Relaxing on a ferry as we head to Surat Thani.
One of the transportion methods.
Krabi
This was one of the areas hit by the tsunami. 
Long boat driver filling up the tank after telling us he's not making any money off us.
I caught Paul & Josh in deep thought as we head to Railay. 
On the way to Railay, you can witness some of the destruction the tsunami caused. Keep in mind that much has been cleaned up here. If you expand this photo, you can see 2 boats partially submersed.
Railay
Railay isn't an island, but there are still no roads to it. You have to take a long tail boat to get to either side of the peninsula. Apparently, several of these areas were hit by the tsunami as well. We were told that this area heard it was coming & many of the long boat drivers headed out to sea to avoid the tsunami. Unfortunately, they didn't make it out far enough. Since then the memories still survive, but the area looks as if nothing happened.
Pulling up to Railay with the beach of Rai Leh East in view.
We packed over from Rai Leh East, to Rai Leh West & then to Ton Sai. From Rai Leh West, you can hire a long boat around a large cliff that extends into the ocean or hike over it with your flip flops & backpack. We opted to hoof it over for 15 minutes to Ton Sai & were all drenched in sweat by the time we touched back down to sand. Even spotted some monkeys while packing it over. This cove was my favorite area that we visited in Thailand! It had a small beach, a very friendly group of locals & foreigners, & most were there for one reason only. Rock climbing! It was a different world from both Rai Leh East & West! For instance, the electricity kicked on around 5 pm each day & was off before we awoke. We stayed up this main dirt path & loved the area!
Here is one of the local bars up the dirt path. It also doubles back as a rock climbing school.
My bungalow, which was basically in the jungle. This area was incredibly loud at night with all the wildlife! I loved it!!! 
Here I am making it look easy... 
Here I am trying to figure out what to do! This doesn't look difficult, but it easily challenged my beginner skills.
Waiting for my turn while I belay the other climber. Just kidding... I couldn't even begin to imagine climbing something like this! That's some other shaved head guy who's belaying. Yeah, we all look the same.
This is the rock outcropping that separates Rai Leh West & Ton Sai. This shot is taken from Rai Leh West & Ton Sai is behind this cliff. Further to the right, is roughly where the trail starts in order to trek over to our bungalows.
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Here's the same rock at night. We came over from our little cove to join everyone for the sunset. It's nature's show & so many relax on the beach to take it all in. No luck on an award-winning sunset photo, nor even a sunset, but it was still enchanting. 
That same night after climbing, Paul offered to belay for one of the Canadian guys we met. However, this one had a twist & the climb was up a palm tree. All the gear was just hanging there waiting for someone to use. After watching his performance up the palm, I figured I didn't have much to lose. Plus there weren't many people around for me to make a fool of myself in front of the "real" climbers. After all, how often can you climb a palm tree? 
By the time I started this quick attempt, more people had gathered. I didn't even know that many people used this dirt path in Ton Sai. OK, there weren't that many people... Even though it was for fun, the pressure to do better than the Canadian was on. I barely made it much farther, but felt a sense of accomplishment. The Canadian & I both laughed & spoke of how it must be impossible. That was short lived... 
Yup, the next guy in line made it to the top & proved us wrong! After trying it myself, I had deep respect for what he accomplished. I also felt like a wimp, oh well...
He won a bucket of something strong for making it to the top! Here he's giving his drink to Paul for belaying.
We learned that this was the tiny bar which hosts this palm tree climb. After climbing, in addition to the hot weather, it was refreshing to grab a cold two! This place was just down from the bar/rock climbing school pictured above.
This photo shows part of the wall we climbed in Rai Leh East.
Side Comment:
So needless to say, knowing my track record of cuts, bruises & scraps when it comes to being outdoors. I pulled off a good gash on the shin of my left leg. Nothing that was bad, at first, so I cleaned it as normal & bought some Betadine & Sodium Chloride Solution. No biggie...
Photo taken from Rai Leh West. 
Josh & I kayaked from Ton Sai, to Rai Leh West, Phra Nang, Rai Leh East & back again in a 2 hour rental. Side Comment:
This was the day after my shin injury & I figured after a good cleaning, the salt water would be good for it. Uhmmm... Very bad decision.
Ao Nang
North of Railay is Ao Nang. This town of 12,000 has plenty of 24 hour electricity. It was strange to see all the lights & activity after staying in Ton Sai. This is one of the back streets of Ao Nang.
I just liked this picture, but had to capture it fast. Sleepy Dog was getting restless.
Looks like a biker bar, but don't you be fooled. They're only scooters, or motorbikes, as our Koh Samui friends called them.
Phuket
At this point, we all had different agendas which was discussed before we left Korea. Paul wanted to join a Thai Boxing camp & it looked promising in Phuket. Since I did no research on the trip, I was eager to see anything & decided to venture with Paul to Phuket. Paul spent a full day looking for a decent Thai Boxing place, but came back unsatisfied. While Paul was off in search, I definitely had to spend a little time at the beach. Kata Beach was a fairly low key beach, but then again... We weren't there at peak tourist season.
Kata beach in the evening. Side Comment:
By this point, I've been cleaning my wound daily, but I started feeling different pains. Actually, not in the shin wound itself, but my foot. I didn't think much of it & figured it would go away the next day. After all, mind over matter... I've now learned that doesn't always work for me... So, I woke up to more pain & my foot being slightly swelled. Now it hurt to walk on it! By this time, Paul decided to not stay in Phuket & knew I should really get to a hospital before it became worse. So, how do I just go about checking into a hospital? I'm new to this travel thing & not sure about this hospital visit either! Josh was back in Koh Samui visiting our friends & I figured I could have them help me translate. At the time, basically, the language barrier was my foremost concern. To my Thai friends, I know your hospitals are very good, but I must admit that I was worried about visiting one. I also have to admit that I'd still be nervous visiting one for minor surgeries. At any rate, Paul was wiling to go back to Samui & was now interested in getting a SCUBA diving certificate. At this time, I couldn't even think of such entertaining plans. We purchased our next day 9 hour road & water ride ticket back to Samui. I still thought, how much worse could my leg get? I was surprised to prove myself wrong! Well, at this point my leg is extremely infected! My leg is warm & it's pretty darn red not only near the wound, but a large distance from it. I knew I should have stayed in Phuket to get care, but figured I may need a translator. After 9 hours of pain, feeling flu-like symptoms, stomach pains & wanting to throw up in the van with the intense heat... I made it, or we made it, eventually. I thank Paul for sticking with me on this & walking at my snail's pace! I also thank the nice Thai girl who kept offering to help with my 40+ pound book-filled backpack. After reaching Koh Samui, we took a truck/taxi for a 45 minute drive & finally reached the town of Chaweng. We hunted for a cheap place to stay, but gave up & headed/hobbled our/my way to Tradewinds Resort to meet Josh & our Thai friends. They were there & happy to see us. The welcome was a short-lived comfort in the midst of agony, but they offered to take me to the doctor once finished working. I felt relieved at the thought of getting my leg treated!
Please look at the next posting for more detail.
