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Thursday 25 September 2014

KRABI

If you have seen my Instagram account, you would have probably been jealous looking at the Krabi pictures - because I am feeling right now as I am editing it. Krabi (Thai: กระบี่) is a town (Thesaban Mueang) located on the west coast of southern Thailand at the mouth of the Krabi River. Krabi has gained its world-renowned as a perfect paradise destination for island-hopping among tourist, which is exactly why I did not hesitate having my getaway there because I really love the sun, sea and the beach. 

Day 1

Packed my luggage early the night before because I have rugby Club 7s competition in the morning on the day I was flying off. Thank you my bb Zee for offering to drive seeing I might be struggling with my luggage, boots and all those rugby gears.

The girls and I had a lot of fun tackling, running, getting dirty and of course bruises everywhere. The sun was scorching hot, but it was indeed a fun experience! The competition ended earlier than expected – so thankfully I had time to waste before getting ready!



My bb, Ezzati and her boyfriend (Hafriz) have kindly offered to send me to the airport. I am blessed with so many kind friends! (THANK YOU LOVEBIRDS!) 

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Upon reaching Krabi Airport, there was a booth selling 3G card which cost 250 Baht ($9.70), with unlimited usage for 4 days. Pretty cheap! We then booked a taxi to drive us to our resort which was about half an hour drive away. They are different modes of transportation. If you have luggages and are travelling in a big group, I would suggest the big van. Which was what I took because we had luggages and because we wanted a spacious one. If you are travelling light, a taxi will do. The big van cost us 600 Baht ($23.45).

Aree Tara resort is located at Aonang Beach. The girls and I were too busy choosing the sides of the bed, I actually forgot to take a picture of our room. But here is one I got off Google, which shows exactly how our balcony looked like. This image was also captured from our room's point of view itself!



We booked the Deluxe Pool Access room type from Agoda since it is bigger and commodious for the four of us. The room has direct access to the pool. So for all pool lovers, this room will be perfect for you! 4 days 3 nights stay with 50% promotion cost us only $244.38 in total.

In Krabi, you will find many shops selling packages for the island-hopping tour. There are many to choose from and it is best to survey these shops to find the cheapest rate around. We girls were lucky enough to have the shop located 30 meters away from our resort. The lady (Miss Sofia) is a mix of Thai and Malay. Her mother was from Malaysia and her dad from Thailand. She now resides in Thailand and she speaks fluent Malay language. Communicating with her was no problem at all! She was also kind enough to give us discounts on the packages. Our island-hopping package was originally 1,800 Baht ($70) but she sold it for 1,100 Baht ($43). Major steal!!

Also, the common mode of transport among tourist (apart from tuk-tuk) is the motorbike. Miss Sofia happened to have motorbike rentals at her shop too. No license required, and if you are afraid, no worries! The boys (who will deliver your bike upon confirmation of rental) will teach and let you have a test drive to familiarise yourself. A day rental for 24 hours cost 200 Baht ($7.80). We rented it for all 4 days.

Since we reached Krabi late and took quite some time settling our stuffs and buying packages for Day 2 activities – we were left with the night time to roam around. Miss Sofia told us of the places we should ride to, and also gave me her number to call her in case we get lost. (isn't she the nicest?) The girls and I proceeded to the night market which we hunted down for the best halal pancakes that everybody is raving about. My take? It is the best pancake in the whole wide world!!! (ok maybe I am exaggerating, but I am not kidding) Each pancake has their own price depending on the number of ingredients in it. My Nutella pancake cost  40 Baht ($1.60) and the Banana + Nutella cost 50 Baht ($1.95). I honestly lost count of the number of pancakes we bought throughout out 4 days 3 nights stay. (oops!)

Before we got back to our hotel, we stopped by a massage parlor to have our Thai massage. Full body massage for 1 hour cost us 200 Baht ($7.80). What a perfect timing to get a massage after a morning of battle and bruises on the field!?



Day 2

Started our day bright and early. The bus for island-hopping tour (which was included in the package) picked up tourist from different hotels to transport us to the venue where we take the speedboat. Our island-hopping guide, Mr Right was one of the best guide ever! Very friendly and engaging too!



We stopped by Bamboo Island, which was 15 minutes away.  Bamboo island is located at North of Phi Phi Don. It has one of the clearest water and I was really amazed by it. The water was extremely cold and the sand was soft like cotton balls! The island also has signs planted everywhere to serve as an evacuation route in case of imminent threat of Tsunami. Interesting fact: To watch the sunset, camping tents can be rented on the beach with drinks and snacks provided!



Next up, Phi Phi island! “The Beach” starring Leonardo di Caprio was filmed on this island. Everything on this island looks movie-worthy! Even the trees looked like those in Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, the island was really crowded at the time we came so my plan to take a beautiful Tumblr worthy pictures were mostly photobombed by tourists. 



What is Krabi without snorkelling? The girls and I had an amazing time jumping off our boats and accidentally kicking each other’s face. We were only given 45 minutes to snorkel around the island before the boat had to leave for lunch. Our lunch was served at a nearby island where it had kampongs and small shops. Our 1 hour lunch was a halal buffet spread (it was all included in the package). They served a variety of Asian cuisine, finger foods and their Thai Tom Yum soup specialty. We had 2 rounds of soup, so now can you tell how delicious it was? We took quite some time savoring the food until we realised we had not much time left to roam around the shops. 



The weather started to rain, but we continued our island-hopping journey to another small island (I forgot it’s name) to have our second round of snorkelling. This time it was only 30 minutes because Mr Right said the dark clouds was going to our area and we had to leave soon.

It took us 45 minutes to get back to the mainland and the bus transported us back to our resort. Also, shoutout to all our new friends we made on the speedboat - the Brunei couple who just got married and offered to take pictures for us and the KL boys. Everyone was really nice!

After we got changed into dry clothes, we headed to Miss Sofia’s shop to buy a water-rafting package for the next day and headed out for dinner at a halal Thai restaurant. We explored the night market again (this time to check out the ladyboys), rode to Tesco to get our groceries and went back to our resort.



Day 3

Rise and shine! We got up early to get ready before the van driver picked us up for water rafting. In our package – Monkey Temple tour + water rafting + waterfall = 1100 Baht ($43).

The journey from our resort to the monkey temple took about 15 minutes. We were given 45 minutes to roam around and feed the monkeys. Because the monkeys looked really rowdy and scary, the girls and I stood quite a distant away while we watched others feeding them.

After which we departed for the rafting place which took about an hour, and that gave us extra time to catch up on our sleep. Upon reaching, we were given a life vest and helmet to put on and then the rafting started. Basically, each boat has 2 paddlers – one in front and the other one at the back. 

The 5km raft journey was full of screams, laughter, getting splashed by other tourists from their boats and me flying almost everywhere. We thought 5km would be far enough, but then we instantly regretted not taking to 10km one instead. If you love trill, adventure and fun I highly suggest for you to take the longest route for it!



Just like the island-hopping package, this package had halal lunch provided too. It was not buffet this time. Located about 10 minutes drive from the rafting area, stood a small hut with a kitchen. The villagers served us rice, Thai Tom Yum soup, vegetables and chicken. The weather was not on our side because it started to rain but we were not bothered by it since the Tom Yum soup was equally amazing!!

We headed for the waterfall and arrived when the rain started to get heavy. The tour guide lady in the van told us that it would be risky to swim at the waterfall when it is raining because there is a possibility of landslides. We headed back to the resort after that.

Since the waterfall was cancelled, we got back 3 hours earlier than planned. So we bathed, changed and went out to do our hair. The common cornrows cost 200 Baht for 4 rows, whereas full head braid costs me 1800 Baht ($70.30). Since mine took 2 hours to complete, the girls did facial massage for 200 Baht ($7.80) and nails for 100 Baht ($3.90). We then rode around to survey for dinner restaurants and had dinner. After which, we got back to our resort to start packing for home.



Day 4

Woke up early to return our motorbikes and bid farewell to Miss Sofia for being like a mom and always on the lookout for us. We left for the airport soon after, and checked in just in time to waste half an hour before our flight home.

Overall, Krabi was amazing and I would really love to come back for the adventures, the really friendly people, night market and the pancakes. 4 days 3 nights was not enough and I really wished I could stay longer if not for school and assignments. In total for flight (AirAsia) + accommodation + expenses = $600. 

I hope this post is useful for those who are heading to Krabi anytime soon or planning for a holiday. Alternatively, you can also email me if you have any questions!

xx, EzzaJay



*Photos were taken using iPhone 5s and GoPro Hero 3+, edited using AfterLight app.

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