Krabi was one of the most memorable trips that i went coz i almost met the tsunami disaster in 2004. The travel agency told me that if i want to stay till Christmas, i would have to pay extra money for the Christmas Eve dinner which was a compulsory dinner. Thus i decided to come back 1 day earlier, this decision saved us from the tsunami.
Maybe because i felt lucky to avoid the disaster, i donated quite a lot of stuff that time. But i felt sorry for those caucasians we met there. They were still there when the disaster happened coz they told us they were planning a 1 month holiday there. The tsunami was caused by a 8.9 earthquake on 26 Dec.
As that time, Singapore did not have any budget air yet so we took Silkair there. Oh ya, this trip was a birthday present that Ivan gave me. When we were on the plane, we were given Today to read. I flipped to the page on Soo Kee Jewelry, then i randomly told him that i like the necklace that Jeanette Aw was wearing. Surprisingly, he passed the necklace to me when we reached Singapore. He told me he ordered it from Krabi. Nowadays, he wasn't that sweet anymore. Guys changed after many years of being together.. Heehee..
We stayed in Krabi La Playa Resort at Ao Nang Beach. It was a new hotel when we were there. As it was opened by Singaporean, the management was very friendly to us. We even talked to their boss. It was a very pretty hotel with a super nice pool. The breakfast was served by the pool side too. The pool also had a pool bar which was similar to the one at the Hard Rock Bali. The room was huge and pretty too. It looked like an apartment rather than a hotel room. Especially from the view at the corridor.
There was nothing much at the town but you can still do some shopping and there was some restaurants with very nice atmosphere. Food there was quite nice.
Though it was a free and easy package, we were given a 1 day city tour. We went to the fish farm which was quite boring though i managed to see clown fish there. We also went to a temple, monk's cave and tiger cave which required us to climb super long flights and flights of staircases.
As there was a lot of travel agencies there, we went to do some research and realised that most of the prices were similar. In the end, we just randomly chose one full day island hopping tour. I tried snorkeling for the 1st time. Very interesting for me though i dunno how to swim. Dunno why Ivan dun like. He kept staying on the speedboat. Then he threw some bread which made thousands of fishes swam to my side. So scary. The fishes of different species kept nibbling my body.
Besides snorkeling at Monkey Island, we also went to Bamboo Island where the sand was
white and fine. The water in Krabi area was all so clear and sky was so blue and lovely.
Of course, the trip included a tour at Phi Phi Island - the place where The Beach was filmed. It was a super crowded island with a lot of stalls selling all kinds of stuff. Ang Mos were there selling diving course and makan stuff. Although it was crowded but lunch by the beach was still romantic. You can do all kinds of water activities here. Windsurfing, speedboat, banana boat etc. But you might want to skip this island if you prefer those islands where you were the only one there.
While traveling to some islands, we also passed by the Chicken
Island which really had the shape of
a chicken.
Out of all the islands, Ma Ya Bay was one of the pretty islands where i think really look like those movie scenes. Large seashells can be found here too. I saw 1 caucasian dived to catch a big starfish. But i think it was illegal to do it.
The next day, we went for white water rafting trip. It was quite far away and when we reached there, we saw tourists coming from Phuket too. On our way there to do the white water rafting, they brought us to a waterfall for us to swim but it was too slippery for me even to take photos. I tripped and even cut myself. They also brought us to see how they retrieved rubber from tree and made the liquid form to solid form.
When we did the white water rafting, i felt it was a bit unnatural. They actually released the water from a dam. Quite scary coz the current was fast but luckily the thai guy who controlled it was very experienced so we didn't have to row much.
After that, we went to watch the elephant show and took an elephant ride round
the jungle trek. But i told myself that i would not take elephant ride again. They kept poking the elephant when it didn't walk the correct direction. The elephant looked so unhappy. It even stopped a few times and refused to move. I cannot allow myself to be involved in helping people to ill-treat elephant in future. If i dun take the ride, then the elephant won't be forced to do things they dun like.
Oh ya, I tried the ATV ride that day too. I think my sense of direction really got something wrong. I kept banging into the trees. The thai guy got to keep coming to save me. Pai sei. Heehee..
Though Krabi was a crowded place to visit but some of the islands were really pretty. I always wanted to go back again but my friends told me it wasn't as pretty as it was before tsunami. Thus in order not to spoil its beautiful image in my memory, i decided to give it a miss.
