A mostly travel day, but worth noting a couple of things. With the full moon, which was last night the 11th here, there comes a Buddhist holiday, which mainly meant for me that I couldn’t order a beer with dinner at the cafe (See You Soon was it’s name — wifi password was “nice to meet you”), but also meant some candlelit parades with the monks and some nearby chanting. But the big news I discovered in today’s English language press was the installation of a new Buddhist leader taking place today, Sunday.
The king named Somdej Phra Mana Muneewong, 89, abbot of Wat Ratchabopit temple, as Thailand’s 20th leader of the Supreme Sangha Council, the country’s Buddhist authority. The appointment comes three years after the last leader passed away at the age of 100. “Preparations have been made for a long time, and the official ceremony will take place on Sunday at Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha),” Prayut said. So it was a big day in Bangkok.
Me, I was on a plane to Krabi, one of the many beach communities on the Andaman Sea. Chatted with Bill from Florida from my hotel and on my flight until it was clear that we disagreed on the state of our nation. I asked if he’d been keeping up with the news “back home” on his journey. He said that he hadn’t been checking in much, and that nothing seemed too disastrous. I said I thought it all sounded pretty grim, and that perhaps we weren’t on the same page and he agreed. He then said something like “I mean there haven’t been any attacks or anything”… like that’s the definition of bad news from home. Ended that chat pretty quickly.
Arrived at a lovely spot north of Railay Beach, which apparently is “the” destination in the area — lots of rock climbing above a beautiful azure sea. The guide states that to the right is posh and to the left is backpackers. I’m nowhere near either. And I’m fine with that. This resort is perched above Tubkeak Beach, just south of Tab Kak Hang Nak Nature Preserve and the best view (2 miles up) of the entire area. I’m thinking I may just do the beach chill thing — will wait until tomorrow to decide how much energy/effort I want to put into the next two days.
And the funny part of today was the escort to my room — I wasn’t happy with the upgraded deluxe whatever mostly because it was on the ground level and quite near those sunning in chairs — I asked for a room on an upper floor. So they kindly switched rooms for me, and gave me a room meant for a couple arriving later today. You’ll see from the photos that the room was clearly decked out for the arrival of some love birds. But now it’s just me and the rose petals and a walk on the beach. And dinner at the Italian place on the beach which played a loop of Volare….
Tomorrow some sun and some some beach strolls.
I think you deserve a little hotel affection… 🙂