Hello Steeminans,
This is my first travelogue here on Steemit and hope you like it. I will cover this in two parts. Part 1 will be on the Krabi Tour and in the second part I will cover Phi Phi Islands tour.
Thailand is one of the most popular travel destinations in south-east Asia.It has so many temples, some really beautiful beaches and last but not the least -famous shopping complexes.
Which are the places that come to your mind when you think of Thailand? I bet most of you will say Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket.
As a traveler, I always like to visit offbeat places to avoid the crowd.One of my friends suggested to visit Krabi and Phi Phi over any other sites, and I thank him for that.Lately though, it is emerging as one of the most popular travel destinations in Thailand.
Krabi lies in the area of mangrove forests and limestone karsts, Krabi is a Thailand Province near Andaman coastline.
Ideal Time to Visit Krabi
The average temperature in Krabi stays around 32-degree Celsius throughout the year. But January to March is the time to be there in Krabi. I was there in Krabi in February, and the weather was pleasant, the sky was clear, and crowd was moderate- Just what I was looking for.
How did I reach I Krabi
We (me and my wife) had a connecting flight from Bangkok, which took around one year.If you want, you can go for private car or bus services as well, though it would take more time.Bangkok to Krabi flight fare is quite cheap I will say.
You can have your visa before traveling to Thailand or do it on arrival at Bangkok.Based on at what time you are arriving at Bangkok and other flights landing at the same time of your flight, the average processing time of Visa can be 45-60 minutes.
How to go to the the Krabi Island from Krabi Airport
AO Nang is the main beach around Krabi province.All the other island tours and activities start from this beach only.So it will be better if you can stay somewhere near AO Nang Beach area.
From Krabi airport, you can take private car or shuttle service.The shuttle is a great choice because they will directly drop you at the hotel where you will be checking in.
What to do in Krabi in 3 Days
Day 1
We didn't have much time left on Day 1, so we could not utilize it much.Even If I missed, I would like to mention this place and believe everyone should try to be here while they are in Krabi.
Tiger Cave Temple:- It is located about 3 Kms from Krabi town and the entire area is covered with large trees, some of which are even hundred years old.
The local name of the temple is Wat Tum Sua.The temple is situated at the top of the mountain, and you have to take climb 1256 stairs to reach there.The main tourist attraction is a Buddha idol known as the "footprint of the Buddha.".
Bonus: the surrounding countryside and the Andaman Sea.It will be totally worth the climbing.Considering the number of steps that you have to climb and your fitness it might take you 5-6 hours to complete the temple tour.You should carry plenty of water and light snacks with you.
Day 2-Krabi Four Island Tour
One of the most recommended and popular activities to do in Krabi is the 4 Island Tour in Krabi. It is half day tour in Krabi which will start at 10am in the morning and will be over by 4 pm.Rest of the evening you can enjoy the sunset at the beautiful sunset view from the AO Nang Beach.
You can book the 4 island tour online or at the hotel where you are staying.I didn't go for the online booking and it was a good decision that I made. Because the online booking is much costlier.So I would suggest contacting the hotel reception and they will arrange the tour for you.
The tour will be in a Long Tail boat, for which they will charge you around 400 Baht per person.In addition to this, there is also a charge of 200 baht which you have to pay to enter the National Park.Every visit to these islands will cost you this entry fee. We had to pay this on the next day too when we were off to Phi Phi Islands.
The tour is also offered in Speed Boat also. But I would recommend anyone to for the Long Tail because not only it will save you few extra bucks, taking photographs from Long Tail boats are much easier than the Speed Boat for obvious reasons. Since you have a whole day with you why not enjoy the journey at the fullest?
Hotel Pick up and drop were included in the trip. So we didn't have any problem in reaching the famous AO Nang Beach.Depening on how far you are staying from the AO Nang Beach, your pick up time can be 30 minutes to 1 hour before the tour starts.
First Glimpse of AO Nang Source:
Once you are at the beach the tour operators will give you either one wristband or sticker.This will be your ticket to ride with them.These boat usuall take a team of 30 people, so you might have to wait few minutes before all the required number of people from different hotels come up and join you.
Island 1:Phra Nang Cave Beach
Our first stop at Phra Nang Cave Beach, which was located on Railay, a bit further south from the main beach, right at the southern tip of Krabi.
We had some 30 minutes to explore the beach.The main attraction of the island was the beautiful limestone cliffs.Some people were climbing up the limestone cliff.Though we didn't do it, it was quite interesting to watch, how they are managing to climb up such an odd shaped mountain.
Island 2:Chicken Island
The next island in our tour was Chicken Island. Any ideas why is it called so?Here is a hint for you.
Yes...you guessed it right...that's because of the large chicken head rock sticking out at the one end of the island.If you like snorkeling, then this is the island for you.Boats will be stopped and anchored here for some time so that you can go for snorkeling. The snorkeling gears and the lifejacket will be given by the tour operators only.
Island 3:Tup Island
Tup Island and Mawr Island are close to each other.Tup Island itself is too small and stay mostly crowded because most of the boats will stop at this beach for lunch break.
Island 4:Poda Island
The best island of the entire tour. This is the last island of our visit and I would say they saved the best for the last.Our boat stopped for some 2 hours on this island. Everyone on the boat was given packed lunch box. It was rice with chicken curry.This was a pretty big island. And the surrounding was beautiful.
Evening at AO Nang Beach
After the tour we didn't return to the hotel immediately.Rather we decided to spend the rest of the evening at the AO Nang beach.And it was worth staying back.
Night Life at Krabi/AO Nang
Though Krabi is not that popular for nightlife unlike Pattaya or Phuket.But there are couple of places you should visit if you are still not exhausted. One is Amy's Bar and the second one is SOI RCA. It is the entertainment district in AoNang ... with almost 10 bars with loud music .Just go to to any of them and start having fun.
That's all for part 1... In second part, I will cover the last and final day of Krabi -Phi Phi tour.
Please hit the comment section below and let me know if you liked it.