If it’s going to rain, today is the day because we’re going on a 3 ½ hour kayak trip through a mangrove forest near Krabi, Thailand. I added a video, “Kayaking in Krabi Mangrove Forest with Monkeys” by Mantas Jarusevicius to give you a sense of “being there”. For me watching the video brought instant memories but in my journal was a very different trip than the video.
This was my first kayaking experience. I’ve been rowing and canoeing but kayaking was always intimidating. Those sleek, narrow boats can cause a rower to go underwater in an instant. You’ve seen them. One minute the rower is paddling downstream, the next minute they flipped over fighting underwater to turn upright again. What if I flip over? What if I can’t get the boat to turn right-side-up again? I can’t think about this.
We pick up three other people in our van before heading out of the city for a 20-minute drive to the bank of the sprawling Pak Nam Krabi river. To my delight, I see the kayaks. They are made of fiberglass, a chunky boat that has seats for two. What a relief for me. I’m not sure about Andy but I’m delighted that we’ll be paddling together in our chunky kayak. We have two goals, one, stay in the middle of the pack and two, don’t be last. Of course, I’m the oldest of the group but I’m determined. We have eight kayak teams along with our guides and as soon as we get a short introduction for our excursion, we’re in the water paddling alongside the forest and cliffs. We see some mudsuckers, 4 to 6 inches long fish usually used for bait and enjoy the scenery. The pace of paddling is okay, everyone is keeping up until we get into the mangrove trees. It’s a beautiful lush, green place that dwarfs us as we navigate through the snaking river and tree roots. Sometimes I pull on the roots to get us around the tight corners to keep up. Lucky for us we know how to guide the kayak but there’s a young couple behind us having a rough time maneuvering and they’re yelling at each other.
Our guide was not a compassionate guy. Once we gathered to rest when he paddled back to find the couple that was lost. He found them and helped them catch up but as soon as they made their way to us, we were on the move. No rest time for them! Since it was a rainy day, we didn’t have to worry about too much sun, which was okay with me. During a break our guide made a joke, “The snakes come out to bake their skin on the rocks just like the Europeans.” He also told us ten years ago the monkeys didn’t like the taste of pineapple but eventually, they acquired the taste and now come on the boats to beg for scraps. He cut for us some watermelon and pineapple as we rested. It was a needed rest and just the energy boost I needed to continue the trip. As we rested a few Macaque monkeys joined us. I’m glad to say, not on our kayak. There was a girl terrified of monkeys, you could see the panic on her face when they started coming toward us. She asked the guide to keep them away from her, but instead, he secretly put some pineapple on her kayak. Of course, the monkeys came, she freaked out and she started screaming. It was horrible to watch.
We continue our outing, see a few Pike fish with yellow-tipped noses, maneuver and pull the mangrove roots as we approach the open water of the river. “Don’t be last.” “Don’t be last.” I’m telling myself as we paddled to the other side. It’s raining so hard we couldn’t even look up to see the beautiful cliffs let alone the other side of the river but we made it, we’re not last. A glorious day on my first chunky, double kayaking adventure.
Back to our guesthouse, lunch and to the beach. It’s windy but not raining, the waves are high and it’s just fun to play in the water. Andy rides some waves and the weather is just cool enough to keep everyone else off the beach.
We decided to have a massage on the beach. For 200 baht ($6) we can have a one-hour full body massage. My masseuse is very friendly, needless to say, we can’t talk to each other but she leads me to her little hut where I lay on top of a mat on the sand for an amazing, relaxing, wonderful, not-to-painful massage experience. My first ever massage.
Andy’s massage was as satisfying as mine. We find some chairs on the beach and with our pineapple wedges in hand, watch the tide come in and continue our relaxed state of mind and body.
Six o’clock we change our clothes and find some street food. I have delicious, non-spicy Phad Thai. Yes, it is possible. A few rounds of cards and I turn in early. I’m so tired that when Andy told me he found a tick on his bed, I didn’t care.
