Travelogue: Krabi & Phi Phi Island Hopping

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   Greetings world! I'm back again to continue my documentation on Thailand trip that happened months ago, with my classmates. This time, i am gonna head straight to Krabi and share with you a thing or two about our journey. I hope that you will benefit from this when planning your next trip to this insanely gorgeous destination!


Day 1: Hua Hin----Krabi--Ao Nang


   Being spontaneous and perhaps a little bit stingy, our planner decided to rent a van from Hua Hin to Krabi. We went through an 8 or perhaps 10 hours journey from 10pm in Hua Hin, arriving at our resort in Krabi at 8am. It was an overnight drive, for about 5000 THB. I would say it is really reasonable, considering the amount of tension and stress to drive at night, through the narrow roads and sleepiness. However, if you are looking for comfort, then this might not be the wise choice of transportation for you.

    After arriving at Oscar Villa, a simple and affordable accommodation at the outskirt of Krabi town, we quickly checked in and had a quick dip in the private pool right outside of our individual villas. This private pool is meant for sharing between a handful of villas surrounding it.

Our view outside of the villas
Mr. J chilling on the float

   Around noon time, we showered and freshened up ourselves before heading out for lunch in Krabi town. The resort provides a few free shuttle services throughout the day, at specific times. If you wish to hire them at different timing as provided, extra charges will be applied. Once we reached the town, we settled down for a quick bite at a seafood restaurant along the beach. I couldn't recall the name of the restaurant, but the food was meh and overpriced since it is a tourist area.

  Later on, we surveyed and compared prices of different tour agency for island hopping tomorrow. When we noticed some long tail boats around the end of the beach street, we decided to hop on and headed towards the famous Ao Nang beach just 20km west from Krabi town. It can only be accessed by boats. It costs around 250baht for to and fro journey.

Beach at Krabi town
Wheeee, view from the long tail boat




View of Ao Nang from far
Excited tourists
   Once we reached Ao Nang, approximately 15 minutes of boat ride, we were welcomed by a magnificent view of tourists. The whole beach was literally crowded by bikinis and humans. Talking about expectation vs reality.

Row of long tail boats




   We found a slightly cooler spot and just hanged around there, people watching and just chilling. We weren't exactly prepared for water and swims, hence, we could only play with the warm sea water and stoned. The guys however could go over the deeper water and visited the Lagoon, which is a circular lake-like area hidden on the left side of the beach. They said the view was magnificent and rewarding. Ishh, i so hoped that i brought my swim suit along!



Legit crystal clear sea water!



Group photo in front of Phra Nang Cave
   After that, we headed back to Krabi Town to catch the sunset at The Hilltop Restaurant. We hopped on a tuk tuk that fetched us to the foot of the hill. Then, The Hilltop sent off their shuttles to get us all up to this beautiful restaurant seated on one of the highest points in Krabi.





The King and Queen seats

   Someone actually proposed on the King and Queen seats as seen above, We were so thrilled to see the happy couple. I think they are fellow Malaysians too! I hope for the best for their marriage. Anyway, since it was kinda early that time, we ordered some light bites such as Mango Sticky Rice, Fried Banana Fritters, Pad Thai and more.

Mango Sticky Rice
Fried Banana Fritters served with Vanilla ice-cream
Pad Thai
SUNSET!
The night view
    The food was merely good, but the more rewarding part of this restaurant is the absolutely stunning sunset. We were fortunate enough to be able to watch the whole sunset together, over our meals. The night view was equally amazing here, with live band, alcohol and jolly crowd. As the sun set, we hopped down the hill to visit the night market right opposite the road. I didn't manage to take a lot of photos because of the crowd, but i can tell you that the BBQ stuff is amazing! I tried their BBQ chicken thigh and it was da bomb! Fruit juices, shakes and pancakes were pretty good as well. We ended the day with food from the market, a good chat and a peaceful sleep.

Coconut Shake
Banana Nutella Pancake

Day 2: Phi Phi Island hopping--Snorkelling


   We woke up super early on Day 2, eating simple breakfast we bought from 7-11, our favourite convenient store in Thailand. We departed from the resort at 8.30am, towards Krabi Town where we were supposed to meet up for the island hopping tour we purchased yesterday. The tour we bought was the Phi Phi Islands tour from local tour agency that we found along beach street. We gathered at the beach on the end of beach street where the tour agents took our attendance, given out wrist bands for identification. At 9am, we left Krabi town by motor boat, heading towards the Phi Phi islands.

My best look of the day before getting sun-tanned, wet and messy
Let's go!
See you in a bit Krabi!
Feeling like i'm in a James Bond movie >.<
     Phi Phi is basically a group of islands, made up of 6 islands. The main ones are Phi Phi Don which can accommodate tourists and visitors on their own resort as well as another one called Phi Phi Leh. There are plenty of main attractions, but we are only covering a portion of these. Our first stop is Bamboo Island, approximately 45 minutes speed boat ride from Krabi Town.

OHMAGERD Turquoise water!
Welcome to Bamboo Island
Where is the line!




   This beach is actually one of my personal favourite in this tour. I simply love the long stretch of soft and white sandy beach, with its crystal clear sea water and magnificently blue skyline. Too bad, we couldn't spend much time over here because we were on the tour and were rushing for the next destination. I will definitely return to Bamboo Island for a full day chilling by the beach if there is opportunity in the future.

   Next up, we passed by Viking Cave and Monkey Bay. Viking Cave as its name suggests, was rumoured to be the location where the Vikings once visited and settled down for a period of time. This is proven by some ancient drawings and markings on the wall inside, with some bamboo sticks, suggesting the presence of ancient human here. However, none of these are proven scientifically and it remains as a myth. Monkey Bay as its name suggest, we were able to catch a glimpse on some monkeys but that didn't excite us much because we came from Malaysia duh.

The Viking Cave





Monkey Bay

   After that, we hopped towards Maya Bay. Similar to Bamboo Island, Maya Bay is also a part of the Nopprarat National Park, protected and guarded by strict security enforcers. Entrance fee of 400 baht is charged to access to these beaches. This is not included in our tour fare, so we have to pay extra on the spot to secure a ticket. However, it was totally worth it once we stepped into the Andaman Sea. Maya Bay is an open beach, inviting visitors with its wide and sandy beach. The attraction here is mainly snorkeling because of its shallow and crystal clear sea water. We opted for a quick dip since time was limited.

More tourists



   Basically, we only managed to spend 15-20 minutes on each beach because of the tight tour schedule, something that i absolutely dislike. For a first timer to the Andaman Sea, tour is the best way to get yourself started and familiarised with the location and activities. Perhaps on my next visit here, i would rent a private boat and take my own sweet time on the beaches i want to linger.

   Right after Maya Bay, we visited Phi Phi Don island for lunch. There is this huge cafeteria inside the resort where everyone from different tours enjoy their buffet lunch. We had one hour here, so we quickly grabbed some simple rice and dishes before heading off to our next destinations.

   We passed by a few more rock island before entering an open sea for snorkeling. Before entering the cold water, the tour guide quickly went through the safety aspects, process and things to look out for in the sea. For a first timer like me which just happen to can't swim at all, i was pretty nervous to be honest. I didn't know what to expect, what to do or how to survive the deep waters. I could only rely on Mr. J and fellow friends around me to keep me from drowning. When i first went in, i couldn't feel the ground and this immediately freaked me out! I was struggling so much trying to keep my head above the water and to move around. Gosh, if you could only imagine the frantic me. Such an embarrassment!

   Thank God, after some lesson by Mr. J, i was able to calm down and look beneath the water surface and appreciate the little things under the water. The water was clear, and i was able to see beautiful corals, fishes and other flora and fauna. I wasn't sure what i saw, but it is insanely deep down there! Can't even see the bottom! I wonder how people can dive down without life jacket! Gosh, i'm totally not a fish, need to hold on to the ground!



   Thank goodness i was doing way better during our second snorkeling session in another open sea. This time, we were able to see more colourful fishes like the clown fish and other species. Coral reefs were everywhere in different shades of beautiful colors! I wished i have a waterproof camera or Go Pro and take some photos underwater to show you guys how magnificent it was in another part of the world.

   We ended the tour at approximately 5pm. We were dropped at the same place where we departed. Then, we took a tuk tuk back to our resort to freshen up before heading out for dinner at some local restaurant for more Siam cuisine. We also bought some souvenirs from beach street before calling it a night after a long and eventful day.

Day 3: Railay Beach--Kayaking--Flying Back


   Early in the morning, we had some quick breakfast again, at our favourite convenient store before taking the long tail boat to Railay Beach. Similar to Ao Nang, Railay Beach is accessible by boat, but slightly further down compared to Ao Nang. We decided to give this place a short visit, see what we could do that before leaving Krabi.


Foggy morning
RAILAY BEACH



  Compared to Ao Nang, Railay Beach is considered more secluded, quieter but they have their own resort and facilities. Since it was still early in the morning, we were able to enjoy the luke warmth of the sunshine on our skin, it was wonderful. We rented some kayaks from the local resort for a quick kayaking around the sea. It costs around 300 baht for an hour, if divided by two, it costs around 150 baht per person, pretty reasonable i would say. They also provide life jackets to each person.

Selfie time!
Sometimes, even i am amazed with IPhone's camera
   We paddled towards the north-west direction from Railay Beach. The water was mostly calm, with occasional waves, but it was a smooth sail. We were able to see many beautiful and natural rock formation, lime stone caves and even small isle of private beach. Took some photos and just enjoying the sea breeze sweeping through our hair. This is my favourite part of this trip to Krabi, simply enjoying the tranquil morning, floating on the open sea, mesmerising the unending beauty of God's creation.

Quick shot at the private beach we discovered while kayaking

   After an hour paddling, we returned to Railay Beach and headed back to Krabi Town to pack and check out from our resort. We then had simple lunch in Krabi town and rented a van as our transport to Krabi Airport, which is roughly 35 minutes drive. We paid 900 baht for the van. Overall, Krabi has treated us greatly with fond memories and unlimited beauty. We truly had lots of fun here. I promise that i'll be back for more sunshine, sea and salt in my hair. I hope you enjoyed today's write up. If you have any question that you would like to ask me regarding this trip to Krabi, feel free to drop it on the comment section below. Till next time, xoxo.

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