So You Think You Can Dance... Thai Style

Well we've been here in Krabi for a few days now.  We didn't initially intend to stay here at all, but Darren wasn't feeling well (bad Chang) and so we crawled into an air conditioned hole (not really a hole, quite nice actually) and disappeared for a few days.  It's incredibly humid with the rainy season, and it's been really hot and I'm glad we dished out the extra cash for some added sanity!

All we've really been doing here in Krabi is reading (The Lost Symbol is thrilling), catching up on sleep, and planning the next steps.  We're not going to go to Koh Tao or the islands on the east coast at all.  It's kind of expensive and sort of complicated getting to Koh Tao from here and Darren's all beached out for the moment.  So we're heading straight to Bangkok.  Overnight bus.  Leaving tomorrow.

The reason I'm not just skipping this post--the highlight of Krabi--is the Night Market we stumbled upon this evening.  Now, regrettably and with my sincerest apologies, I did not have my camera or video camera with me tonight.  We hadn't planned on going to the Night Market, it just sort of happened, and I was ill prepared.

The Night Market was not the most spectacular shopping bazar we have ever seen.  Intertwined with the clothing stalls were food stalls--everything from cupcakes (which were actually quite bland) to local sweets and fruit shakes.  Despite this ingenious combination of shopping and food however, this was not what I will forever remember of Krabi.  No!  What I will forever treasure about this small city was the stage amidst all the exchange; and, while the karaoke was some of Asia's finest, it was the gang of young boys pulling out all the stops and break dancing for the enjoyment of the entire market.  Now, their talent level wouldn't quite qualify them for national television, or even anything that wasn't pure, free entertainment of the local peoples, but it was FANTASTIC!  The kids were adoreable!  Some of them weren't too bad either, and sure enough they had gutts!  Most of them were wearing what you would expect young boys to wear, jeans, t-shirts and Converse shoes.  A couple of kids were in some sort of school uniform with black pants and blue floral shirts (the uniforms in Asia vary anywhere from classic white collared shirts to fluorescent pink Louis Vuiton look-alikes).  My favourite however, was this cute little kid, at least a foot shorter than all the others, wearing a white short-sleeved collared shirt, tucked into his brown khaki shorts (that looked like they were at least two sizes too big), with brown leather shoes, and brown socks pulled right up to the middle of his stubby little calves!  He was surely not the best of the group but he gave it all he had!  He walked out into the centre of the little dance off they had going and he busted a move as hard as he possibly could, moving his little feet like they had a stutter!  My goodness he was adoreable!  (Ting- Darren and I instantly felt Tanner was missing from the crew!)  We didn't stop and watch for too long, maybe two songs, but it was pure entertainment and definitely my favourite part about Krabi!

So it's off to the "colourful" streets of Bangkok tomorrow.  It's stupposedly a paradise even for those who aren't shopaholics (I'm going to be in trouble).  Our cultural exploration of Thailand should commence shortly and while I'm a little hesitant to leave the white sandy beach life behind and head north, I've heard Laos is a super laid back breath of fresh air!  So I suppose I can sacrifice some beach bumming for the shopping in Bangkok, elephant rides and tiger sanctuaries!  Wish us luck!