Day 158 Jan 9 2015 Krabi Thailand

in KL waiting for the plane to Krabi

Ao Nang Beach Krabi Thailand

The food here is fantastic

Day 158  Jan 9 2015    Krabi Thailand

We flew from Langkawi to Krabi today.  I am not really happy that we flew instead of taking a ferry and a bus from Langkawi as we had talked about many months ago.   Because we flew the airline company made us purchase a ticket to leave Thailand before we could board the plane.  We read the Canadian Government advice to avoid the border area where we would have had to cross from Malaysian into Thailand.  It turns out it is not as bad as we were led to believe.  It is a very straight forward transfer to Krabi and we would have saved several hundred dollars and seen more of the country side.  To fly to Krabi from Langkawi we had to fly 1 hour to Kuala Lumpur then 1 ½ hours to Krabi passing right over Langkawi.  We really have to research more in the future.   Because we flew, the airline company made us purchase a ticket to leave Thailand before we could board the plane. As a result we are now flying to Hanoi Vietnam on the 28^th of January where we will probably be forced to buy a ticket to leave Vietnam and so it goes.  Hopefully we will be smarter and purchase our next flight with a bit of planning instead of in the airport 1 hour before we have to board our flight and saying to each other how long do  we stay in the country and where do we go after it.  If we had taken the ferry and the bus it would not have taken us much more than 8 hour traveling.  When we got to Krabi we ended up booking a hotel room through an agent at the airport.  We did not book ahead as any search we did turned up two twin beds or a queen bed for 4 people.  We discovered the same problem at the airport and ended up with a queen bed which seems to be the norm for up to 3 adults and ended up paying for and extra bed which is a twin bed permanently set up in the room.  It is frustrating trying to book a room for 2 adults and 2 kids in Thailand.  I have done lots of searches where I put in 4 adults, foolishly thinking that will require more than one queen bed.  According to hotels.com, expedia, agoda and others in Thailand 4 adults only need 1 queen bed or 2 twin bed.  I guess you are supposed to sleep 2 deep here.

Day 157 Jan 8 2015 Langkawi Malaysia

another pic of the beach in Langkawi

getting ready for the banana boat ride

waiting for the excitement to start

Day 157  Jan 8 2015    Langkawi Malaysia

We went for breakfast where some guy was sketching people while eating his breakfast.  He ended up giving David his sketch of him and hopefully we can ship it home before it gets damaged, it is kind of a cool souvenir.  Isabel and Evy went swimming on the beach for quite a few hours while David and I walked around the town and hid in the room reading a book.  In the afternoon David, Isabel and Evy went for a banana boat ride.  It was a nice relaxing day.

Day 156 Jan 7 2015 Langkawi Malaysia

closest we want to get to snow this year

a beautiful family picture 

beach in front of our hotel in Langkawi Malaysia

Eagle Park

Day 156  Jan 7 2015    Langkawi Malaysia

We ate breakfast at a bakery where David started his day with a breakfast of champions, a big slice of oreo cake.  It was so good that Isabel and I got one to share.  After breakfast we spent several hours at Under Water World which was a combination of an aquarium with a nice selection of exotic birds.  The second stop of the day was a mall on the other end of the island when we were done our shopping we decided to walk to Eagle Park which was supposed to be close to the mall.  We were not sure of the direction so I asked a taxi driver which way to walk.  After walking of ½ an hour I again asked someone where the Eagle Park was and he point the direction we were coming from and said long way.   We grabbed a cab and it was indeed a fair distance away in the other direction.  On the way back to the hotel the taxi driver pointed out what was supposed to be a famous seafood restaurant.  We decided to go there for supper and it was very good.

Day 155 Jan 6 2015 Langkawi Malaysia

Day 155  Jan 6 2015    Langkawi Malaysia

We flew from Bali to Langkawi Malaysia and got to our hotel at 7 pm.  We checked in to our hotel then went for a little walk around the town.  On the way back Isabel and I went to the beach to check it out.  

Day 154 Jan 5 2015 Candidasa Bali Indonisia

overlooking Kintamani Volcano

Crater Lake Batur in the background

Sunset in front of Catra apartment in Candidasa

David's personal mosquito protection a tokay gecko

Day 154  Jan 5 2015    Candidasa Bali Indonisia

This is our last full day in Bali and it has been thoroughly enjoyable, the majority of the food has been excellent the apartment we rented quiet and comfortable and the people very friendly.  Even the sandwich that we suspect made Evy sick was described as heavenly after her first bite.  We felt safe going for a walk at night, not something that we would do in most of the other countries that we have visited to date.   For our last day we decided to go for a ride to the Kintamani Volcano and Lake Batur which is supposed to be one of the places to see in Bali.  I thought the view was nice but definitely not one of the places I would return to.  Just to get into the village cost $9 with the restaurant we ate at being one of the most expensive we have eaten at in Bali with the poorest quality of cooking.  It would have cost $50 to enter the hot springs so we skipped them.  I have come to the conclusion that anyone that home schools their kids when there are perfectly good schools available to them must be crazy.  I know that tying to teach my kids is driving me crazy and I no longer think that I am smarter than a 5^th grader.

Day 153 Jan 4 2015 Candidasa Bali Indonisia

Run Isy Run

Her best construction to date

sand monster

so this is what a coconut tastes like

Day 153  Jan 4 2015    Candidasa Bali Indonisia

We enjoyed another hot sunny day at White Sand Beach.  I had the intention of snorkeling but the ocean was too rough to allow for enjoyable snorkeling.  We played in the waves and really enjoyed them especially David.  When the waves started to get a bit smaller I decided it was safe to take Isabel a little bit deeper.  We were in the water for at least 30 minutes with no problems, when Isabel said “look out daddy”.  I turned towards the ocean just in time to see a massive wave bearing down on us.  Isabel was hanging onto my back so I yelled at her to get into my arms.  We tried to go under the wave but the trough in front of it was only slightly above the bottom of the ocean.  The wave tumbled Isabel and I like rag dolls, we got through the first wave ok and I stood up to get my bearings only to see a second massive wave about to hit us.  Again we were rolled along the bottom of the ocean with Isabel wrapped in my arms.  Again we made it through with no problems. Again I stood up to get my bearing only to see a third wave about to hit us.  The third wave ripped Isabel out of my arms on the second or third roll and I barely managed to grab her bathing suit to hold onto her under the wave.  When it was over I was relieved to see David safely on the shore looking at us.  Everybody that was around us also seemed to be looking for the people that they were with and there were a lot of stunned looking expressions on their faces.  There were a few large waves after that but none quite a large as those 3 and I did not have Isabel hanging onto me.  We had another lovely beach lunch and Isabel constructed a sand castle with her new pail set.    

Day 152 Jan 3 2015 Candidasa Bali Indonisia

On our way to supper at Bali Palms Resort

Enjoying yet another pool

Day 152  Jan 3 2015    Candidasa Bali Indonisia

We had arranged for Podole the driver we have been using since arriving in Bali to pick us up at 10 am and we had plans to return to Amed for more snorkeling. Podole showed up at 9 am and said he needed to talk to me.  It turns out that he had sold his car that morning and could not drive us.  He was going to call a friend to take us where we needed to go that day. Evy was not feeling the best we decided to have another do nothing day.