Thailand (Day 7)

Day 7:

Today started a bit late... around noon. It was our first night with a full night's rest since LA. (Other nights: plane, half night from airport, and train ride). We slept for about 12 hours straight. I woke up once when a crazy rain storm rolled in. **Hahah! I just noticed a lizard behind the computer. ...and the Thai women at the front desk is listening to US rap. Just to set the picture for you.** Anyways, that storm was out of control. Viciously strong winds and rain. I wondered if the hostel was going to blow down or if it was normal. The room was fine though, and in the morning everyone was going about their business in a normal way. The rain must have been normal.

For lunch we walked along the main beach area looking at restaurants. We ended up going to an Indian one. Haha! I know "why did you do that in Thailand." Well, it was run by Indians. At the restaurant I had a great Mango Lassi, curry dish, and some delicious garlic naan. After lunch we drank a lot of water and went for a run (Mike's idea). Excluding the heat, it was great and we found a new area down the beach with remarkable views. On the way back we passed a bar on the beach and some of the patrons called us over. There was Russ/ Ross (a younger British man from Southwest UK, but NOT Wales he assured us) and "chef" (An Indian man living in Thailand who was, not surprisingly, a chef). They were both pretty hilarious and a bit tipsy. After finding out that we were from the US Russ told us that he really wanted to go to a US college party and did some priceless impressions. He also had a great Metalica ring tone. "Chef" a quite older man had been in the Thai navy, lived in Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong (look it up if you have not yet), run a casino in Macau, loved Dubai, and was now running 3 restaurants called "La Casa" here in Ao Nang. He insisted that we try his delicious Italian, Thai, and (last mentioned) Indian cooking.

After returning to the hostel we changed and got ready for a trip to Wat Tham Sua "Tiger Cave Temple. The temple is site of a large monastery, a cave, and a Buddha statue situated on a jungle covered craggy cliff of a mountain that stretches 1000 feet in the air. A set of 1,250 stairs took us to the peak. You can do that math, each step was roughly a foot. Some of them less, some of them more. At one point the climb was steeper than a ladder used at a construction site. It was insane. A few monks and two sweaty tourists came past us heading down as we trekked up. I drank a massive bottle of water on the climb up and at the top we were greeted by a dog. The mountain top had amazing views of the surrounding area, the cliffs near Ao Nang (where we are staying), Krabi Town, Railay beach, and the now small monastery far below. Our shirts were completely drenched with sweat as we headed down. If you want to simulate the climb at home, simply move a stepper into a steam room and walk on it for 30-40 minutes on the toughest setting! Of course the view was well worth it, and think of the good karma we accumulated! At the bottom, we ventured toward the cave, but as the sun set the jungle became dark and we headed back to the driver that was waiting for us. We did get to what I thought was the famous tiger cave as we began to hear monks praying by the cliffs at the edge of the steamy jungle. For dinner we ventured to one of the La Casa restaurants (owned by the "chef") and found the pizze amazing! Tomorrow we meet up with the GVI staff in Krabi town.