Hello All,
Day 0. We decided on a fan room for 300 baht. Quiet location. Walked
down to the night market which was near the river and ordered some
food. Took too long after order and was average so will not be going
back to that stall. We were a little surprised that we were not near
the beach and did a little research. Found that the beach area was
actually about 20km away.
Day 1. Found a travel shop recommended by Lonely Planet and hired a
scooter. Headed to Ao Nang which had an average beach but some lovely
karst island nearby. Went for a snorkel at one end of the beach but
found that visibility was poor. Tried to hire a kayak from a resort but
only for guests so gave up and went back to shore and went for a ride
along coast on scooter. Followed signs to a fossil beach but decided
that 200 baht each was too much to enter and sat down at a Muslim run
cafe for some lunch. Met a German photographer who had previously lived
in the area and had a good conversation before heading off for a ride
north along the coast. Found a nice island near the shore and
snorkelled around it with disappointing visibility and no coral. Got
lost returning to Krabi town but eventually arrived. All roads lead to
Krabi town!
Day2. Booked a 4 island trip. Pickup from hotel, full day trip and
food. Barracuda tours. Very organised and fun as we had to board the
wooden boat from the beach at Ao Nang in a mild swell. Chicken island,
Tup Island (2 islands joined by sand), Poda island for lunch and then
Phranag Cave back at the shore. The islands were amazing but the
snorkelling was average. We did find a new type of fish for us. I call
it a feather fish as it swims vertically and looks like a feather with
the quil downwards towards the bottom. Odd. Plenty of pink jellyfish
around and got stung across the face by an unseen tentacle. We think
found that there were small thin jellyfish which were the culprits.
Chilly lips from the rest of the day for me. Got stung again on the
back of my neck later and Vanessa got one on her ankle. Seems jellyfish
season is under way.
Poda island for lunch was an outstanding location. We had a couple of
bottles of water which we put at the base of a cliff then and we went
for a snorkel out off the beach.We found a sea cave that was literally
filled to the brim with tens of thousands of small fish that shimmered
as then drifted in the current it was an amazing sight and it
captivated us for quite a while.When we return to the beach after
snorkelling we discovered that our water bottles were not where we
had left them but instead were laying empty on the ground. A couple of
Australian tourists were in the area looking up at some monkeys and
the only conclusion that we can draw is that we had been robbed of our
water by monkeys. Then we saw the monkey warning signs. We watched one
of the male monkeys ripping the husk off a coconut as another relaxed
on the rocks. One of the tourists bought an ice cream from a seller
which aroused interest in the monkeys who narrowly missed making it
their own. Robber monkeys you owe us some water. Spent the rest of the
afternoon exploring Phrang cave and area. Got back to ao nang and the
swell had picked up. A bit of fun getting off the boat and the asian
tourists were having trouble. A couple were upended coming off another
longtail boat and one unfortunately lost his wallet. We looked but
could not see it in the surf.
Day 3. This is great. We can visit great locations with free pickup on
tours while having cheap accommodation. We were so impressed with the
tour yesterday that we decided to go on the hong island group tour with
barracuda tours. Cost 700 baht each. Longtail boat each. I thought
yesterday was stunning but hong island area was much more beautiful.
The snorkelling was terrible around Daeng island but we forgot about it
when we got to vegetable(Rai?) island, Pakbia island and had lunch at
Landing island. Went for a swim carefully avoiding the jellyfish but
missed one and got chilli lips again. Think my face was a little
swollen from the sting in the evening. The sights got progressively
better with beautiful beaches and clear water. Wow. Lastly we got to
hong island which had a lagoon in the centre of it which we visited in
the boat before heading around to a stunning beach on the outside of
the island. Got back to Ao Nang and a bit of swell for the beach
landing. Another great day out.
The wet season is coming. Each day we have had thunderstorms and
lightening. It has rained every second day.
Day 4. Went for a scooter ride to the tiger temple. No way we were
going to climb the mountain in 35 deg heat and high humidity. Sure the
temple was in a great location but were are just not that dedicated.
Took it easy for rest of the day and decided it was time to move again.
Day 5. Trip to Ko Libong island in search of dugong. Mini bus to Trang
(90 baht pp) Mini Bus to Hat Yao (70 baht pp) Longtail boat to Ko
Libong (60 bsht pp) Mototaxi to Resorts on west side of island 8km (100
baht pp). Sounds simple but not really. The bus to trang was easy. Then
we got told we needed to go to the train station to catch the minivan
too Hat Yao but after walking there, not finding the hat yao minivan,
being confused by tuk tuk drivers trying to help, we found a travel
agent who told us to go to the minivan station not far away. Decided to
take a tuk tuk so we didn't get lost but it was only a block away and
cost us 50 baht. We bought some tickets and asked when the minivan was
leaving. Driver said when 3 more people turned up so we decided it
might take a while but it only took 15 minutes and we were on our way.
Got to hat tao and found that we needed to catch a long tail boat to ko
libong but had to wait an unknown amount of time. We got the call and
loaded into a boat and a local even brought his scooter along getting a
couple of helpers to lift it into the boat. Would have been a nice
ride to the island but for the covers that the locals pulled down to
keep the spray from getting them damp. We arrived at Ko libong and
found that the resorts were at the other end of the island and we
needed to use mototaxis to get there. The island has a small Muslim
community and we got the feeling that our money was welcome and we
would be tolerated. We decided to have a look and put out big packs on,
got the rider to wedge our bags in between their knees and the
motorscooter and headed off. Got to the resort down after leaving the
road and following a dirt path for about 1km and found it was very
basic and a bit expensive. We went to a second and then a third resort
which was closed. None of them could speak English well or explain how
we could get to see the dugongs. Our idea was to kayak from the resort
to the dugong area but they said it would take 2hrs to paddle to the
area. We were not getting a good feeling about the place. The people on
the island seemed to have dollar signs in their eyes and we were a bit
worried about being trapped in a remote end of the island so decided
that we would just have to leave and head back to Trang. Once we got
back to the wharf we had to wait and wait and wait for the ferry back
to Ko Tao. Then we had to wait and wait for the minivan, which turned
out to be the last for the day, back to Trang. I was waiting for the
bus to Trang at Hat Yao and was going for a pee beside a coconut palm
when an heavy thud hit the ground next to me.A large coconut had fallen
out of the palm and just missed me. A very close call. Falling coconuts
kill a certain number of people each year and it is easy to see how it
can happen now. We got half way along then changed to the drivers 4wd
as the bus was locked up for the night. He gave us a lift to trang
train station which was nice of him.
A bit of a waste of time and money but not all trips work out to our
plans.
We figured we would easily find some accommodation nearby. To our
surprise much of the accommodation was full for some reason and a
friendly guest house manager pointed us in the direction of a nice air
con hotel which unfortunately was full. We were walking out the front
door and they called us back as they just had a telephone cancellation.
Phew. We have not stayed in air-conditioned rooms for a while but
decided to treat ourselves.
Wandered around and had a look at the Trang night markets and had an
unsatisfactory meal at a dodgy cafe. On a positive side we found
slushies again at the 7-11 store near the train station and had one on
the way to the markets and on the way back to the hotel. We also
purchased a nice hand made t-shirt at the market.
Day 6. Bus back to Krabi town and staying overnight at A. Mansion.
Hired scooter and went for a ride inland. Got lucky during the ride as
heavy rain fell in places we had ridden and crossed again when we
returned. Total distance was 130km round trip. Also booked trip to Ko
Phi Phi.
Bye for now,
David and Vanessa
