[Travel] Revisiting Krabi

Picture : At the peak of Tiger Cave, Krabi, Thailand

Having travelled to Krabi last two year (2008) was something that came unexpected to me. Since then, we decided to visit this miraculous place again last October, which it is a month away from the tourist’s peak-season (November – January).

While on the last trip, much of the famous places are covered on the 3-part journal, you’ll notice that I have only one post for this time around. In case you missed it:

What’s up this time around?

Though this time around, we decide to visit Krabi during their l0w-peak season.

Not much of foreigner or tourists can be seen actually.

And it was to our surprise that there is this festival that usually celebrates along Malaysia/Singapore Chinese ethnics here in Krabi.

Faces of Krabi

Staying around

We chose to go back to this marvelous and friendly guesthouse known as Baantaveesri (pronounced as Barn-Tha-Where-See by the locals, you’ll need this in case you take a tuk-tuk from the airport)

It’s clean, affordable and quiet. If you ever stay there, send my regards to Jaep or Charlie :) Do give a try on a small restaurant just few house away, a homecooked Thai food. Marvelously done. Really. Should try the Phad Thai.

It’s so carefree all around here that the dogs are able to climb on top of the roof.

The cables are as messy as ever.

What about a place like this? Think it might cost a bomb? Not really, if you are checking in during the low-season period where it can go as low as 1400 Baht per night.

That’s an elephant alright.

It’s exceptionally beautiful and yes, open the window and you’re out to go swimming. Aree Tara Resort Krabi. They even include internet access lobby! Damn this is one of the most satisfying hotel I’ve ever stayed on.

You can get your clothes washed for around 100 Baht?

Always wanted to try this, the Ao nang Boat Noodle. Sounds interesting? It does tastes really good, especially the soup.

Best served with these fresh bean sprouts.

Best thirst quencher?

The very good Som-Tam (Thai salad) stall.

Massage during this period of time is also extra affordable as well!

Fossil Shell Beach, Krabi

A quiet and forgotten place to most tourists. You’ll probably need like 10 minutes on a tuk-tuk or motorcycle from Ao Nang.

It appeared that the sea waters surrounding the beach creates this unusual texture along the shore.

To a certain extend, these piles of rock is not rock actually.

Along the way as you walk down to the beach, you’ll notice there’s aplenty of souvenir shop.

Lomography Fisheye 2 in action.

It appeared that by spending around 1 hour along the Ao Nang Beach during sunset is rather rewarding.

Though dependent on luck most of the time, you’ll get to see unexpected beautiful colour on the skies as the sun sets.

A night in Krabi

As you walk along the stretch where you pass by the McDonalds in Ao Nang, just opposite the road you will find this small tent where they serve absolutely delicious Thai delicacy. All like the pictures above below 500 Baht for almost 3 person’s meal.

Though after a quick dinner, rest assure that you might bump into these elephants along the way, where you can pay a small amount of fee to feed bananas to it.

This is absolutely taken in Krabi at night, where it might look similar to Roti Canai / Prata to Malaysians/Singaporeans, but it is more well known as Pancake or Rotee in this place.

I still can’t figure out what makes these so tasty in compared to what we had in our country. From 20 Baht above.

What’s for Supper?

The unforgettable chicken drumsticks and grilled fish.

These kind of mobile-motorcycle-stall can be found along the way towards Ao Nang beach.

And if you’re looking for nightlife in Ao Nang, Krabi, prepared to be disappointed as this is the only alley that we spotted.

Crafts & Gifts

Besides food and drinks, you’ll certainly be amazed by an array of artists (to be precise, copier?) that gives a lot of concentration in their drawing board.

Look at the small piece of picture that they have as reference, and painted a larger version on the canvas, for sale.

Lowe-alpine…*giggles*

Play?

All is good, if you are probably want to look for some game to play at night. We stumbled across this lovely couple that operates this pub that has a pool table right behind the bar.

That’s around 40 Baht per game.

At the summit of Tiger Cave

After several attempts of climbing the hill on Tiger Cave temple, I have succeeded it with Canny. Phew.

That was like 1237 steps.

It is best to always be alert of your surroundings as there is a massive amount of monkeys living around the neighborhood.

It appeared that waters containers are transported this way.

And there is toilets halfway through the hike.

And as you climb, this is the last steep steps you need to take.

To reach this.

The scenery are breathless.

Though it causes no harm but there is a lot of red ants along the path on top of the hill. Just some a note of caution, since you’ll be walking bare-footed on top. (You need to take off your shoes)

A panoramic view on top of Tiger Cave Temple, Krabi.

The Morning Market

It was a blessing that we met the owner of a bar in Ao nang known as Jack and his wife. We were invited to his house for lunch during our travel. Jack took us on a tour to their morning market, and as early as 7 A.M, it is already crowded with a lot of locals.

Finding the right ones.

Chilies.

Though majority of locals in Krabi are Muslim, they does have a separated section for Pork.

Looks painfully similar to Malaysia, they serve their version of Milk Tea (Teh) and Glutinous Rice known as Khaow-Niao.

The one on the left is their version of You-Tiao. Amazingly short if you ask me.

Fresh fruits are everywhere!

Locals are busy bargaining for their goods.

A warm welcome

The friendliness is beyond on words that I can explain. The local dish! Fresh fish and crabs! Yes, Jack is Muslim!

Travelling further away from Krabi

Though this time around, we decided to take on tour which is further away from the town itself, one of it being Emerald pool. A magical natural-swimming pool. And I almost drowned inside, despite the height of the pool can go up to 2 meters, luckily I’m able to climb back up the slippery floor.

You’ll be really surprised to find such place within the forest.

You’ll be walking along the man-made path, for about 30-minutes to reach the destination.

A very nice place, and beautiful. Though with the scary incident, it affirms me that I need to learn swimming, the correct way.

The locals giving prayers.

And the kids like to do this.

And this.

And also this.

Not too far away from the Emerald pool, there is this natural hot spring as well.

Koh Lanta

Just south of Krabi, a slightly less developed island that we ought to spend 2 day from our trip. The ride from Krabi to Koh Lanta was slightly rough and unplanned for, never know that we need to cross towards the island on a ferry instead of a bridge.

People are still as friendly as ever but you’ll need to lurk around to find convenience store.

The green barrier are placed along the beach, to avoid strong winds to blow away everything on the island. Though at first we really wondered why the locals would want to block such a spectacular view?

There are plenty of divers here in Koh Lanta.

Going back

It was unexpectedly fast for 1 week of trip to Krabi. Just right outside of the arrival gate we decided to take taxi back to our home.

Though there are queues, you might be wondering what this dude is doing.

A more “luxurious” option, and to skip queue.

This is what we would be having back to home. Till then, thank you for reading and hope you find the information to travel on Krabi useful. Hope this will give you an insight on what it would be like during the low-tide for tourists, though cheaper by a big margin, you’ll even find that it is less crowded. Perhaps, this could be a good news for those is looking to getaway from all the noises and sounds.