Sparkling Sunday at Layana / Back to Bangkok

(Rich's 7th post)

Last night we spotted dozens of geckos perched on the exterior of the Layana buildings, more than usual maybe. On one building we spied a really big one, our friend the tokay, so Janel and I took some effort to snag a photo of it. Difficult to tell the scale in this photo, but his head is almost 2" wide. He's the size of a baby croc. I read that these guys have a nasty disposition, and if they ever bite you, they will not let go except by submergence in water. Kept my distance with the camera.

Our 'friend,' a big tokay

It's sparkling Sunday at Layana, and champagne is served with breakfast. We take a glorious beachside table and try to enjoy the meal, but the weight of leaving Layana today is undeniable.

Paradise with a champagne kicker

We need some provisions from the 7Eleven, and I'm the chosen one. Grabbing the camera, I head out to the street, and ask a Layana staffer which direction the closest one is. She indicates to turn south - cool - I haven't been down that direction yet.

A view out the Layana entrance to the street

A great place to stay

The walk turns out to be fairly far, at least 2 km or so, and I grab a few photos on the way.

A sign for the beach south of ours (ours is Phra Ae aka Long Beach)

As I walk, tuk-tuks zoom past me constantly and almost all of them give a little toot that means, "Need a ride, farang?" However, as long as I do not raise my hand, they continue on without further fuss.

The little motor bikes zip past as well. On my return walk, one of them loaded down with groceries drops 2 bags just as it passes me. At first I think they don't notice but eventually they slow down and stop 1/4 mile in front of me. I walk out into the lane and direct traffic around the bags so they won't get squashed, then retrieve them and hand them over once the motorbike returns. The mom gives me a huge smile and "korp kune ka-a-a-a!"

Once back at the room, Linda and Janel start prodding me that it is my blog day and I won't have any material to include in it. Meanwhile Linda works on a previous day's blog. It occurs to me now that it's sort of pathetic to be blogging about writing your blog, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Feeling the blog pressure

A simple plan today - take a chartered mini-van to Krabi Airport, about 1-1/2 hours up the road, then fly back to Bangkok and regroup at Janel's house. While we wait, Janel and Linda adjourn to the beach for one final massage. Hello massa-a-a-ah?

Massage in progress

Massage in paradise


Great rates, too (A 1 hour massage on the beach is only $9)

While waiting for the massage-aholics, I adjourn to the bar. Heck, why not. It's afternoon somewhere. And this bar makes a mean caipirihna. They also provide me with a big bowl of crunchy snacks - perfect for whiling away an hour and gazing at the water.

We all meet up at the room. Linda is raving about the talents of the male masseuse on the beach. We dive in to repacking our crap, then settle our bill while Layana staff takes stuff to the front entrance. We wait around for a while for our van, and chat with the UK couple there who is also leaving today. This is their 4th visit to Layana, and we're jealous that they're coming back again in only 8 weeks.

We also talk with Michael, the manager. He personally attends every arrival and departure, and we've noticed that he hovers over breakfast and other activities daily. We're surprised to learn that Layana is only about 5 years old, because their operations are so well polished. He seems pleased to receive our accolades of the top notch product offered here.

As our more mundane travel commences, I become more desperate for blog fodder.

Ending where we started: in the Layana lobby

Mini van ride to Krabi


Waiting at the Krabi airport


The Kindle got a thorough workout this trip


We had no complaints with Air Aisa, the region's cattle car


Tall thin guy in a midget seat trying to blog

The flight from Krabi to Bangkok was short, barely over an hour. Unfortunately, our bags took almost that long to hit the carousel after we arrived.

Still, I must comment on the Bangkok Airport. Very new, only 3 years old, and one of the best laid out airports I've ever seen. Hundreds of check-in desks keep lines short. Very slick baggage handling machinery plumbed to each desk. Great signage everywhere. Massive multi-lane security process to keep lines short. Efficient security rescreening at the gate. No silly protracted boarding processes - everyone just gets on the plane (for goodness sake).

Long wait for bags at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok

'First bag' my ass - where's MY bag?

Great taxi setup on the ground floor at Suvarnabhumi, too, assuming you are smart enough to avoid the taxi hawkers inside. Just go out to dispatch, grab a driver, and take off. All the taxis enter in one lane, park diagnonally, wait their turn for passengers, then take off forward into another lane. Excellent design - no traffic jams. The fare to Janel's house goes $5 to $6.

On the ride back, we make a pitstop at the 7 and score six big Singhas. Back at the house, it's good to see Carlos back on his feet and feeling well again. We also meet another roomie, Penny, and her beau Chris. The six of us dive in to some delicious noodles that Carlos has purchased, and spend a long evening talking stories and checking out our travel photos. The six beers go down nicely and call for another beer run just before midnight. To keep things moving, we set our photo folder on slideshow, but even that takes several hours with over 1,500 photos. Carlos, Penny, and Chris are good sports in being our audience for so long.

There is some method in our efforts to stay up late. We've decided to stay up all of tomorrow night before our 5:30am flight, and so we're already trying to stretch things out.