Murphy's been on steroids!
11 July 2014 | Krabi Boat Lagoon
A real Murphy Day
Set off from Krabi at 0615 for the expected two & half hour drive to Ao Chalong to do our clear out, laundry, collect mail, do shopping, then pick up prodder & fill gas bottle on our way back.
It was a very scenic drive on an excellent highway, much of it divided. After leaving Krabi town, there were no more major towns but strings of villages on either side of the road, all with market stalls & impressive wats & mosques. The road wound through the huge, impregnable karsts. In some cases, the village was built right to the base or the rubber or palm oil plantations ended there. The karsts rise vertically so they are enormous barriers. The area is a tourist attraction for its many caves. We have seen all this area from the water so it was interesting to see its other aspect.
Rain along the way & as we were passing over the Sarasin bridge to Phuket island, there was a huge squall, so we missed the view. It was 0945hrs when we arrived at Ao C, so we went straight to the Laundromat so that could be happening while we cleared out. Each time we have washed, we have been able to buy for B10, small sachets of washing powder for each load. Hah! Today, we don't have!!!! Nick raced off to the shop to buy some powder, set the washing going & off to Immigration.
Hah!!! Today is a public holiday!!! Four days of public holidays in fact!! Clearing out is possible but at a premium. What should have cost A $7 Aus cost us A $40, not in Govt charges, but the money goes straight in to the wallet of the officers. The process is Customs, Immigration, Harbour Master. It wasn't until Nick asked at our third stop for a receipt, that the HM kept just B100 for himself & gave the rest back!!!! Call us cynical but.......
Collected washing, went to PCYC to collect the mail that still hasn't arrived, ordered lunch. Nick ordered Tacos but his order came as a Burrito. When questioned, the waitress said "I made mistake". Murphy is still close by apparently.
The one advantage of doing this drive on a public holiday is that there is not a lot of traffic. Through the check point again, that doesn't seem to check anything, over the bridge & back again. Collected prodder (another $15 to the cost) filled gas bottle ($4) & home.
Prodder still not right. Nick will have to grind some off & it seems that the holes have not been drilled to right size. Grrrrr! We chose an Australian man to do the job. Probably should have gone to a local!!!
One certainty is that the MPS won't bend the thing and if any more runaway boats run into us they'll probably come off second best!