The morning after the snorkel tour we got into a van to go to Krabi with 2 of the Swedes and the Canadians from our group. The Swedish couple went on to Ko Lanta, the Canadian women went by boat to Rai Leh and we got the bus to Ao Nang. The scenery around Ao Nang is stunning with large limestone cliffs sticking out of the water and the beach is nice too but after having the pick of the crop for the last few days in the Similians we decided to stay on dry land.

We spent some time doing the necessary things like laundry and, of course, updating our blog. We did very little else except take a short boat trip to Rai Leh beach to check it out. Rai Leh is also stunningly beautiful but the atmosphere was a little weird so after a quick walk to the other side, we headed back to Ao Nang. The next day we felt we needed to get off the beaten track so we made our way south to Trang and then got a minibus to Pak Meng. We had a wonderful time in the tourist areas in Southeastern Thailand but we felt we were on vacation rather than backpacking so we were happy to be on the road again.

Pak Meng had a lot more amenities than we expected but there were very few tourists. The tsunami frightened off a lot of people from the area even though it was mostly untouched. A strange thing happened to us on our first night in Pak Meng as we were walking along the beach wall into town from our hotel a car stopped and offered us a lift. We got in and started talking to the driver, a French man who had been living in Thailand for the last 9 years. He had 2 Thai women in the car with him and they were wondering where we were going. When we said we were going to the main town they said that there wasn't much to see and offered to show us around. They turned the car around and spent the next 2 hours showing us the sights and even bought us a beer at a local bar. The French guy, Jean Francois was so friendly and just talked and talked (and talked and talked) about the goings on in the world. We had a wonderful time and got to see beaches that we might never had seen on our own. Jean even dropped us back at our hotel. The whole experience was a bit surreal and left us both a little dumbfounded. To be honest we both thought there must be some catch, but it was just a case of human kindness. Thanks Jean Francois for an inside look at southern Thailand! That was actually the second time we had been kidnapped that week. The first time was on Kata Beach in Phuket when it was really hot and we were trying to get out of the sun when we were offered a free gift in exchange for attending a timeshare presentation. So we went and believe it or not we didn't buy anything.

In Pak Meng we did a boat tour to 4 islands including Ko Muk where we swam into a cave ("Emerald Cave") and it went right through the rock and opened up to a beautiful beach in the center of the island. There were sheer cliffs all around and the only entrance was through the tunnel. This beach was supposedly used by pirates to hide their treasures. When we booked the tour we thought we would be the only ones on board because we only saw 3 other foreigners around town. It turned out that we were with a large group of Thai people who were visiting the area and they were so much fun. Going through the cave we were made to wear lifejackets, which is not unusual for me or for most Asians we seen who wear them on the boat and even lying on the beach. To go through the cave we lined up and had to hold onto the lifejacket of the person in front of us and kick our legs for movement. Once we got into the cave and it started to get dark, the Thais all started singing a song that sounded like "Row Row Row Your Boat." We also snorkeled at 3 other spots but after being spoiled by the Similians we felt it was just OK. The tour was meant to include lunch and about half way through we started to get hungry since we didn't have breakfast. I was just starting to eye the offerings which must have made the gods nervous since suddenly large rice bowls were placed before us. At the beginning of the tour a guide brought some Pepsis and placed them on the chair next to us without saying anything. We were not sure who owned the drinks but once lunch came they tasted great even if they were not as cold as they could be.

The Thai people on the tour were so nice and tried to include us whenever possible even though none of them spoke more than a few words of English. They even insisted we pose with them for their photos. At one point I felt they were getting a little too friendly when one put their hand between my legs, but it turned out it was only to retie my lifejacket strap that had come undone.