In Karabi

november 5, 2011
Day two in Thailand. Im feeling at ease and settled after two days in Karabi sleeping and wondering. The act of traveling is much easier then I anticipated. In the tourist center so many people speak english and the goods and services to help you move from one place to another are endless. I walked around town today with a women I met on my flight from Bangkok who has been to Karabi many times. She took me to a delicious vegetarian lunch for under a dollar. We walked along the estuary and though a pathway in some mangroves. The water is brown and muddy from the rainy season. We spotted monkeys fishing for crab under the mangroves. This afternoon I sat in a cafe and sipped sweet Thai ice coffee and thought about my next steps and wrote in my journal. This evening we went to a night market in town for a week on account of a holiday I didn't catch the name of. With its mixed religious background and social lifestyle Holidays spot the calendar. Families, couples, and groups of friends flood the street stalls selling all varieties of food, trinkets, and clothing. I ate a grilled squid on a stick whose center offered a surprising yet tasty texture. Then I got a egg battered pancake filled with mussels and dipped in sweet chili sauce, delicious and filling. Socializing and shopping appear to be a huge part of the everyday Thai experience. The streets of the special market were full, but just around the corner was the regular weekend market with more people shopping, eating, drinking, and listening to a sequined dancing singer belt out pop songs over an electronic beat. The weekend market collided with the nightly fruit market where we bought a pampino (oversized sweet grapefruit).

My two days in Karabi town were an easy introduction filled with sleep and small excursions. Tomorrow morning I am taking a longtail boat to Railay beach. It is a tourist peninsula only accessible by water known for its stellar limestone rock climbing cliffs. I'm excited to be in a hill side bungalow with a beach within walking distance. Over all its been a good first two days in Thailand and I'm ready for lots more.

Amanda Mar
Krabi Town, Thailand