Krabi - An Outdoor Person's Haven

Four days in Krabi is definitely not sufficient to try all that Krabi has to offer. It is a wonderful place with a variety of outdoor activities mixed around the traditional things Thailand has to offer.

We stayed at the quiet (and cheaper) Krabi town, a port for those hoping to go the the nearby islands of Phi-Phi and Lanta. Accommodation can range from RM30 to RM 160 depending on what is expected. This is in comparison much cheaper than Aonang Beach and Railey Beach.



Caption: Traffic light at Krabi Town. Statue of a prehistoric man stands above the intersection holding the lights. Krabi is also an archaeological site dated from several eras.



Caption: The quiet river of Krabi Town


Krabi Town was very quiet and clean. A lot of relatively cheap food joint, but beware the drinks cost a bomb, RM 2 for iced tea....hmmmm more expensive than KL. When I said relative it is relative to Aonang, but when compared to other parts of Thailand the place may be a bit dear. Minimum price for a plate or bowl of noodle is 35 baht or about RM3.50. But then, my bench mark for the prices were from my trips to Phuket, Samui, Songkhla, Hatyai and even Krabi 4 years back. Prices may have increased everywhere.

And my favourite thing about eating in Krabi is forty percent of the locals are Muslims. That means I can eat a lot of things - the sweet kuihs were really delicious and my favorite 'kerabu betik' (can't seem to re-call the Thai name). Merman liked the beef spicy soup(plus whatever weird organs) especially after he discovered part of the testis inside it. Euwwwww..... but it tasted damn good, the soup I mean.



On day two, we went kayaking in the mangrove swamp at Bhor Tor.The swamp lies in between limestone caves and passages providing a real excitement. We paddled through darkened passages and emerge into a beautiful secret lagoon on the other side. I felt as if I was on Fantasy Island (hehehehe... that statement really reveals my age). After that we had lunch by the riverside, all you can eat. It was part of the package we took (whole morning of kayaking, lunch and an afternoon dip in one of the rivers) and as usual being me, I ended up eating as much as I can the tempura shrimp and the tomyam soup well till my tummy felt like bursting.










That evening we went for a free massage(courtesy of our trip organiser).

Day Three was spent by the beach in Aonang. It is not the most beautiful beach I have seen but is is OK. The Farangs seem to be enjoying the bloody hot sun (I suffered heatstroke, mind you)sunbathing, swimming, playing weird games by the beach. And there were so many open air massage huts at the beach.

Apart from walking together by the beach (so romantic...hahaha) we also went shopping. Everything is so bloody expensive but only here we get to shop for souvenirs. There were very few souvenir shop in Krabi Town.

Caption: Aonang Beach with Railey in the background


Anyway, our initial plan was to go to Railey Beach which is only accesible via Longtail Boats from Aonang but it was too hot when we arrived. And by the time it was a bit shady, we only had 45 min to catch the 15 minute ride, spend 10 minutes admiring the beach and another 15 minutes to get back. So in the end, scrapped that idea and we just stayed and lounged around Aonang.

There were so many things that we wanted to do but we didn't. We missed going diving but it was ridiculously expensive to dive in Krabi. 3400 baht for 2 dives. Way too expensive. And we missed island hopping, but once you are into diving it is absurd to just go snorkelling and halfway cursing ourselves on why we didn't dive :(.

We missed climbing the cliffs of Railey, a world renown area for rock-climbing. Out arms were aching from the previous day's kayaking and I don't think I can climb up even the easiest route. We missed exploring on our own the natural beauty Krabi district has to offer. Tried renting a Jeep but apparently that weekend all the Jeeps have been rented out. Wanted to see the Emerald waterfall, the numerous forest reserves but alas without a Jeep can't go off the beaten track. Well, renting a bike is cheaper (only 150 Bahts) but neither one of us can ride a bike; the last I rode a bike was in Form 6 - fifteen years ago! And plus the fact that the motorcycle accident rates in Thailand amongst tourist is so high.

But overall it was excellent. I had a good break and I had a wonderful time with my darling Merman. Next time we come we hope to bring an entourage so that we all have fun together. It is an exciting and beautiful place and I would love to come back soon.