Travel Diary: Krabi and Islands

We arrived in Krabi after 3 days in Chiang Mai, and it was such a breath of fresh hair to be by the seaside- away from the thick smog of down town Chiang Mai.

The highlight of our trip to Krabi for me was the half day sunset cruise in 'Pla Luang'- a restored trading vessel that took us from Railay Beach to various islands nearby. At each stop we had the opportunity to snorkel, swim, climb and jump off the side of cliff faces (lots of brave climbers amongst us, as you can see from the photo above). A tip for those interested in doing a lot of swimming and diving- bring more than one towel, and some dry clothes. It gets quite windy in the open sea, and there is sometimes patchy rain. For those who are content to sit back and relax, the views are spectacular. Seeing the sun dip down over the water sipping on cocktails is very, very, good for the soul.

After the sunset, our guide took us to an area of marine phosphorescence near Pranang beach- by this time I was too cold to get in the water, but it was incredible seeing what looked like a fireworks display underwater around the swimmers. There's a small part of me that feels incomplete now without swimming in the phosphorescence that night, and one of these days I will come back for it.

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The hotel (Peace Laguna Resort, pictured above) we stayed at was in the centre of town and a stone's throw from Ao Nang beach. If you've been to any other cities in Thailand there's not much to see in town itself- most shops and restaurants are overpriced/super touristy, and there is about a 2:1 foreigner to Thai ratio.

There are some hidden gems though- on the side street that connects Peace Laguna Resort to the main road there are a couple of street food restaurants which serve delicious noodles and rice dishes. In the photo above, (derpy) Phil is having a noodle soup dish with chicken stewed in a spiced soy broth, blood jelly, chicken feet, and fresh coriander. The staff speak almost no English, and there aren't any english menus (unlike the tourist 'friendly' restaurants on the main strip- which have menus in 5 different languages), so you'll have to point to a picture menu. You know you're onto a place for locals when there is no English on the menus and the majority of the customers are Thai.

Stay tuned for more Krabi photos and Thailand travel posts.