After a few hours in Krabi town, it became clear to me that it was too hot to do anything other than go to the beach. That’s right – too hot to walk by the river, too hot to rent a mountain bike and explore, and certainly too hot to hit the food markets before dusk.
I had a horrible cold, too. A cold or flu or whatever it was that would faithfully follow me throughout my third trip in Thailand. No – I didn’t feel especially energetic. So I decided to hit the beach and have a relaxing afternoon.
Nopparat Thara. I had read in travelfish.org and other forums that this was the quiet and pretty beach in the Ao Nang area. The beach that Thai people go to. That was enough for me to decide to hop off the white songthaew headed to Ao Nang as soon as I saw it.
Now let me get this straight – as far as beach qualities go, Nopparat Thara basically sucks. I thought it had the worse sand I have seen in a Thai beach. The swimming was no better – it was so shallow that the water temperature was almost unbearably hot.
However, this beach has a great thing: it’s long and great for walking, both on the shore and closer to the road, in the shade. So you walk, and after a while you start feeling relaxed and take it all in: the families of Thai muslims picnicking, the groups of Buddhist Thais drinking the usual mix of Samsong and soda. The Thai kids with their moms splashing in their T-shirts.
I crossed the street and had a mango juice in the first stall I saw. It tasted good. I kept walking on the seafront promenade. And then it came back, the feeling – being so far away from home so you can see everything from a distance, under a new light. Depaysement is what the French call it. And then you get the weird thoughts that somehow make sense. You know, I hate tattoos, but then and there I would have had some Thai phrase tattooed on me.
No doubt, that would have been “Jai Yen Yen”. Keep a cool heart.
B-Side Travels 
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