The sun was out early on New Year’s Day, unlike the previous 2 mornings where it was shrouded in clouds.
Morning didn’t start well when we approached the staff to check on the Wifi password. They told us there were 2 problems, one that they can’t charge to Agoda for our rooms and second that the Gala dinner wasn’t included and we had to pay 7000b for it, which was about 150sgd per person! For that price we could eat pretty well in Singapore already, and that dinner wasn’t even worth it! We were disappointed at how this was managed even though we had told them that we didn’t have the Gala dinner and asked them to check more than once. We have even given them our original booking voucher. After some negotiation, they gave us each a 1000b discount but the overall price was still steep in my opinion. And the reason they can’t charge to Agoda was that they referred to the old reservation which we had already cancelled long time ago. This gave me a feeling of a conspiracy of trying to get us to eat at the Gala dinner (which we have purposefully decided not to attend through rebooking) and later charged us for it.
Checked out at 10am after going back to the room to rest and do the final packing. Unfortunately Wifi was still unavailable and it seemed like it was the main station issue. Settled the additional bill, the bulk coming from the dinner, and walked to Ao Nang beach through the paved walkway. The Longtail was on the right of this path, 25m away and we bought 2 tickets of 100b each. Had to wait for a while till the boat got filled, which they said 2 more people. Only just 10mins and we could already board. It was amazing that the beach was quite clean after a night if partying.
Tide was high and getting up and off the Longtail was easy and only wet the shins. Once in Ao Nang, proceeded to the place where we bought the bus tickets to deposit our luggage before going for last round of shopping along Ao Nang street. Was back before the stated time of 1140am for the shuttle bus but it came late, arrived only at 12 noon. It was a 11-seater minivan that didn’t have obvious indication that it was a shuttle bus to the airport. It was already almost full and it went to another nearby resort to pick up another 2 tourists before proceeding to the airport, maximized capacity.
Statue on Ao Nang walking street, last minute shopping.
Napped for 35 mins and arrived at the airport. After the X-ray machine, noticed that the counter was still not open. Went to the 2nd storey to get lunch in the Yellow Orchid Restaurant but choices were limited. There weren’t any orders for hot food and we had to settled for cold tuna sandwiches for 120b each.
1st sunrise of 2014Krabi Airport.Yellow Orchid restaurant.Lunch before getting on the flight.
Bought some banana fritters back home and had them all packed into the luggage for check in. To prevent crushing, we took the luggage for wrapping, which costed 200b. Checked in at Tiger counter which was opened and went through the 2 manned immigration counter till we reached a small and warm waiting area. Queued really long for some ice tea before boarding since Black Canyon Coffee was the only available drink stall in the waiting area.
This concluded the 2014 New year trip in Krabi. Came with the expectation that it was just a beach resort but went back impressed with the beautiful landscape beaches and many activities that could be done here, such as rock climbing. Loved the day trips especially to Hong Island which was beautiful and not overrated as Phi Phi. Had a lesson on the difficulties with communication on bookings and confirmations needed to be done in black and white to safeguard ourselves. All in all, a great trip!
New Year’s Eve began slow. We slept in a little because there weren’t any tours to follow and thus did not require the early meet up on the beach. The intention was to take it easy on the last day of 2013 and of our trip and enjoy the room.
After breakfast, the first visit was to the Phra Nang cave and the viewpoint. Going southwards along the paved walkway with the high tide water occasionally splashing over, we soon reached a T-junction. Taking the right path, we saw cliff side caves and huge stalactites hanging from the top and overhanging roots, a nice photoshoot location. Following the path brought us to a cave at the end that had a table of offerings to an old Thailand tale of a cave living Princess. It really didn’t seem like much but the view of Phra Nang beach and its surrounding more than enough made up for it. In fact, it was the same beach that we kayaked to the day before.
Railey Beach East.Signpost.Dramatic cliff stalactites.Phra Nang Cave with a table of offering for the Princess.Turquoise waters near the cave.
Explored a bit and left for the viewpoint. When we returned to the T junction, we saw that the other path just led to the some rope climbing area near beach. Checked with the store owner nearby and she pointed us back the direction we came back from, saying it was that steep route up that had a thick rope hanging downwards. There was a shelter that had signs pointing to the viewpoint direction and lagoon direction and all along I thought it was 2 different paths. Wearing slippers, I started to climb up to “test water” as my wife looked from the bottom. When I was near the top, I signaled to her that it was doable and she climbed up too.
Real directions to the viewpoint.Steep slopes up with only the aid of a rope.
That was only just the first section of the climb. There was about another steep section before the climb became easier to walk about but it was all doable. There was a fork in the path and we didn’t know which to take. Another pair of boys said they will take the right path and we took the left. And it was the correct one to the viewpoint, at least! On the way to the viewpoint, it was slightly sloping downwards but it was ok. The view was superb, especially in the morning as the sun accentuated the beauty of the surroundings. The only bad thing was it was not possible to get portrait shots with the background.
Left led to the viewpoint and right led to the lagoon.Beautiful viewpoint.
We didn’t spend a lot of time there as space was limited and people were coming. We made our way back to the fork and thought maybe I could go check out the lagoon since we already made it this far. There was a short steep descent down which was manageable. After a level ground of about 30m came 2 vertical descents and the lagoon in sight. But the vertical descent was the deciding factor to turn back, didn’t want to slip to my death on New Year’s Eve. The return journey was challenging as I meant going down steep slopes and there was quite a bit of human traffic in both directions. By the time we reached the bottom, we had to take a break at the shelter before going back to our hotel. We had seen fitter ones just zooming past us without any problems so this really depended on individual fitness.
Route to the lagoon was steep too.Lagoon in the distant, seen between 2 cliffs.Difficult climb to level below.Huge tree trunk seen en-route to the lagoon.
Went back to the hotel to take a shower before going to have lunch. We actually wanted to try rock climbing but finding out it must take at least half and day, we chose to leave that till another time. Wanted to try the “Last Bar” but it was close and so we went back to Mangroove restaurant. It was full when we got there and had to share a table with another customer. Ordered different food and drinks. Due to the number it customers, both drinks and food came later than the time taken the night before. The food came 40mins after ordering, but since we already waited for it, we continued to do so till the food arrived. The food was good as usual but it was the wait that was frustrating.
Orea Banana milkshake.Mango with yoghurt.Tom Yam soup.Pad See Iw.Fried springrolls.
While waiting, found on the internet that the Tonsai beach could be reached via a forested route and thinking that we had the afternoon free, we decided to try to get to it. According to the map found on the streets, the route to Tonsai was continuation from the same route that we took on the first day instead of turning right towards Rai Ley East. Moving along that stretch we came about more cliff side caves and then to Phra Nang Nai cave. Moving onwards and on paved roads all the way to another resort before breaking into a dirt road on the right. Here was where it got confusing as there were 2 forks along the way and a signboard that pointed Tonsai but into one of the forked road that looked overgrown with grasses. We met a pair of friends who weren’t sure how to describe so it to us and told us to follow them, saying it was a 30 mins one direction, so we did. But after walking some 100m and into an unfamiliar open space, they too thought that the road should be the one that we had past. One of them told us to take the beach road around the rocks during low tide which was much easier or even up and above a forested area near the beach end if high tide. We gave up that forest route and walked towards the beach whereas they took the forested route.
Paved road towards resort in Tonsai beach direction.Dirt road towards the jungle towards Tonsai beach.Tree growing into the rocks.
On the way back, we contemplated going to the cave but since we had seen so many caves in the past year we decided to give it pass and proceeded to Rai Leh West beach. The tide was low we were able to walk around the rocks. The large expanse of underwater rocks were now exposed to the surface, walking on them was not too difficult but a little slippery. Some of these, especially the walls were grown with barnacles and the shells could be sharp as we found out. We made it around in about 10 mins of walking and balancing. On Tonsai beach, the view back at Rai Leh was beautiful. The view on the Tonsai wasn’t nice since the tide pulled the water level so far out that it didn’t look like a beach anymore. We didn’t stay long and the sun wasn’t with the heat. Going back the same route, we went back through the walking street for some shopping and went back to the hotel. The cuts on the bottom of the left foot was getting painful from the friction from the sand.
Phra Nang Nai Cave entrance.View of Railey West from Tonsai. Low tide exposed the rocks beneath.Railey West with wide white sand during low tide.Stone exposed, in between Railey West and Tonsai beach.Dry Tonsai beach.Sea cucumber? In what’s left of the water after the tide left the beach during low tide.Tonsai high cliff.little culprit for the little balls of sand.
Skipped going for massage and anymore walking around to reduce aggravating the wound and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the room, dipping In the bathtub, watching DVD and just relaxing till the time for the gala dinner, which began at 7pm.
By the time we arrived at 730pm, the buffet line had already started. I made a beeline to the BBQ seafood that included prawns, salmon and a huge squid. My wife brought other stuffs as there were a variety of choices from the many tables available. I worked on the squid and i couldn’t finish it and then I became quite full. Didn’t manage to try everything though. Food was just ok however the entertainment, was a little disappointing. The sound system had several technical issues, the band played songs that weren’t interesting to the audience, the magic show was just ok, the cultural dance was affected by the technical issues and we didn’t win anything from the lucky draw. During the duration of our stay, we saw a few times where fireworks were released from another location behind the stage but it was low and we can’t see the full glory. We left at about 11pm when there wasn’t any more lucky draw and that the band was became boring.
Stage set for Gala dinner.Dinner under the stars and on the sand.BBQ seafood counter.My plate of seafood.Mai Tai – some cocktail.There was a magician.
A few dance routines.
Sent some well wishes back home to Singapore as they had just hit 12mn and welcomed the 2014. Then we started walking to Rai Leh West and we were amazed at how big the crowd was covering the beach. There were also many people lighting the “Kong Ming” lanterns and releasing then into the sea. It was sold for 100b and we didn’t had money on us! I ran all the way back to the hotel and came back before 12mn. Rushed to write some wishes on the lantern and lighted it up. It took a while for the fuel to burn fully and create a good enough warm draft to balance and carry the lantern. On the touch of mid-night, the Rai Leh night sky was illuminated up by several fireworks, at various locations on the beach. We were still holding to our lanterns but we soon released it only to find it sinking towards the sea. Retrieved it quickly to let the fuel burn more fully before letting it go again, this time the lantern taking off into the open sea. There were still fireworks on and off and these blown up very close to the crowd, which made it very exciting. We stayed for a while to watch them and left for the hotel thereafter but much of the crowd seemed to stay on for more partying.
Ready to release the wishing lantern.Fireworks off the beach.More fireworks.Happy New Year Sparklers.Busiest beach night of the year.
Even as we were back in the hotel, there still occasional fireworks released in the neighboring resorts. Our Wifi stopped working and calling the reception twice didn’t help at all. In the end, we went to bed as we require to move out early the following day.
Woken up by the roar of the Longtail boat engine. Noise could travel through the room walls and the glass windows, could have made it a little more soundproofed. The cloudy weather didn’t allow the sun to show itself and the day just became brighter overall – the magical sunrise that could be seen from our east facing room was not meant to be.
The breakfast buffet had more variety than the one in Ao Nang for obvious reasons, but wasn’t by a lot, or was it much tastier. We borrowed 2 beach towels in the same restaurant and waited in the lobby for the Hong Island tour. The staff brought us to Rai Leh West through a concrete path (which we should have taken, a much easier path) and exit next to Railay Village Resort. Took some pictures since it was still early and the crowd hadn’t descended as we waited quite long for the speed boat to come pick us up. The hotel staff stayed throughout and that put our hearts at ease, since we didn’t know what happened to the speed boat.
3rd storey room provided distant sea view.Breakfast area.Walkway to Railey East thru Railey Village resortPaved road taking route from Railey Village Resort.
945am and the speed boat by Koh Phi Phi tour finally arrived. Compared to the previous one that went to Phi Phi, this was way smaller carrying only like 30 people, which was good since a smaller group meant mobility. Hong Island was far from Rai Lay and it took about about 30mins by speedboat before we reached the first section of the island, known as the Hong Lagoon. It felt like the Phi Ley bay but it seemed more shallow and the water was really clear. The boat went into the lagoon to circle around the lagoon before moving on.
Railey West beach.Our speed boat to Hong Island – by Phi Phi tour.Hong Lagoon.Longtail in the lagoon.Exiting the lagoon.Leaving the group of island containing Hong Lagoon.
Next stop was a sandbank known as Pak Bia beach where a stretch of sand separated the sea and joined the two islands. The view was awesome with a few islands in the faraway, giving the island a truly isolation beach feeling. 40mins and I spent some time going around shooting photos and walking into chest height water ( where I saw a blue jellyfish near the water surface) and the rest of the time spent just lazing on the beach.
Pak Bia beach.Strip of sand between seas from 2 sides.Not too deep, still able to stand.
Next stop on the list was to visit an area called Paradise Beach. It was a beautiful bay that had coconut trees and swings hanging from trees. What’s more, there was a small cliff out in the bay that allowed people to climb up a single hanging rope to the top with a plank to stand on and leap off into the deep below. It was fun but difficult to climb with the rope and the wall was pretty sharp. It took quite some effort and after another guy from the same boat group tried and succeeded, I too got onto the top and did the leap of faith. Unfortunately, the camerawoman on the beach was too far away and didn’t know of my position until I went into the water, so much for the glory pictures. That was about a 4m plunge but it was fun. Came back with battle scars, on the feet, the toes, knees and elbow. Skin deep and none too serious. Snorkeling was also ok with many fishes swimming about but corals still were mostly dull.
Cave like location in Paradise Island.Secluded beach with a small rock to jump off.Paradise Island Pano.Picture perfect.
The final stop was the Hong Island itself where there was packet lunch with predetermined seats. The main food was not tasty, consisting of steam egg and salty chicken. There were fruits served and coffee or tea if anybody wanted. After lunch it was free and easy until 2pm where we would be boarding the boat and returning back to Rai Ley. There were restrooms there on the island and after I came out from it, I saw a group of people looking into the bushes. A monitor lizard! It was quite a creature, shot some photos and went back to the lunch area. After a while, this fellow visited us at our lunch area too but slowly walked away and past our lunch area. We spent the rest of the time walking in the shallow waters and lazing on the beach. Didn’t go in for snorkeling as I thought that I had enough of the snorkeling already. 5 mins left and we started walking towards our boat at the other end of the long beach. Already dried out from lazing in the sun, we were forced into the water in order to get into the boat, as the boat was actually 5m away from shore. Due to low tide, the boat couldn’t come any closer and so we had gotten to waist deep water level to board the speed boat.
Remnants of the tsunami.Lunch area.Packed lunch.Portable coffee table.Uninvited guest for coffee.Large lizard.Making the exit.Blue waters of Hong Island.Clear waters.Panorama of Hong Island.Leaving Hong Island.
The return journey was somewhat similar to the forward going journey just that we stopped on an island for those who were staying in Beyond hotel, which was at least a 10mins boat travel from our place. Wanted to book that location but thought it was a little expensive as it required all 5 days of stay. We alighted right after the first stop and since the tide was low, we had to alight into the water again, just that it was lower than the waist level before.
We took the walking street route back as we wanted to explore in detail this section. Bought a banana shake along the way and also checked the store for waterproof bags which was quite affordable. Returned the towels and loaned a new one as we intended to kayak after this. Went to browse for more DVD and rented some and also confirmed the gala dinner for New Year’s Eve, included as part of the reservation costs. Left all the important stuff in the hotel room safe and only brought along my iPhone and 500b for the kayak and walked back to Rai Leh West beach again.
Walking Street of Railey beach.Shops at walking street.Route going thru walking street.From sandy to partly rocky.Then to paved again nearer to Railey East.Low tide exposing the mud underneath.
Went to the stack of kayaks and asked the staff there for rental of 1hr and paid the money (200b). Was informed on the time of return and one of the staff and I carried the not so light kayak across the beach and away from the parked Longtails close to the water. Life jackets were provided which we immediately put on, although the sizes weren’t all that fitting. Dragged the boat into the water, got in and rowed away.
We moved southwards sticking close to the rocks as we went. The water current was a little difficult to row against as we rowed towards the direction of the sea but still manageable. We were able to maneuver the kayak till we went around the rocks and arrived at another beach where we stopped for rest and pictures. There were huge standing rocks in the middle of the sea not to far away from shore and we rowed in between these two, went around the rock nearest to shore and stopped at a sandbank that saw waters meet from 2 directions. Then it was back to the Rai Leh beach as time was running out. The view here was nice but since I didn’t carry my camera, it was a small regret. It would be best to have a waterproof bag to carry the camera along for the trip.
Cave in the cliffs while kayaking thru.Panorama of PhraOverhanging sides of the cliff.Ankle deep waters.Sand bank covered by water from both sides.
Banked the kayak as I went to look for the staff regarding the return of the kayak and if I should leave it out there. He just acknowledged it and so I assumed that the kayak would be collected by himself later on.
Back at the hotel, we had our baths finally after the end of all water activities. Took a short rest before heading out for dinner. There was one Mangrove restaurant that was a recommendation on the net and we proceeded back to the sandy route where it was located. The neighbour had a tray decked with fishes and looked attractively tasty but we stuck to our initial choice and ordered some Thai cuisine for dinner. The food didn’t disappoint and there was also wifi available, amazingly. We ordered a mango sticky rice but it wasn’t fantastic, unlike the one that we had in Bangkok.
Mangroove restaurant.Banana milkshake.Glass Noodle.Mixed vegetables.Curry chicken with peanut.Mango sticky rice.
Got back to the hotel and watched online shows for a while until both of us drifted to sleep – fatigue knocking us out real early.
Took more rest than usual due to aching muscles. Had the usual simple breakfast, packed our day bags and checked out. We were going to move to a new resort today and would be doing that when we returned from Tiger Cave. Initially wanted to do an extension but was told that it was not possible due to peak period.
Breakfast.
Cross the road and tried to stop the white songthaew but as 4 went past us, filled to the brim, we walked and waited at the bus stop further down the road instead. A few minutes later, a near empty songthaew stopped for us! What luck! Told the driver we are going to the Tiger Cave Temple and we were on our way.
Interesting sign saw from our transport.
The bus took the same journey to Krabi town and even further. It arrived at the bus station some 1hr later with almost just 2 of us for the whole journey. In another 10 mins later, we arrived at the Tiger Cave temple. We were advised that there was no songthaew back to Ao Nang. We need to get a scooter or taxi to either the bus station or Krabi town in order to board the songthaew back.
Landscape of Krabi. Reminded me of Hanoi.Quiet Krabi Town.One of the stops, main bus station where there various overland buses moved off from.There was a location on top of the cliff for us to cimb to.Zoomed in on cliff top.
The temple location was a large compound with with a few temples in the area. The Tiger Cave Temple was actually just one of them closest to the entrance. We went into the temple that now had a building covering a dug out cave from the cliff side. There was a staircase that led to another part of the temple and a signboard displays the history of its name.
Arrived at Tiger Cave Temple.Wat Tham Suea signboard.Temple with double dragon.Large gong.Temple with double tigers in front.Inside the Tiger Cave temple laid a tiger.Internal layout with Tiger Cave Temple.
After leaving the Tiger Cave Temple, the arduous journey of climbing to the top of the mountain began. After walking further inwards, we soon saw a stairway up the sides of a mountain and people going up the stairs. There was a sign to indicate the number of steps to the top -1237. Started climbing and was fooled by the initial gentle steps. There were alternating high and low steps but mostly were slightly higher than normal. This was like a giant step machine and it was a tough way up definitely. We took an hour with multiple rests along the way. It was not easy, and definitely not with slippers too. It was funny why people come in skirt cos the steepness of the steps would allow everyone below to have a clear view upwards. Since it was still early, the weather was still bearable and the wind was a real gift for the climbers.
Start of the journey.On the way up.And up.And up.
On the top was a pagoda, a huge Buddha statue and some smaller statues and a great 360 view around. Definitely worth the climb. Spent some time up there for a rest and some photo shooting before making our way back down. Going down was much easier though it wouldn’t be a good news to those with joints pain.
Pagoda at the top.Buddha at the top.Looking out into the town below.Manificent cliffs behind the temple.Panorama from above.A lake in the middle of the ranges.Double dragon temple from top.Monkey on the journey back down.Family of monkeys on the tree branch.Statue of Ji Gong.
Went to the toilet to wash our hands as we were using the railings all along the way. There was a Goddess of Mercy temple which we donated a tile each for 100b and was given a receipt that looked like a certificate. Was thirsty for something cool and went to a nearby stall selling drinks and bought one of the coloured drinks which was actually tea. It was concentrated and required to be mix with a cup of ice to taste ok, just like our Teh-Peng. Also bought an ice cream to cool off further.
Temple for the Goddess of Mercy.Donating for a roof tile.Drinks for sale.Iced Thai tea.
As we sat near the motorcycles parking area to consume our ice cream, a guy on a scooter was seen moving towards our direction when we waved out to him. He immediately knew what we wanted and asked if we wanted a taxi to Krabi town and quoted 300b for it. We told him scooter and he quoted 150b, and when subsequent bargaining from us proved futile, we agreed to it. After a quick visit to the toilet, my wife and I boarded the mini scooter with camera and bag sling onto my side and a cup of cup tea in another hand, making it a 3 persons scooter ride.
As we moved onto the main road, the man reached for his helmet and put it on. That was when we saw that we were passing by the police headquarters but that to me was pure ridiculous. My wife and I were still without a helmet! There weren’t any issues with getting into town, all about 15mins ride and he alighted us at Chao Fa pier and pointed us to the nearest bus station, although the place didn’t look familiar. Still with some tourists in view, we didn’t think too much. Paid him 140b cos I didn’t have the exact change nor did he had enough to return me, he accepted it. I can’t resist not taking a photo with this chap.
Rider that sent us back to town.
The pier side had some bronze like statues of some giant crabs and that together with the cliffs behind made a interesting photo opportunity. We moved towards the direction of the bus stop and at the same time looking out for lunch place. Most of the shops that were closed, possibly because it was a Sunday. We stumbled onto an Italian restaurant (Viva Restaurant) which served some really good pasta. I tried the special Italy flown in mushroom pasta which was tasty though the ice cream shake wasn’t cold. On the whole, food wise was satisfying and there was wifi too.
Statue of crabs.Vintage car with some lovely lashes.Chang sells water too.Banana shake.Italian mushroom pasta.Penne.Restaurant for lunch.
We left the restaurant and after asking the cashier on the direction of the bus stop, we got up the songthaew outside the 7-11 with a 1lit bottle of water that we bought in a pharmacy a few meters back. The driver waited till the songthaew was almost full and started the journey back. Along the way, the songthaew picked up 3 more Koreans and a Caucasian where 2 of them stood outside and the Caucasian sat on the floor, really packed to the max.
By now it was almost 2nd nature in taking public transport back to our hotel. Retrieved our luggage from the temp storage room and enquire about the Hong Island tour but was informed that the tour would start at Ao Nang beach, therefore it would be much better to enquire when we transferred to Rai Leh beach. Thought of getting a Tuk Tuk to the Longtail station but was advised to keep the money and stroll to the pier instead.
Ticket booth.Pier for the Longtail boats.
The midday sun was turning on the heat as we pulled our 2 wheeler luggage towards pier. Our baht seemed to be under budgeted and so we got into Siam Commercial bank exchange to change out 80sgd at 25.4b per $, an amazingly better rate then what we had in Singapore. We also went into one tourist shop that was selling airport shuttle tickets but was informed that the bus would pick up near the shop which was still far from the pier and we got them at another of these shops closer to the pier.
The Longtail boat tickets were sold at an obvious ticket counter just a few meters from the beach. Bought the tickets to Rai Leh for 100b each, thinking that it was going to the shore where our hotel Bhu Nga Thani Resort. As we approached the pier, there was a staff ready to dispatch the passengers. We were told to sit till it was time to board which was really quick. The longtail boat was close to shore but the low tide water still washed up onto the shorts. I had to lift up the luggage above my head and lift it into the boat before getting on, a little troublesome.
Getting into the water for boarding.
There was about 8 passengers on board and the journey to Rai Leh beach was smooth. While we arrived, the reverse took place and if it was not for another passenger that helped with my luggage, i wondered how I would get it off to shore dry. Then we realized that Rai Leh beach meant West Rai Leh. Asked around and managed to take the walking route to East Rai Leh beach. Most of the route was sand and that meant that I had to hand carry the luggage. After some 5mins, we reached East Rai Leh and the resort was just to the left of it.
Walls protruding from the sea as we zoomed towards Railey beach.
Checked in and given some welcome drink and a nice cold towel to clean up. The porter helped with the luggage, the introduction of the resort and the room. We were pretty impressed with the first view of the room, large, had separate tub and shower, a balcony with a daybed and a side daybed in the room – felt really comfortable. But our first priority was to get the activities settled for the next day, which was a Hong Island visit. Went back to the reception where we first enquired on the tour and agreed to one that was recommended by them. Paid 1500b/pax for the tour and also borrowed a DVD that was available in the resort library that we could watch in our room.
Spacious bedroom.Separate tub with a sink.Separate rain shower and toiletOutside balcony with another day bed.View from the balcony of the room.Welcome plate of fruits.Entrance to the resort.
The wifi in the room was fantastic and we spent the afternoon on the internet on the daybed and also had a bath to wash off the sweat from the afternoon’s climb before leaving for dinner. The rain shower did not have a constant water pressure and was alternating, between heavy downpour and passing shower, which I thought was one of the not so good thing about the room. The whole east beach was more swampy than sandy. The tide was high and the water had crept up close to the walkway that ran north south, linking up the various resorts and many more restaurants and bars. Walking up and down this walkway, we finally decided with Mum’s Kitchen II. Ordered quite a bit of food, including a fish cooked in special sauce. This was a place that served good food with a great value, 680b in all. We also had take away for a Thai pancake, which was very much like the Roti Prata in Singapore, in Nutella and banana flavour. We also checked on the tours offered and it was cheaper than what we had booked. The only thing we could take comfort was that the tour for the next day was sold out already.
Walking pave on Railey East.Shops and bars on both side of the pavement.Evening at Railey East.Mom’s Kitchen 2 for dinner.Inside the restaurant.Thai Iced tea.Iced lemon tea.Big fried fish.Tom Yum, Mixed Vegetables and fried rice.Flipping Thai pancake, like a prata.Night view of the resort entrance.Thai pancake for desert – Nutella with banana.
Spent the rest of the night having pancake and watching DVD. Slept early as fatigue from the climb kicked in.
Our last trip of 2013 begin in the afternoon with a 225pm flight from Changi Terminal 2. In an attempt to save some money before the actual spending overseas, we have decided to take a bus 960 to Little India before changing to the MRT therefore avoiding the costs associated with taking a cab. On a sunny Friday afternoon, the bus arrived unexpectedly crowded. Guessed many people took the few days off from work till 2014 such as we did. We had a medium sized backpack with a 18″ luggage, though it was not to difficult to get onto the bus, we had to stand the entire 30 mins to Little India. Then it was a change to the NS line at Dhoby Ghaut to City Hall and EW to Tanah Merah and finally Changi Airport. Arrived at 1.5hrs since we boarded the bus, not too bad in our opinion.
Check in was relatively quick. Lunched at one of the food cafe and boarded the plane. An easy 40 winks in the Tiger flight piloted by a lady Captain, and a little bump ( my wife described it was like the plane was thrown onto the ground) during the landing, we landed safely 5mins before schedule, of 3pm. It was a good thing we got the front seats because the immigration was packed pretty quickly and the processing was kinda slow. Without the need for visa, we lined up at the queue quickly before it got busy. There were only 2 luggage lines in this small airport, so even when there weren’t any directions given, it was easy to find the right line.
Shuttle bus tickets to Ao Nang.Shuttle bus at the entrance of airport.Mountain of luggage.
Once past the declaration, everything happened really fast, bought the shuttle bus tickets from the counter for 150B/pax and there was already one staff near the exit enthusiastically taking our tickets and our alighting location. 10 mins later, we were already on the bus as everyone loaded up and luggage all stacked up in front behind the driver seat. Though almost everyone had a seat, those who boarded after all the seats were filled were semi sitting at back of the bus or even standing so it paid off to get to the front of the line as soon as possible. Another 10 mins and we were on the road driving through small towns and densely vegetated areas with a hilly backdrop. About 40mins later, the bus arrived at Ao Nang beach where the first of the few passengers were getting off, trying to rummage thru the mountain of stacked bags to pick out the ones that belonged to them. This bus also stopped at the the pier to Rai Leh beach where quite a few people got off. A little after 1hr, we finally arrived at our hotel Ao Nang Goodwill Hotel.
Ao Nang Goodwill hotel room.Elephant towels.
First look of the hotel gave us the impression of a small friendly establishment. There was no lifts and we were at the 3rd storey. It was a good thing we travelled light. The room was pretty spacious, clean but a little old. But I guessed it was of good value considering the other high prices. There was free wifi which we utilized immediately after we got the room but the signal was weak.
We were intending to visit Phi Phi island the next day and checked with the reception if there were any tours that would bring us there. There was one 1200B/pax but we were sure of the price. Went out and walked along the street and checked with another 3-4 places before finding out that we could get to Phi Phi at a cheaper rate, using ferry but that would mean slower arrival due its speed and probably a lot less time on the island in order to catch the return journey. In the end, we settled for a day trip by the same tour that was previously recommended by the recept.
Mountainous backdrop.Evening sun over the streets.Cute style tuk tuk.
We proceeded to walk further down to the beach area to search for dinner. There were quite a few restaurants that seemed to be serving Italian and Swedish food so we skipped those, looking for a Tom Yam restaurant to get Thai food. It was crowded and seemed to be understaffed and we had to self initiate to get our table, asked for menu and wait probably some 20 mins for the appetizers and 30mins for the mains in which one was even ordered wrongly, although the beer arrived shortly after ordering. The food wasn’t awesome definitely not worth the wait plus the mango juice was smaller than the other juices observed on the Caucasians tables, disappointing. While waiting, we put our time to good use by researching info online with the free wifi provided.
Funny signboard on saving water.Dinner in a busy restaurantFried spring rolls.Fried rice with seafood.Phad Thai with seafood.Long opening hours for the shops.Portable stalls set up at night.
After the 600baht dinner, we went onto the streets and continued westwards to explore more. There were many stalls selling stuff alternated with cafés and bars, very typical of beach resort type of destinations. We weren’t really interested and didn’t really check out the goods, since it wasn’t really a good time to be shopping so early in the trip. Our other interest was to check out the rates to the Tiger cave that we intend to visit on Sunday. We tried a few of the “tourist information counter” and enquirer on the various tours and rates for our reference. Continued back to the hotel and stopped by MacD to buy some fries and Mcflurry. By the time we reached the hotel, it was already 10pm. Nothing much on the TV though there were MTV channels and a few other cable options. The hotel information booklet for guests had quite a bit of info and mind maps, which I thought was amusing. Went to bed with much anticipation of the trip the next day.
Total duration 6D5N Singapore is 1 hr ahead of Krabi, Thailand. Flight time is 1.5hr direct flight on Tiger airways from Singapore to Krabi. Friday afternoon flight on 27th Dec and arrival in Krabi at 3pm.
This escape plan was to celebrate New Year over at Krabi. We have never been to Krabi before and this presented a good opportunity to verify the testimonies of beautiful beaches and also visit Phi Phi island.
Budget nature: Expensive during the peak periods.
I arrived with the impression that the trip was going to cost. It did, on the accommodation especially. However, along the way, we managed to avoid overspending by taking public transportation. Tuk tuk and taxis were a luxury to get around and we did not take a single one during this trip that kept it within budget.
Complexity: DIY
We managed to get to places that we wanted using public transport and it was easy. A lot had to do with asking the hotel reception for help. Getting to the islands could be arranged by oneself but with the compromise of not seeing more for less in a fixed time. Getting onto tours were also pretty hassle free, having the tour arranged pick up and drop off at hotel, recommended for those without too much time.
