Vacation, Part III: Krabi
This marks the halfway point of our four part vacation. We heard leading up to arriving in Krabi that it would be a beautiful place with stunning beaches. We were excited to see how the scenery would differ from Phuket and how the lack of tourism has affected this area.
Once we wrapped up our time in Phuket, we were off to Krabi by minibus. This was by far the cheapest way to get to Krabi. It cost just under $6 for each of us and took three hours. We saw many more karsts along the way as we drove through many small towns. Once we arrived at the bus station, we took a taxi to our accommodation.
Our hotel, Anawin Bungalows, was tucked away off the main drag to Ao Nang Beach. The owner of the bungalows, Ismael, was extremely kind and hospitable to us. He shared about how he used to travel around the U.S. in the 60s and self-identified as a “dead-head.” He also had worked in California years ago cooking for the Hollywood elite. He later moved to Thailand and has been in Krabi for over 17 years. He was eager to tell us all the places we should go, hikes we could explore, and where to get some of the delicious, cheaper food in the area. We were excited to hear his suggestions and diligently took notes.
By the time we settled into our bungalow room, we were rather hungry. We were close to the main street that led to the beach so that meant we were most likely just going to find expensive, touristy restaurants. That said, there was a Burger King around the corner and since we hadn’t yet eaten at one since being in Thailand, we thought we might as well try it since it would be on the cheaper end of things. As we predicted, it filled our bellies but was average as usual. Their tempura nuggets tasted just like McDonald’s nuggets back in the states.
After our meal, we decided to walk to Ao Nang Beach. This beach is very long and beautiful. As we were walking, we couldn’t help but notice all of the small seashells scattered along the beach, the most we had ever seen. For a small, touristy town, there were quite a bit more people around than we were used to in Phuket.
Ismael mentioned that if we walked to the southern end of Ao Nang Beach that we would find a wooden walkway. That walkway turns into a trail called Monkey Trail because monkeys can be spotted as you walk through it. At the other end would be a secluded, much smaller beach called Pai Plong Beach. We carefully followed Ismael’s instructions. As we approached the end of the Monkey Trail, a National Park officer told us to stop and we had to get our temperatures checked as well as sign-in for contact tracing. While we are used to these steps in shops and businesses, we hadn’t yet experienced it on a beach.
Once we were on this beautiful hide-away beach we realized that the entire beach was owned by a single hotel that was directly behind the sandy beach. This beach had amazing views of the karsts next to the ocean, and we could watch the long-tail boats pass back and forth from Ao Nang to Railay. It was a wonderful start to our time in Krabi. We would highly recommend this spot if the crowds at Ao Nang bother you.
The rest of daylight was spent finding shells on the beach and enjoying the breathtaking scenery all around us.
Once it was evening time we started to think about our plan for dinner. Ismael suggested we head to the mosque a kilometer away. There we would find Muslim food for cheap. We decided to check it out and found four stalls next to each other right in front of the mosque. It was far from all the lights and crowds, which we enjoyed. We ended up eating a chicken wrap, fried chicken, satay, and roti. All items were delicious. If we couldn’t find other cheap food during our stay, we knew we would be back.
For our first full day in Krabi, we took a long-tail boat to Railay Beach. This beach is only accessible by boat because the limestone cliffs cut it off from the mainland. This was our first time riding on the iconic long-tail boats. They don’t seat very many people and the operator won’t leave until he can fill the boat with at least six people. You can pay more to leave right away and have your own driver, but that didn’t seem worth it. The boat ride over to Railay was smooth and you could see many islands in the distance.
Railay Beach is very well known and quite a sight to behold. With karsts practically on the beach next to you, the views at this beach were by far the best we had seen on this vacation. Same goes for the people. We immediately noticed that the people at Railay were quite beautiful, almost everyone on the beach was either chiseled or toned. All at once, we realized that both the beaches and people were quite a step up from what we experienced in Phuket.
We began our day at West Railay Beach where the long-tail boat dropped us off. After enjoying the sun for a while, we walked through the Railay Walking Street to see the shops and restaurants that were mostly closed. A few places were open along the beach. Before crossing over to East Railay Beach, there were a few shops directly in the center of the town that were unlike the rest. If you have been here before then you know what we are about to write but if you haven’t, then let me explain.
One of the many places to find illicit drugs.
While cannabis and other illicit drugs are still illegal in Thailand, there are shops and bars around the beaches and islands of Thailand that will provide such items. We passed a few places that paid homage to Bob Marley and had Rastafarian vibes. These places advertised that they sold things like marijuana joints, magic mushroom shakes and the like. Unfortunately many of these places didn’t seem inviting or were entirely empty but it was still a unique feature of the area we took note of. Being farangs, we did not know if entering such establishments would warrant authorities attention so we stayed clear (...for this trip).
Along our walk around the Railay area we stopped at the Diamond Cave where there were lots of bats chirping and we saw cool and spooky nooks and crannies. Because there weren’t many people, we had the whole cave to ourselves.
After the cave and a subpar lunch, we walked past East Railay Beach through a nice walkway that took us to Phra Nang Beach. Along the way, we saw many rock climbers. Krabi is a very popular spot for climbers because of the incredible array of limestone rock formations. It’s one of the best places for rock climbing in Thailand. There were many shops in the town that catered to climbers, and many companies that would take you out climbing even if you are a newbie. We’ve heard it’s a pretty fun adventure, but not something we were looking to do this trip.
Once we arrived at Phra Nang Beach we were met with more spectacular views. Ismael told us that if we walked to the farthest end of the beach and peeked into the bushes we’d find a path into the trees. There would be a small trail that led to a bat cave with a great view of the surrounding area. The hike up was about ten minutes long and the view did not disappoint.
The cave itself was quite large and impressive with bats sleeping high above. On our way down we ran into a Thai couple. They asked us how we knew about this spot because it is not well known to tourists. It felt kind of cool that we had the inside scoop on a secret spot.
Because we needed to make sure we could catch a long-tail boat back to Ao Nang Beach, we spent the rest of our day at West Railay Beach. When the crowds seemed to dwindle, we went over and waited for a long-tail boat. We returned to Ao Nang and watched the sunset. We ended the day with some pizza on the beach with our sunset view. A great first day in Krabi!
Even though we were enjoying the beaches, we are always looking for cool hikes to explore. So when I learned about the hike to Dragon’s Crest, we packed our bags and rented a moto from Ismael and rode 30 minutes to the trail. The hike was 8km (5 miles) round trip. When reading about this hike prior, (Pro Tip- always read about any hike you plan on going to before you go) we kept reading about how it took most people anywhere from three to five hours to hike up. This made us worried and questioned how this was going to go. Despite this information, I finished in 75 minutes and Emily in 90 minutes. I didn’t take any breaks on the way up and it proved to be a very good workout. The trek was almost entirely uphill, but shaded which was a relief. By the time we made it to the top, we were drenched in sweat and exhausted.
It must be called Dragon’s Crest because of all the karsts that fill the horizon when you get to the top. It kind of looks like the spine of a dragon’s back.
Once at the top, there were multiple viewpoints to see the panoramic views. Many of the views were blocked off because the cliffs were too dangerous for people. It was definitely kind of scary at times going near the edges with how exposed the views were. The scenery was incredible and completely worth the journey up. No need to hire guides for this hike. It was pretty easy to follow the trail. The huffing and puffing will be worth it, we promise. Just maybe bring better shoes than Chaco’s, or do it when you don’t already have 10 band aids between you and your partner covering all the blisters and rashes you already have on your feet. 🤷
On our way back from Dragon’s Crest, we stopped by Krabi Town and ate at Takola Restaurant. I would definitely recommend this place if you can handle spice. Their kua kling was by far the spiciest I have ever had. Emily demanded we find ice cream immediately after this meal.
After a restful nap back at our stay, we ate at the restaurant closest to our bungalow called Family Thaifood and Seafood for dinner. The staff were very kind and the food was priced fairly for the area. They happened to be swamped that evening and sent out sliced watermelon to all their patrons which we thought was a very nice gesture. (We have since learned that watermelon often comes with the meal down in Southern Thailand. Kind of like how bread comes with a meal in the states.) Afterwards, we talked with some of the staff about Krabi and where we were from. They were quite interested and enjoyed having us.
For our last day in Krabi, we decided since we did not actually spend a lot of time at Phra Nang Beach, that we would head there for the day. Since food is expensive at Railay, we stopped at 7-Eleven to get beach snacks to hold us over until we could come back to Ao Nang for dinner.
We spent almost an hour waiting for a long-tail boat to fill with people before the operator would take us. We did not get to Phra Nang Beach until about noon.
When we got to the beach it looked quite different than the first time we were there. Most of the beach was underwater. We must have gone during low tide last time because there were sections of beach completely submerged this time. We waded through the water to go to the far end where we hoped there would be more shade from the sun. We were thankfully correct. By not finding shade in Thailand, the sun can get overwhelming very quickly.
As we were lounging under the trees, we saw our friends John and Christine, a couple from RIS who lives in our neighborhood, walking by. We waved them over and chatted with them for a while. Even though we knew the rest of Emily’s school was on holiday as well, it was still crazy to run into other teachers in such a big country. They were doing well and it was great to see people we knew. We learned that they will be taking jobs and moving to Jordan next school year. We are stoked for them and hopefully we can visit them someday there.
Our beach day ended when we headed back to Ao Nang in the evening. We tried going to a local Muslim market to find food but they were closing up as we arrived. Instead, we returned to Family Thaifood & Seafood for dinner. We relaxed the rest of the night.
Our last day in Krabi was also our travel day to get to Chiang Mai. After packing our bags we headed to Krabi Town in a songthaew to get lunch. We ate at Ao Nang Boat Noodle. We ordered so much food since we would not be able to eat dinner later. We even took one plate of food to go since we didn’t have space in our bellies for all the food we ordered.
As we were getting up to leave a local Thai man who was also eating at the restaurant came up to us and said that he appreciated that we were eating at a local restaurant because it really helps the community survive during these times. We really appreciated those words and made sure to tip well (even though tipping isn’t customary here).
This was not even all the food we ordered!
We found a cool café called Sprucy Café & Bakery to eat dessert and hang out at until it was time to head to the airport. We took another songthaew to get there.
Our time on the beaches of Phuket and Krabi was memorable. (For more on our time in Phuket, check out Vacation Part II: Phuket.) While food wasn’t the highlight like it has been before, I made sure Emily got to relax as much as she wanted and that we didn’t get too sunburned.
From our perspective the beaches in Krabi were objectively better, without question. Yes, there were more people and we will never take for granted being literally the only people on some of the Phuket beaches (because who can honestly say that that has happened to them outside of this pandemic?) but the beaches, scenery and people were just more stunning overall in Krabi. That said, moto’ing around Phuket was a hell of a good time and I would love to do that again.
This accounts for another quarter of our vacation! Our final stop is up north, back in Chiang Mai. We have been here before and we were blown away by all the great food and cool things to do. We hoped that the outbreak near Bangkok wouldn’t cut our vacation short.
As we left Phuket and Krabi, cases started appearing and stricter regulations started to occur in those provinces as soon as we left. It looked like Covid was catching up to us!
See what Chiang Mai has in store for us in our next blog post!
