Krabi Town. We are in Ao Nang. It is an important distinguishing fact. Because Ao Nang is (evidently) known to be even more touristy than Krabi Town. Clearly de-I didn't do a whole lot of research into the places where this rest stop were going to take place. 

But even a blind squirrel will find some nuts. We've lucked out as we are on the absolute outskirts of the Ao Nang tourist area (which goes an incredibly long way down from the inland area we are then along the coast. I mentioned this in my May 1 post. As we spend more time here we are finding more and more gems among the local places. 

We've been venturing out in the evening (when everything really picks up). There is a very small night market not far away. Some writers say it is tourist oriented. But the food we've had has been good and we see a lot of local people stopping there.

 

 

This part of Thailand is very Muslim and has a lot in common with Malaysia

Our first dish of the evening - a Kebab Wrap

End product - Chicken Kebab Wrap

 

 

 

Here are some food-on-a-stick options. Some of these we still need to try.

There is one stall where a woman is making salads - green papaya, green mango, cucumber - I love these.

End product - Spicy Mango Salad

And we scored some excellent Samosas

Leaving the market with lit up minarets a la Flame Towers of Baku

I want to return to our breakfast find of a few days ago. This has become a regular now and we are adding to it. As fate would have it, a food publication I get had an article on Southern Thai cooking, highlighting the Muslim influence, and calling out the fried chicken, sticky rice with fried shallots as the quintessential South Thai food.

 

Our morning breakfast shopping.

A more 'plated' shot of breakfast. You will not the fried dough things. Another recent discovery. On the banana leaf is sticky rice with some onion jam thing.

Around The World In 72 Days - Krabi - Learning Our Way Around

We are past the halfway point! It's all downhill from here. 

We are still getting into our rhythm here in Krabi. Truth be told, I didn't do a whole lot of research on what Krabi was all about. We were looking for a particular type of rental where we knew we could not do anything and chill because of the expectation (rightfully) that we'd be wiped out after we were done with China. Now that we are here, I can say with confidence this will not be a place we will come back to. 

Nonetheless, we have what we really want from our accommodations. And, I have to say, Wife and I have become quite comfortable making our way around in the more populated areas of SE Asia that are serviced by the Grab network. I know I sound like the worst shill for this company, but it truly does make getting around, and getting fed super easy.

So what is it about Krabi that is not our cup of tea? Well, it is a tourist beach and party town. There are beautiful beaches. And the water in the area around is reputed to be top notch. Unfortunately, neither Wife nor I are into any water activities. (We are exploring the idea of going out on a boat to do some photography). 

Here are a few images from the main drag in town to give you a feel for the vibe.

 

 

 This is representative of so many of the restaurants around here.

Once you get down to the beach.

 If you are not happy with Partyland, you can choose Resortland.

 We have yet to get out in the evening. Because of the heat that is when most things are open. I have done early morning walks because that is when the heat is less.

 

 We were back at the supermarket this morning. Before we could check out one of the staff told us we couldn't buy alcohol before 11am (it was 10:30). So to kill time we went searching for snack foods. This is always an interesting thing to do in a different country. Here are some of the things we acquired.

These were with the roasted nuts.

They're actually pretty good.

 

 I actually bought these the first time we went on Sunday.

Have not tried these yet. I'm thinking they're the Halal friendly version of pork rinds.