Centara is located on a private beach, only accessible by boat or 'monkey trail.' When you arrive by boat they take you to a floating dock...it is not anchored to the ground. Imagine walking on an inflatable air mattress. Then imagine throwing that air mattress into the ocean and trying to stabilize yourself as the waves come. Imagine wobbling across 300 air mattresses tied together until you reach the sand. The dock was something like that. It was so fun! Kristi laughed and laughed the whole way in. :)
The monkey trail is a 10 minute hike over some low foothills, climbing on very narrow and uneven steps. Haike and I took the trail into the city a few times and I realized that it really freaks me out at night! Unfortunately, my family also had the experience of taking the monkey trail on the day they left. It was raining and the sea was too rough for a boat to come in so they had no choice but to go over the monkey trail. It was a real sight to see the resort workers hoist the suitcases onto their shoulders - up and over they went (some of them barefoot!) The really nerve-racking part was that even my grandma had to do this. We worried about her but later heard the report that she tackled that trail with no problems! GO Grandma!!! :)
Our room at Centara was the Spa Ocean-Facing room. Gorgeous! We had a clear view of the ocean from our jacuzzi-adorned balcony and I spent a lot of time out there reading, enjoying the sunshine and the view. We were both so sad to leave.
This resort is seriously the greatest if you want a relaxing get-away...there's no reason to even go into the city! With a huge pool, several restaurants and bars, happy hour, a private beach, tons of places to walk around and observe the foliage and a private jacuzzi - not to mention the HUGE, mouth-watering breakfast buffet and 5-star service; why would we want to leave?? We spent several of our days just staying at the resort eating, drinking and watching the real crabs scurry along the beach.
The first day in Krabi, though, we did go on a day-long boat trip with our family and friends. We saw several different islands and did some snorkeling (my first time!) One of the areas where we snorkeled was stunning...I've never seen anything like that coral and some of the fish. It's such a cool feeling to snorkel - you are interacting with and observing nature in its natural habitat, but just as an on-looker - it kind of reminded me of the safari I went on in Tanzania. At one point my dad had some bread that he was feeding to the fish and they were everywhere, surrounding us - it was so surreal!
That night, after the boat trip, Haike and I went into Krabi with our friends from Tianjin - they were only staying one night and we wanted to enjoy some authentic Thai seafood with them. We feasted! We ate pad thai, oysters, king prawns, Thai-curry crab, and lemon-pepper fish. I never use this phrase but OMG!!!! It was to die for and Haike and I readily enjoyed a very similar meal for the next several nights in Krabi.
I suppose I am leaving one of the best stories from Krabi for last...the monkeys! So...we knew there were monkeys around...there was a note in our room saying, "please do not leave your balcony doors open as monkeys may enter your room." We saw a monkey run into my uncle's room on the morning they were leaving - going straight for the complimentary fruit basket. We knew they were there. But what did we do? We left our doors wide open, of course!
Our room had two balconies...one facing the ocean and one on the side which had a small table and couch. One day for lunch we decided to order room service and eat our pizza on the side balcony. We were enjoying the sound of the ocean, the laziness of the day and the unique flavors from our pizza when Haike heard one of the neighbors yelling and gesturing. Haike replied quickly, "What? Monkeys??" He went sprinting into the room through the side door with me close behind. When we got there we met a monkey sitting on a chair, right inside the door of the front balcony. As I stared down the monkey, I shouted to Haike, "Get the banana!" and at that exact moment they both took off - a race to the only remaining banana and our key to getting the monkey out of the room. Haike went around the bed...the monkey went over the bed. Ewww. Haike made it first and threw the banana out the door to the front balcony and I quickly ran and closed the door behind the monkey. HA! Gotcha! You think you're smarter than us, huh?? With our big heads and egos in full bloom, we triumphantly marched back to the side balcony and our waiting lunch. As I turned the corner, I yelped at the sight. Monkey #2 gulping down our pizza, Monkey #1 enjoying the banana that we just gift-wrapped for him. I quickly closed the side door and we both watched as our lunch disappeared before our eyes. We were suckered. Our only comfort came in knowing that many had been suckered, tag-teamed before us. How else could the monkey know to dip the crust into the sauce? How else could he know how to use his teeth to open the ketchup packet? From that moment on, the doors remained closed...
Several days later, we returned to Tianjin - a bit more relaxed, a little more refreshed and, if possible, even more grateful for this incredible experience.
2 comments:
wonderful place!
hahaha- i love that monkey story!!! What a great memory!
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