Thailand 2008

Exploring Krabi by Scooter, Thailand

In the morning we rent a scooter and head out of annoyingly touristy Ao Nang. We take in lots of nice scenery as we ride west out to wards the coast.

We stop at a couple of interesting looking piers. We climb up the dodgy ladder on the smaller pier and take a walk to the end. We see fishermen in the water and on the pier. They all say hello.

We ride as far as can west, and then head back to Ao Nang for a swim. Strangely the water is very shallow and it’s not the best beach we’ve visited on this trip, but it was still fun.

We stop at an impressive temple.

We then head into Krabi town. It’s much less touristy than we expected, and fairly quiet as it’s a Sunday. We find a mobile phone shop and by a Thai Sim card. We have a quick look around and head back towards Ao Nang.

We take a different road back and drive down to the Fosil site. It’s a lovely spot, but it does look like the fossils are infact shells set in concrete. But, I’m no geologist, so it’s probably authentic.

Once again on the way back to Ao Nang we stop at the market, which turns out to be a little gem of photos opportunities and we even buy a few supplies. It’s not the sort of place tourists visit and get many friendly smiles from the local Thais.

Back at Ao Nang we return the scooter and book boat trips to Ko Phi Phi for tomorrow.

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Krabi and Ao Nang, Thailand

We catch the early bus from Hat Yai to Krabi. The weather is gloomy, which is disappointing as I hoped it would be sunny. At the Krabi bus terminal we catch a taxi to the beach of Ao Nang.

The quiet beach front soon turns into the packed backpacker territory that we are used too. We try a few guesthouses, but they are full or very expensive. We find the See Beer guesthouse which is in my guide book. They have a room which is nice, but is twice the price in the guide book. The town is busy right now and the prices reflect this. I hoped Thailand would be cheap, which hasn’t really been the case so far.

Let’s hope the weather improves and we find a cheaper Thailand around the corner.

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Hat Yai, Thailand

Our train delivers us promptly in Hat Yai, after a pleasant railway journey. We discover we can catch a bus to Krabi right away, but we are keen to spend a night in Hat Yai, just to get some sleep and to do a few jobs.

We do the jobs, grab a little food and have an early night. We even get tickets for the early bus to Krabi.

It’s been a long day, with an uncertain and dangerous boat trip and a border crossing that could have been easier. But, we are already enjoying being in Thailand and are looking forward to getting to the coast tomorrow.

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Crossing into Thailand

At the border we easily leave Malaysia, with their efficient and clear immigration, and painfully and slowly enter Thailand with their ‘could be better’ immigration. Abby and I both get flustered by the jostling of the queues. It even rains on us. Eventually though we get out visas and head into Thailand on foot.

The guide book claims the railway station is 50m from the border, but that turned out to be 1km, by which time our backpacks were hurting, our spirits low and we desperately needed a money changer as we had no Thai Baht.

All of a sudden we see the railway station, and a money changer outside. Once I changed the Malaysian Ringget into Thai Baht, we enter the railway station and book out train tickers to Hat Yai. We by some snacks and wait for the train. The fresh colours of the railway station quickly lifts out spirits.

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