Travelogue Krabi, Thailand

Assalamualaikum,.

It take a long time for me to keep updating my blog,
So many thing happened in this past semester. Even thought things after another kept coming and leave me with tears, stress, fear, angry, laught, smile and many more but thank God and alhamdulillah, i'm still alive and kicking till now.

While struggling for the final exam, me and my friend have planned a short vacation after our last paper on 16 Jan to release our stress and endurance "i guess". And off course, we are student and no money left to spent for this vacation, luckily our military allowance have been deposite to our account just a month before the date, so we can proceed with the plan with relieve.

However, the basic step need to be taken before going abroad:

1. Passport (Immigration Department)
    For first timer : RM200/adult

 

2. The foreign currency
     THB 100 = MYR 12.30

3. Time different
     Thailand have an hour late that Malaysia
     exp: if in Malaysia at 1000 then in Thailand it 0900

4. Do some research
    (Do not expect everything like you imagine)

5. Power plug adapter

Universal power plug adapter

Thailand power plug adapter

We be in our vacation from 18-23 Jan 2016 (Peak Season)

Below is our travel detail:

18 January 2016 (MONDAY)

0530 : Depart from Sg. Nibong Bus Stop to Thailand with Newsia Express Service Centre

( Sg. Nibong -cross the Malay-Thai border and visa checked at Bukit Kayu Hitam- Hatyai -Krabi 

Charge : RM 150  (return minivan ticket)

                    : RM 1     (visa checked and stamped)

                    : THB 40 (banana crackers)

                    : THB 10 ( 2 x smoke chicken sausages)

1300 : Arrive at Krabi Town

1315 : Arrive at P.N Guesthouse

          Charge : THB 350/ night

                         Total : THB 350 x 5

                                   = THB 1750/2 person

                                       (fan with private bathroom)

1500 : Rent a scooter at THB 150/2

           (the scooter is not in very good condition but we just use it for a short distance,there

             should be no problem)

1515 : Sight seeing around the town and searching for our late lunch luckily we found a Muslim restaurant just opposite the Vouge Complex ( Abdullah restaurant) in the Krabi town and they can speak Malay which easier for us since most Siamese here can't understand english so well.

But please bare in mind, tomyam in Thailand is more expensive than in Malaysia,it take about THB 150 for a bowl of tomyam which we can get at RM 5 in Malaysia.

Our lunch cost:

2 x white rice

2 x mineral water

1 x seafood tomyam

Total = THB 200/2

Then, we go to small night market in town..There lot off delicious street food but still not

           everything suitable for muslim..therefore, Muslims need to be careful in choosing the food.

           Cost :

           Chicken drumstick ( THB 10)

           Chocolate ice-blended ( THB 20)

2000 : We met a very kind uncle Pat (owner of the guesthouse) .He give us some tips and advice on our vacation willing to help us the encounter some of the mistake and problem happened to us in our very first day of vacation.
2200 : Drop by 7eleven to get a couple of bun for our next day breakfast (2 x bun = THB 20) and buy a power plug adapter since we don't prepare them at THB 180, then we get back to our room and prepare for the next day activity

     Since it is our first time in Thailand, we got really confuse while doing an errand and also the road sign. Sign is write in Thailand with the small english translation at the bottom, however not everything is being translated therefore we still get confuse about it. Day time is so hot but suprisingly, at night, the temperature drop down and a bit cold, luckily we just rent a fan room. Beside,in our guesthouse, they had prepare many pamplets and posters of tour agency which can help the tourist to explore the place.

1st day total spend = THB 1330 + RM 151

19 January 2016 (TUESDAY)

0800- 1630  :

We take Sun San travel and tour agency to get to Koh Phi Phi (The best island in Thailand) since it much easier than boarding the longtail boat. The service was superb, they very punctual and give us a warm welcome, besides, the tour guide is so good in english and easy for us to understand.

The tour start at

 Hotel pickup to meeting point in Ao Nang

 Tour package (THB 1200) included :

1. Bamboo island ( swimming and sighseeing)

This island is amazing and crystal clear water, it quite shallow and have many coral,you need to be careful while swimming here so that you not step on the spiky corals.

2. Phi Phi Don (Snorkelling)

Spectacular coral reef and fish can be seen here. The depth is about 4-6 meter deep and suitable for snorkelling activity,It was incredibly amazing view and guest what, it was my very first snorkelling experience and it was very satisfying.

3. Philey bay

  Philey bay (Lohsamah Bay) is a shallow bay and sometimes tourist can't get into the bay due to the shallow water, speed boat cannot go there,but luckily that day the water is deep enough for the boat to sail along the bay.Here you can see beautiful coral and small fish swimming under you boat..the view was amazing,the water so green and cystal clear, i'm already fall in love with the Phi Phi island from the first  time we arrive there.The beauty is beyond imagination.

4. Viking Cave

   

Located at the north of Philey bay, it the place of edible bird nesting, The cave was so named,due to prehistoric drawing found on cave walls that resemble viking ships.However, the cave no longer open for tourist,they only can view from the outside and boat usually sail as close as possible to the cave so tourist can see more clearly into it.

5. Monkey beach
There so many monkey at the island which suit the name. We don't drop there, just take a look from boat and take picture.

6. Maya bay (swimming,sighseeing and snorkelling)

 One of spectacular bay located at Koh Phi Phi Leh, Maya Bay from "The Beach" film  set is so stunning, The bay itself is beautiful with stunning beach cove whose the crystal blue water almost glowing, the sand silky soft,the surrounding cliff faces beautifully dominant. However the island was cramped with people,being among the crowd is not quite please actually and mostly impossible to get a good angle for pictures.

                      The package also include:

                       1. Life jacket

                       2. Snorkel and mask

                       3. Thai style buffet lunch at Phi Phi Island

                       4. Hotel pickup and transfer

                       5. Mineral water and juice

                       6. Fruits (watermelon and pineapple)

                     

                       The package exclude:

                       National park fee : THB 400

  

1700             : Hotel transfer from Ao Nang to P.N Guesthouse

1730             : Rest at hotel


2000             : Sight seeing and visit the Chaofa Night Market for our dinner by foot since our guesthouse only a few meter from the market and town. ( There a not so many hawker selling street food here but mostly available for muslim to eat so we decide to eat the famous street food in Thailand,Pad Thai and delicious homemade coconut ice-cream at THB30)

              

2200             : Drop at 7eleven to buy breakfast at THB 20 and get back to hotel

2nd day total spend = THB 1290

20 January 2016 (WEDNESDAY)

1000 : Get ready for emerald pool self tour

           (We get up a little bit late due to our exhausted tour a day before)

1015 : Rent scooter at the guesthouse at THB200/2
           Scooter is in very good condition ( HONDA )

1030 : Ride to Emerald Pool
           Distance from Krabi Town = about 50 km
           Time taken = about an hour by bike

1130 : Arrive at location

           Ticket price = THB 200 for foreigner

          The pool is so slippery and you need to be careful while walking around the pool or you migh fall, the pool was blue green in colour and the depth is about 145 cm, at first i was a little afraid to jump into the pool due to the slippery condition, but little by little it feels fun and it slightly similar to the indoor pool complex the difference is this "Sra Morakot" is naturally exist in nature.

       

          After swimming a couple hours, we continue to walk deep into the forest for the Blue Pool.The pond is really blue. However, people can't swim here, it only for taking some picture and worth for sight seeing.

1500 : Going back to entrance and incredibly hungry at that time, we walked faster than normal so we can quickly arrive at the entrance because it is muslim stall selling foods there, so we can have our lunch.

         

           However, the price is expensive , im not sure whether it is the ususal price or they tend to jack up the price since we are the outsider.

         

            Our lunch cost

            5 x skewer (sausages, fish fillet, meatball )

            2 x rice

            2 x mineral water

            1 x mixed tomyam

            Total cost = THB 290/2

1600 : Going back to Krabi Town

1700 : walk along and sightseeing at the longtail boat jetty

1900 : Going back to guesthouse

2000 : Dinner at Abdullah Restaurant
           Cost:
           Rice + sweet sour chicken = THB60
           Milo ice = THB20
           Total = THB 80

2100 : Chaofa night market
           Coconut ice-cream = THB30

2130 : Walk along the Chaofa river while finishing the ice-cream

2200 : Drop at 7eleven for buying our breakfast (THB20)

2230 : Return the bike and get back to the room.

3rd day total spend = THB 575



21 January 2016 (THURSDAY)

We have book for Hong and 4 island sunset snorkel trip by The Lucky Last Bar Travel and Tours at THB 2130 .This travel agency was recommended in Trip Store Krabi . It is full day tour starting from 1000 to 2030.

The tour include:

1. Koh Mawr

The scenery is stunning but the water not as clear as Phi Phi island but still very beautiful, it quite shallow and the surrounding is so beautiful.

2. Hong Island

   Hong island is so beautiful,it also one of national park in Krabi,the water is slightly dark green and the sand silky and smooth. It is so nice to be there. The sea is shallow.. it have many corals and need to be careful while swimming or snorkel there,we cannot simply stand on the corals because it is so spiky and you may get hurt, Therefore, to make thing easier,use life jacket to snorkel since in will help minimize the injury and help in bouyancy. Here you can see colourful and different type of corals.

3. Daeng Island

  It take hours from Hong Island to Daeng Island because we cross the Andaman Sea with the traditional longtail boat however, the view was fantastic, the sea is clean with dark green colour all the way there. Then, after a long journey, we arrive at Daeng Island, it only a small red island and located at the open sea, the sea was so rought, feels like i nearly drown even with life jacket on but snorkelling there was fun and a bit tiring. There a lot of beautiful small fish and colourful corals.

4. Tup island

Tup island was simply gorgeous, the sand was amazing, the view wonderful, the water so clear besides, here you can see the sea is separataed by the island. It so beautiful. The beauty can't be describe by words

5. Chicken island

 Another place to snorkels however we encounter a lot of biolumisnescens Siphonophores- like marine invertebrate organism at the head of chicken island, we not very sure about the organism so,to be cautious, the tour guide change the location to the chicken island bump so we can snorkel there. It is a late day snorkel, we snorkel around 20 minutes. From the boat, we witness the sun setting. So beautiful, the sun looks really round like an egg slowly drop into the sea..completely beyond my imagination. Its really wonderful.

6. Poda Island

We stop here for our BBQ dinner, luckily the dinner is as expected, the food is good with a large size since it is buffet style so you can pick how much you want,and off course i make myself  completely stuff .It is so amazing having dinner by the sea, sky full of the stars, light by the full moon with the sound of  waves. Feels like wanna stay there forever.

7.Phranang Cave

Last but not least, we stop at the Phranang cave for our night snorkelling to see the plankton swimming in the sea. The plankton will glow if you touch the water but the will never glow when there are light on. Thats mean, boat need to turn off the light and snorkel need to be done in dark.But the plankton is really beautiful, it looks like star in the water, it glow with blue colour and so amazing.

8. Fire show

In the way back to town, we met Matthew,an engineer from Finland, at first there are only three of us on the truck, we doing some conversation and he tell us about his country, about how he get there in first place, and he a bit curious about Malaysia. He is an interesting guy and fun. We keep talking about more than an hour while watching the local people perform fire play since the truck that suppose to send us back to town was delay because the driver wait for other passengers.

Tour also included:

1. Hotel pickup and transfer
2. Life jacket
3. Snorkel and mask
4. Lunch and BBQ dinner
5. Mineral water

Excluded:

1. National park : THB400
2. Hong National park : THB300

However, we kind of dissapointed with the services, they tend to delay and wasting so many time. Their lack of punctuality have spoiled the mood of the tourist including me. I'm so dissapointed and not really recommended this travel agency. But please don't get me wrong, the island was amazingly stunning but the services is bad.

Besides, we should have our picnic style lunch but the travel agency delay the time and we end up "picnic" on the boat, the lunch sucks, we pay a lot for the trip but we only get white rice with a fried egg and a plastic of mixed vegetables and chicken

We also couldn't get into the Hong Lagoon because of the low tide and there are so many sea urchin underneath, it is dangerous for the tourist, we truly understand with the situation and they are not at fault, we fully aware of that.

Overall trip is okay and fun even thought there are negative side but there  are also good site of the trip. We learn and experience a lot of thing through this trip.

Before going back, we drop by the 7eleven to buy something to eat for breakfast the next day at THB20

4th day total spend = THB 2850

22 JANUARY 2016 (FRIDAY)

This is our last day in Krabi.We decide to go to Tiger temple ( Wat Tham Sue)

1000 : Depart from guest house to Tiger cave temple
           Bike rental ( THB200/2 )


1030 : Arrive at Tiger Cave Temple ( Wat Tham Suea)

Located about 3-4 km from Krabi town, the surrounding area is covered with large trees hundreds of years old, mountain are all sides,to get up there, you need to climb 1272 stairs. The surrounding was stunning but hiking up the stairs really need a lot of force and energy, the stairs quite steep. You need to build your own stamina before coming here,it so tough and tiring to climb the mount. It take almost an hour for us to climb the stairs but once make it, we have been reward with wonderful 360 degree views of surrounding countryside and the Andaman  Sea.

1230 : Get down the ground

1300 : Arrive at ground and get some mineral water from convenient store available there.
           Rest and sigh seeing for awhile
           Mineral water = THB10

1330 : Get back to the guesthouse and change

1500 : Shopping time!

           - Ao Nang
There are many stall selling so many thing mostly surveniors along the Ao Nang beach because it is the tourist centre,when arrive there, you can see tourists from all over country, the price is quite affordable and you need to bargain more here because some of stall owner tend to jack up the price esspecially for foreign tourist. Other than that, we also sighseeing because we don't have time to get to Ao Nang before. We also did watched sun setting in Ao Nang beach and it so wonderful.

         

       

       

     

       

     

1930 : More shopping at Krabi Night Market

This night market only open from friday to sunday. This night market not just regular night market that we went before, this night market was so crowded with all people. You can find everything here, but mostly are street food and surveniors. The market is so crowded,the survenior is quite cheap and there are many variety here.

         

            Shopping total spend : THB350

2030 : Having our dinner at Choufa Night Market
           Seafood Fried rice :   THB60
           Nutella Pancake     :  THB60
           Coconut ice-cream :  THB30

2200 : Take a walk to Thara Park
         
2330 : Get back to guesthouse with next day breakfast (THB20)

5th day total spend = THB630

23 JANUARY 2016 (SATURDAY)

1000 : pack up to go back to Malaysia

1100 : Checkout

1115 : Minibus transfer
           ( Krabi- Hatyai- Sg. Nibong, Penang)
           Lunch = THB 30


2000 : Arrive at Penang

TOTAL EXPENSE:

THB (1330+1290+575+2850+630+30 = 6705 ) 

THB 6705 = RM 778.45

RM (778.45 + 200 + 151) = RM 1129.45
However,the price can be cut off if we dont make any mistakes

Advice:

1. Try to plan well and do not fully trust everything on the internet
2.Most of budget travel to Krabi from Malaysia do not include the Phi Phi Island
3. This trip consume a lot of money because we need to deal with the transportation due to most attraction come from the sea. 
4.Try to book for the island package ( ex: Phi Phi Island package / Hong Island package/....) because much easier to travel from an island to another by using speed boat rather than longtail bot which consume so much time and troublesome .

            Through this trip, we have learn and experience a lot of new things that can't be found if we not travelling. Travelling is so much fun, you easily get lost, insecurity, curios, anxiety, short of money, tired, adventurous and many more, but in the end, you'll find it really worth for.

Thats all, thank you