Travel Diary » Krabi - the start of our family travels in Thailand
Krabi - the start of our family travels in Thailand
After weeks of debating whether to go into Thailand or not, we finally decided to board a flight to Krabi and explore the south Andaman coast of Thailand for a few weeks. The flight with AirAsia was a breeze, although we were the last on the plane and almost missed our flight because two boys that will remain nameless (Colin and Noah you know who you are) spent far too long in the lolly shop purchasing lollies for the plane. Once in Krabi our guest house had a taxi waiting for us. Its always a thrill to get off a plane and have someone standing there with your name on a piece of paper. Our guest house, Long Beach Krabi Villas was amazing. Around 20mins outside the main tourist area of Ao Nang Beach, the bungalows were set on the tranquil, quiet Noppharat Thara Beach that we had to ourselves most of the time. With the palm trees, clear water and beautiful limestone islands dotting the bay the location was wonderful.
Our room was small and basic, but clean, mosquito proof and 10m from the beach. Apart from the beach front location, the biggest attraction of Long Beach Krabi Villas is the owners. Ae and her family were so friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble, even just a chat. Noah and Hayley really enjoyed playing with Ae's two daughters.
Of course it wasn't completely paradise - being that remote meant that power was supplied by a generator that only ran between 6pm and 6am. May in Thailand is ridiculously hot so during the afternoon we sweltered in the heat, checking the clock every five minutes in the hope that it was 6pm already.
And unfortunately Colin wasn't able to find the same remote Internet services here that he had in Malaysia, so working was impossible between lack of Internet and the heat.
Heat and Internet aside, we loved our stay there. The accommodation is cheap and the location beautiful. Ae provides free kayaks for guests so we spent one morning paddling around the nearest island watching crabs scuttling on rocks, waves splashing into limestone caves and fishermen checking their nets. The kids spent a lot of time on the sand drawing, collecting shells, swimming in the bath temperature water and chasing crabs at low tide. They also ate the best meal that they've had in months thanks to Ae's delicious fried rice, while we scoffed down delicious green Thai curries. And even better the food was cheap!
All in all it was like camping at a deserted, gorgeous beach but with a cabin and a chef!
The highlight of the trip for Noah was riding into town on - (Nanna stop reading now) a motorbike with all four of us piled on. Five if you count Hannah Bubba. We feel like real locals now. The ride into town was a great chance to see local life. On our way in we passed rubber plantations, villagers eating market dinners after Sunday afternoon temple and stalls selling strange fruits sitting out in the sweltering heat. We even saw an elephant from a local tour company walking down the road. The nearest town, Ao Nang was lovely and not as over developed as I'd been lead to believe by guidebooks. No shopping centres in sight, just lots of little tourist shops and restaurants. It resembled Noosa or Byron Bay 15 years ago. I'm sure it was prettier before the shops and resorts appeared but it looked like a good place to stay if you like being close to everything.
We had planned to stay in Krabi for 5 nights but unfortunately Colin had a lot of work to do and between the heat and lack of Internet we had to move on after two nights. We'd love to go back to stay with Ae again so hopefully we can fit it in before the end of our time in Thailand, or in a few months time when its not so hot. Koh Lanta is our next destination so fingers crossed we can sort out the Internet and electricity issues.
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Family of four who decided to change their lifestyle & travel the world. Follow our adventures, hear about our mistakes and dream creating your own travel lifestyle
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14/05/2010 9:23am (2 years ago)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Colin Burns, wes nations. wes nations said: lovely place! RT @ccburns: KRABI, Thailand - check out where we stayed and the photos of the place. Incredible - http://ow.ly/1KYYV [...]
14/05/2010 9:29am (2 years ago)
nice post! I was just in Krabi and on Railay beach a couple of days ago, so I understand about the internet issues. It (and the heat) limited my stay to a couple of nights, but I'm definitely head back that way sometime soon. Thanks for the tip on Long Beach Krabi Villas -- sounds perfect.
.-= Johnny Vagabond´s last blog ..<a href="http://johnnyvagabond.com/travel-tips/iphone-apps-reviews/" rel="nofollow">iPhone Travel Apps: Three Reviews from the Road</a> =-.
14/05/2010 9:29am (2 years ago)
nice post! I was just in Krabi and on Railay beach a couple of days ago, so I understand about the internet issues. It (and the heat) limited my stay to a couple of nights, but I'm definitely head back that way sometime soon. Thanks for the tip on Long Beach Krabi Villas -- sounds perfect.
.-= Johnny Vagabond´s last blog ..<a href="http://johnnyvagabond.com/travel-tips/iphone-apps-reviews/" rel="nofollow">iPhone Travel Apps: Three Reviews from the Road</a> =-.
14/05/2010 9:37am (2 years ago)
Hey Wes,
Where are you now? If your still down this way somewhere it'd be good to meet for a beer (or 5 in this heat). We're in the same boat regarding the heat. We are blowing our budget at a place that normally goes for about 6000Baht a night and we're getting it for 2500Baht. Still much much more than we normally pay, but it is super nice to have a couple of days of luxury interspersed with our normal budget travel.
It does mean however that we are significantly cutting back on other stuff (like feeding the kids ;)).
Anyway, if you are still around this area let me know.
Cheers,
Colin
14/05/2010 9:37am (2 years ago)
Hey Wes,
Where are you now? If your still down this way somewhere it'd be good to meet for a beer (or 5 in this heat). We're in the same boat regarding the heat. We are blowing our budget at a place that normally goes for about 6000Baht a night and we're getting it for 2500Baht. Still much much more than we normally pay, but it is super nice to have a couple of days of luxury interspersed with our normal budget travel.
It does mean however that we are significantly cutting back on other stuff (like feeding the kids ;)).
Anyway, if you are still around this area let me know.
Cheers,
Colin
14/05/2010 12:11pm (2 years ago)
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15/05/2010 11:47pm (2 years ago)
Remembering Phuket '76 . What a paradise it once was. Beaches deserted, tranquil and unspoiled nature<br>wish those days came back again. @aheneghana twitter | nice seeing your pics here | stay safe xxx