Krabi and surroundings

I'm sitting on a public bus surrounded by Thai people bound for Krabi. Annoyingly my chair doesn't seem to want to recline back, whilst everyone else's are practically parallel to the floor. I wrestle with this very first world problem for a few moments before accepting the defeat of the situation.

We trundle along from Phuket to Krabi town. I get off the bus and a lady immediately takes my bag and puts it in a cab jabbering in Thai. I was going to try and check alternative modes of transport but I decide I can't be bothered to remove my bag from the taxi, explain and find another way, so I pay the inflated price which doesn't amount to too much and head the ten minutes or so to the hostel. The place gives free BBQ chicken kebabs so I make use of the saving on that and sample a first beer in ten days.

Krabi town is pleasant enough, but there isn't much to do in the place itself, it is however a good jumping off point to see some of the surrounding areas.

The next day I headed to Railay beach with a friend I'd met in the hostel. It was absolutely stunning with two beautiful beaches and some of the best rock surroundings I've seen. The water was like a bath, it was so warm. There are also loads of wild monkeys just roaming about there too. We have lunch of chicken and beef in a pineapple with rice which looks and is delicious, and I have a swim and relax on the beach. There is a very fat old Russian man padding about in the water doing provocative poses for his ridiculously young and attractive girlfriend - it sort of takes the magic of the place away! 🙄

The following day I check what else there is to do and am recommended a visit to a temple about 20 mins away. I head to the bus stop but what was described as a 'bus' to me turns out to be a weird converted van with netting on the side and a completely open back. I clamber in, much to the amusement of some local school girls who ask for a selfie and enjoy giggling a lot. A women with a massive bag of rice almost as big as her also gets on and decides I need to share my tiny seat with said bag.

At the temple I wondered about the area a bit before embarking on the 1200+ steps to the top. It's a LONG way up and takes about 40 mins (at least I was doing some exercise!) I passed a few people on the way who had given up half way. The last bit of the climb is so steep it's like climbing a ladder. Heavily breathing, I made it to the top and the view is pretty awesome, you could see all of Krabi and the surroundings and I was lucky to get a clear day. I hung around up there for 20 mins before making the descent. On the way down I passed the four giggling school girls from earlier who were about 3/4 of the way up, I gave them each a high five for encouragement which they seemed to like.

There were no buses or anything resembling a bus or taxi when I got to the bottom. I waited for a few minutes but the only option was a motorbike taxi with a toothless driver who was beckoning. Slightly apprehensively I jumped on the back and we headed off - it turned out to be fine and I made it back unscathed, even if the driver was trying to use his phone half the time.

I head to backpacker paradise Koh Phangan next to experience the famous full moon party. I'm not sure if it's my thing but I want to see what all the hype is about anyway. 'When in Rome...'Read more