Southern Thailand and south towards new adventures

Well shorter and more frequent posts haven't been going to plan. I enjoyed a week on Koh Tao and then took an overnight boat to Surat Thani. We fit 52 people on two enormous beds demarcating one's personal space with narrow strips of tape. Up at 4:15 when the boat moors, I climb out onto the nice road along the river mouth we had floated up. Someone asks where I'm going, I reply "Krabi." "Get into the cab, go to bus station, 50 baht." I laugh to myself, I must look like a 'farang,' which is Thai for guava and the questionably endearing nickname they give white tourists (because guavas inner meat is white). I say I'll walk and ask which way is the bus station; no answer, just "too far... so far." Having a map downloaded on your phone is a travelers savior. I minute later I find that it's straight 3 short blocks, then left 5 long blocks; 700m in total. I laugh, "so far." I ask if my dot on the map is the bus station, they think so and then ask how much I'll pay for a cab ride there, "20 baht?" I walk away; the bus won't leave until 7:00 anyway, so I take a detour along the river to a nearby park on the map. It looks quite nice through the fence, but is closed because of the early hour. I keep walking and slowly make it to the bus station and find the lady telling me to get in the taxi sitting behind a travel agency desk. "250 baht to Krabi." There's still much of Surat Thani I haven't seen and I know I'll likely never visit this place again; I leave. I walk a few blocks up the road and get a bottle of water from the 7-11. Curious about the multiple 'bus stations' labeled on the map nearby, I ask the cashier "Krabi? Go to Krabi?" and point around in the air like a helpless tourist. The lady points across the street and says the name on the large sign above the corner business. Thanking her in Thai, I leave and rehydrate in the wet hot early Thai morning. Across the road is a bus company that's open, lights on, travelers sitting on rows of chairs, but with no one running the business. Only a security guard sitting out front makes the place not look like a phantom bus shop run by ghosts. The guard speaks a bit of English and says the bus to Krabi comes to pick everyone up at 6:30, and costs 150 baht. Phew! Skipped getting swindled by the taxi lady. I sit down for a minute and then opt to walk around the nearby temple on the map. I come back with a few minutes to spare, get on the bus, and start out from the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea--Krabi. 

Krabi is a mainland hub for reaching numerous, more isolated, areas on almost all of the southern islands in the Thai Andaman Sea. It has its own share of touristy places for those not intending to take the long ferry rides or plane rides. Having to catch a far away plane and get out if the country before my visa expires, I was limited to the closet, touristy Ao Nang beach and a pair of nearby beaches. It was quite nice, but always uninspiring to go between two similar and the latter is lackluster compared the the former. Nevertheless, Krabi had it's charm and was a nice stop before heading south to Hat Yai, and then Malaysia. 

I zipped through Malaysia in less than 36 hours, enjoying 1 night in central Kuala Lumpur, and then made it to Singapore with 48 hours to spare. It was a bizarre and unexpected change to go from such numerous cities and countries for 5 months and then to come to Singapore and discover, by comparison how impoverished and unsanitary every one of them had been before. Not since flying out from San Francisco had I stood in such a clean, mesmerizing, and we'll connected city. I think when a large city makes that leap up to metropolis, it designs itself to be unique and unlike any other on the planet. With the oldest ones taking the simplest shapes and bland architecture, the newest ones, like Singapore, making buildings that intrigue the senses and bedazzle the mind. I think few could resist calling Singapore the city of the future. 

Finally, I left Asia and landed in Gold Coast, Australia. I'm in Byron Bay now. Planning on Brisbane much of this month (hopefully working immediately as a massage therapist), and then moving across the vast island to Perth and the serene west coast in April. Now to pause my vacation, and get to work!