"with love, from krabi, thailand"

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The long awaited trip to Krabi (6 days of paradise) has come, and gone. It was an amazing trip, with so much to do and experience – if you love the sun, sand and sea; this trip is for you. Before you embark on a trip however, a few things you need to know.

TO BOOK TRIPS AHEAD ONLINE, OR TO BOOK THEM THERE?
Book your trips in Krabi with any agent. There are countless agents waiting around to book trips for you – prices are more or less the same with just mere 100-200 baht differences. Do NOT book online as some online agents will not allow you to change/postpone your activities in case of bad weather. Agents in Krabi will provide you their number if in any case you need to postpone your activity. They will also call you at your hotel to notify you if there are any changes in your schedule.

ARE HOTELS CHEAP?
Pretty much. We stayed at Krabi Heritage Hotel, which is super clean and nice, with a mountain view. Plus, the hotel is a mere 7 minutes walk to the beach, 5 minutes walk to restaurants, 3 minutes walk to massage parlors. Definitely recommended – and do book via Agoda for good deals.

WHAT ARE THE NECESSITIES TO BRING?
Honestly, almost everything you need for the beach can be bought along Ao Nang beach. From bikinis to beach dresses, floats, sunscreens, mats and hats – they're all there, and cheaper than buying them in Malaysia. Most shops allow bargaining so it'll be quite a thrill for shopaholics.

WHAT ARE THE RECOMMENDED DINING PLACES?
A lot of the shops are either serving Thai, Indian or Italian cuisine, with a few other exceptions in between. The food is pretty standard. The prices however, are marked up for tourists, so I would only advise you to eat in those places if you're starving, or if you need free Wi-Fi. Otherwise, I would suggest you rent a bike and travel a bit further to look for stalls or restaurants that are out of the tourist zone, then you'll get good and cheap, authentic Thai food.

WOULD I NEED A BIKE LICENSE TO RENT A BIKE?
Nope. All they need is your passport, and a bike & helmet (plus insurance, some rentals provide) is rented out to you for only 150 baht for 24 hours. If you don't know how to ride a bike, they are willing to give you a short tutorial. But bear in mind that a stolen or broken bike will cost you 40,000 baht. They will keep your passport with them during the duration of the rental for insurance.

That's about some of the basic stuff you should know before getting there.

Lucky us, we arrived only to be welcomed by a beautiful rainbow. :)

Our first meal at a Swedish sports bar – because the beer & wings are on a cheap 200baht promo. ;)

There are at least 5 tattoo parlors in our area. Bring extra money if you want to get inked by Thai artists.

Bike rentals are aplenty. Just be sure you know how to ride one, and don't damage the bikes.

Cats are roaming all over Krabi, this black one reminded me of my sweet little Karma. :)

One of the first activities we booked was the elephant trek. It rained for a bit but lucky thing, we packed raincoats, so we managed to stay pretty dry throughout.

The talented baby elephant.

For 500baht, there's a taxi that takes you into Krabi Town, about 45 minutes away from Ao Nang beach for the street market. You can get loads of souvenirs and food here, and the food is cheap & good. There is a cluster of tables situated in the middle of the square, where you can bring your food purchases to eat – while watching some free performances where volunteers are asked to go onstage to sing, dance or perform.

Mini coconuts are my fave! So sweet and refreshing, I bought four and finished them off.

These are some little pancakes with sweet stuff (the colored things) and cream. I don't know what they are but they taste pretty good, albeit a little too sweet.

On our third day, we went island hopping. We booked a half-day island hopping tour which starts about noon and will end at 8pm – because night snorkeling is involved. Obviously I wasn't able to take any photos because the night swim was for us to observe glow-in-the-dark phosphorous which can only be seen when underwater. It was an experience, a little scary but interesting.

The first place they took us to was Tub Island, where you can walk on a connecting sand bank which connects to Mor Island. Of course, you are only allowed to walk across during low tide where the connecting bank is shallow and visible.

I wish we had an underwater camera to capture the colorful clown fishes and corals we saw. And the sea urchin that pricked my boyfriend's foot. If you're new to snorkeling, please wear a safety vest.

Our last two days in Krabi were spent lazing on the beach, getting a decent tan and renting a bike to go explore the area. We found a couple of interesting food spots and found good souvenirs to buy.