This devotee was carrying enough milk to redeem his extended family. Those little golden things are tiny little milk pots too, and you can't see the spike that is holding the lime up, but believe me it's a big one. I wonder why he needed to do so much penance... do you think he designed some of the renovations in Clark Quay? 

A Thaipusam devotee carefully dismantles his rigging after the march. 

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival in which devotees can show their faith and earn redemption for their families by bearing a difficult load on trek to the temple. Although many women and children carry simple pots of milk (often balanced on their heads), the real fascination with the festival, at least for outsiders, is the skin piercing. Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are among the best places to witness this display of devotion. 

Grafitti carving in the bamboo at the Japanese garden. 

Here's a photo of Zhanar taken at the Japanese garden in Singapore. Should have posted this one earlier, but it got lost in the shuffle. 

The little sand crabs on the beach are very industrious. They roll sand into little balls and make a tidy arrangement around their holes, working as quickly as they can before the tide comes in and washes all those little sand balls back down the holes again. 

I took a monkey-swing on one of the beaches. If you look at the high-resolution photo, you can just make out some unusual craftmanship on the handle. 

Zhanar liked this beach the best because you could jump in the water just off to the right, and quickly get carried along by the current over to where she is now. She was running and splashing like a kid. 

Colorful cloth helps to identify which longtail boat is which. 

This was zhanar's favorite beach 

Our boat for the day 

Our boatman. He acted as guide, skipper, and babysitter. He was such a smiley happy guy that Dina liked him right away. 

Mangrove trees in Hong Island. We wanted to stop the boat here in the lagoon and go for a swim, maybe eat lunch. But I couldn't quite explain to the boat driver.... so off we went again. Oh well, maybe next time. 

Colorful limestone cliffs. This photo was taken in the lagoon in Kong Island. 

On our second boat trip we got a brand new boat. Not even painted yet. And it didn't have a spring of water shooting up through the gunwales when we got moving like the other boat did. 

The best way to show off your framing skills is to frame a portrait of the King and Queen. I bet these things sell like hotcakes since every home and business establishment has one prominently displayed. 

Anyone for a fried mussels omelet? 

This lady should be the covergirl for Curry Sauce. She had hundreds of plastic bags full of curry in her tuk-tuk, for just 7 baht each (20 cents US). Too bad we didn't have a kitchen. 

Krabi night market. It looked like a modern "Urban Outfitters" commercial. 

Driving around near krabi town is very beautiful. It's probably best on motorbike but an Air-Con cab is not bad. Those trees that you see are rubber trees. Most of this area of Thailand is covered with rubber plantations, and all the trees have little plastic bags collecting sap near the base of the tree. 

After lunch we did another hike - up to a waterfall. It was also pretty nice, and great place to cool off and take a swim. There were lots of school kids coming back wet as we were on our way up. 

After the tiger cave hike, we went in to Krabi town for lunch. We looked for a thai food place but the best looking (and smelling) restaurant was an Italian place called Viva that made their own pasta and bread. I highly recommend it next time you are in Krabi town. Prices are good, food is great, service is perfect. It's a great break from the sketchy-quality tourist places where we usually ended up disappointed. 

A thai bus. I'm not sure how you determine when and where the busses run, but if you can you'll definitely save some money getting around. It's only about 5 baht (12 cents US) to ride the bus. 

In Krabi Town, the egg vendor escaped before I could get a good picture of him. 

Starting the way back down... and another pilgrim has almost made it to the top. The girl looked a little uncertain... but she's almost there.