Sunday 15th April 2012 - Krabi

I never want to drink again!!!! Despite setting my alarm to wake me up with enough time to get ready for my pickup for Hong Island, my alarm did not go off!! All I know is that I was woken up by a knock on my door. I was so confused I shouted hello?! The man replied "you go to Hong Island". I jumped up so fast like "shit!!!" I looked at my phone like you stupid thing but it had evidently died during the night so all I could do was run around like a headless chicken without washing my face or brushing my teeth and jump into the back of the truck where there were maybe five other people waiting. I apologised to everyone and then realised, damn I feel drunk still". I put my sunglasses on trying to hide lastnight's mascara- I was going snorkelling so this was going to get messy. We arrived at the harbour where we were directed onto our boat and offered water - I took a bottle and drank it hoping for a miracle. The tour guide must have noticed from my whole demeanour that I was dying and cracked a joke asking if I had a good night!!  The first stop was snorkelling - I was absolutely pissed when I got into the water with my camera as usual (it is waterproof) and my camera wouldn't turn on. Instead it made crazy noises and the lense steamed up. That was it - the end of my camera that I had bought especially for this trip. Everytime I tried to turn it on it made a churning noise and that was it. I couldnt get any photos of the beautiful islands that I stopped at and now had no camera for the rest of my trip. The next stop was a little beach that was lined with boats. I can imagine that without the boats it would have been a lot better. As soon as we arrived I cared not for the beauty but for where the nearest toilet was - what happened next wasnt a pretty sight. Afterwards I sat in the shade on a table with my head in my hands. I couldn't believe I had paid for this trip and couldn't enjoy it. It was a great night though but I didn't come here for that - I can go out at home, but what I can't do at home is see beautiful islands with clear water and amazing weather.  Back on the boat we headed to the next island for lunch - hong island. It really was stunning. Since the movie the beach everyone talks about Maya Bay and it's beauty but this island absolutely kicks Maya Bay out of the water. The water was crystal clear and just like Maya Bay there were rocks surrounding the outside - they were in a circular shape so it felt like a big lagoon.  For lunch, which I made sure I ate, we had plain rice, chicken in a spicy onion gravy and mixed vegetables. There were chicken wings as well but they were so bland I took one bite and left it. On the 26th December 2004 Hong Island was hit by the tsunami that swept across Asia. I visited the memorial that commemorated all the people that either lost their lives or were brave enough to strive to save people. It was really quite sad. After the memorial I walked along a nature trail that had been set up through the jungle. Through the nature trail there were smashed up boats that hadn't been moved from the tsunami with a plaque saying something along the lines that they were there as a reminder of the power of nature. It's actually really crazy just how powerful mother nature is.  After Hong Island we stopped at one more place, which was called the Lagoon (I think the name better suited hong island). The lagoon was really nice. To get to it you had to manoeuvre the boat through a small opening. The small opening meant that the tide also couldn't get to the lagoon making the water really shallow. We only stopped here for 15minutes but I got to hold some starfish that our guide had found in the water. I got to see them up close and could see all their little tentacles that they used to walk along the surface of the seabed and their one eye which is located on their topside in the centre. Apparently sometimes the tide goes right out leaving the lagoon with little to no water - the starfish can survive for three-hours outside of the water.  After the lagoon we got back in the boat and headed back to the harbour for the end of the trip. Everyone piled into a bus that would take us back to our individual accommodation but they pulled me out and said I would get different transport (I think it was because mine was quite local). The tour guide waited with me - his name was Ek. As he put me into the transport he shook my hand and said I was very beautiful :-)  Once back at my accommodation I jumped on my bike to buy some water, coca cola (my favourite hangover cure), and crisps. I got back to my room at maybe 6pm and stayed there until the next morning.