Travel Diary #1: Krabi, Thailand - 7 June 2014 to 10 June 2014

This post was supposed to be published after I've concluded my trip. However, I've decided to post about my internship instead before I forget everything. My apologies for the delay. Now, this is my travel diary about my trip to Krabi, Thailand.

About Krabi

Krabi is a small town located on the west coast of southern Thailand and it is also the capital of Krabi province and Krabi district. The name Krabi is originated from the name of an ancient Siamese sword. Tourism is their most important source of income where visitors from many countries travel there. As of 2005, the town has a population of nearly 25 000 (The population is likely to be more than that since it hasn't update for so long). For more information about Krabi, you can search it on the internet. I won't say much because I have other things to say about my trip in Krabi.

This was my 3rd time visiting Thailand and in every trip, I would visit different places. The first trip was...I forgot where I went because I was around 4 or 5 years old when I first visited Thailand. The second trip was in Bangkok in 2012. And then, Krabi was my third trip in Thailand.

I'm going to post my experiences in Krabi from when I arrived to when I departed. So, here we go!

First Day (7 June 2014)

We arrived at Krabi Airport in the morning. There's an hour difference as compared to Singapore. When it's 11am in Krabi, it will be 12pm in Singapore. Before we could check-in to the hotel, we had to buy a ticket to take a taxi to our hotel at the counter. Our hotel is located in Aonang, which is quite a distance from the Airport so it costs around 600 baht (S$1 = 25.8 baht).

The taxi driver stopped halfway at a taxi station. At a closer look, there's a travel agency. My family didn't plan anything before we arrived in Krabi so that served as an opportunity to plan our guided trip. It took nearly half an hour to fully planned our 4 days 3 nights.  So our 1st trip for the day was the night market, a complimentary trip given by the guide there.

 We arrived at our hotel after planning our itinerary.  Upon checking in, we were served with juices and cold towels. That's what I should expect when staying in at a 4/5 stars hotel. However, as my parents completed the check-in process, we only received one hotel key card, that means only a room was prepared. The second room would be given to us shortly so I gave the first room to my parents while my younger brother and I waited. While we were waiting, we went out for lunch.

Our first lunch there was a seafood restaurant. I took a picture of the beach located outside the restaurant and it was beautiful. However, communication became a problem when it came to ordering our food. Although English can be used to communicate as many people in Krabi can understand, we've met a waitress who couldn't speak a bit of English. She had no choice but to seek help from another waitress for translation after she really couldn't understand.

Most pictures can be found on my FB but it's not for public viewing. You can also view these same pictures that I've posted due to limited space on the blog. I know you would start to yawn as you continue to scroll down as it would be a long post. I want to share this picture, particularly this picture for you to guess what the heck that dish was? I've posted on my FB status so here's the answer for that dish. The answer is...Salted Egg Chicken! When that dish was served, I gasped. I couldn't believe that it was a stir-fried dish instead of deep-fried which I normally eat at a tze-char stall in Singapore. What?! Really?! The Krabi version of Salted Egg Chicken. Different countries have different ways in presenting that dish. Honestly speaking, that dish was...too salty, alongside with Pineapple Fried Rice, Fried Morning Glory and Green Curry. Another unexpected thing was I thought there would be Phad Thai served but...they don't serve it. Disappointed but it's still nice to taste some of the dishes served by the seafood restaurant.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and the second room was ready. We stayed inside the room for hours before I went down to the gym. After the gym, we went to assemble at the lobby to depart to the night market in the evening.

Upon arriving at the night market, I felt like I was in Taiwan night market. Although there were no game stalls, there were foods stalls, clothing stalls and also performances to enjoy. There were tables and chairs for visitors to sit and enjoy their foods but unfortunately, we came late and all seats were taken and all we had to do was to eat while walking along the market.

 

Apart from the market, we visited the shopping centre/department store. As we entered, we saw a KFC dessert kiosk. A dessert kiosk that I had never seen for a long time in Singapore and by looking at their desserts menu, I shook my head. It was such a shame that KFC never offers cold desserts anymore except for egg tarts and chocolate cake. KFC in Thailand offers so many desserts that I would like to try each of them but then, I chose to drink their shakes, KFC Krushers. From what I know, those shakes were only available in Malaysia, India and Thailand. I'm not sure whether the 1st two countries are still selling it but based on what I've seen, those were the countries that sell it.

We went back to the hotel after walking around for more than 2 hours. That day was also the women's final  of the French Open so I watched it, witnessed the champion and slept.

Second Day (8 June 2014)

We started off our second day in Krabi with breakfast outside the hotel. My parents chose not to had breakfast inside our hotel which I didn't know why. Possible reasons were hotel didn't offer free breakfast vouchers or maybe wanting to try something special by going outside. So, we had American breakfast at Toto residences, a short distance away from our hotel.

After breakfast, we stayed inside the hotel for a few hours before assembling at the hotel lobby in the afternoon for another trip, island hopping.

We first went to Tup Island. I stood there, looking at the islands, the boats, the sand and the sea for that boring one hour and that's it, enough said. We moved on to Si Island and for the first time, I've tried snorkeling. Honestly speaking, that snorkeling experience was the worst and I almost going to end my life in that salty sea. I took off my glasses and wore the snorkeling equipment. I could see a bit when I was on the boat but when I went down the waters, my eyes started to feel the pain by the salty sea and I couldn't breathe underwater for long that I even struggled and went crazy. Drinking too much salty water was also the reason why I went crazy. Although I struggled a lot, I managed to go underwater for a few seconds and saw the fishes with my blurred vision. Still, it was the worst snorkeling experience I ever had. Would I try it again? I don't know, maybe, maybe not, NEVER AGAIN!

After snorkeling, the boat continued its journey to the Chicken Island. It really looked like a chicken, by the way. We didn't stop there and continued to travel to the Poda Island to have dinner. As mentioned by the tour guide, we were supposed to have a BBQ dinner. My first thought was there would be BBQ pits, ingredients, charcoal and equipment. However, when we arrived, I shook my head with disappointment.

BBQ dinner?! Where's the pits? NO PITS! Ingredients? Yes, in trays, already cooked! Buffet style? NO! You could only limit to 2 prawns, 2 chicken kebabs and 1 squid but unlimited usage of the sauce. I was totally cheated by the words 'BBQ dinner'! Well, I think too much and thought there would be BBQ Buffet...Sigh! Furthermore, we had to stand and eat. Even more...Sigh! As a result, that dinner wasn't really full.

After dinner, there was a fire performance by the guide. Well, it was fascinating but using the same tricks would make the audience yawn. I didn't yawn, to be honest, but I felt bored by it.

On the final island hopping, the boat continued sailing to the Phranang cave and some visitors had night snorkeling. Seriously?! You bet you can see anything underwater at night? I find it really useless unless you had something that you can bring it underwater that gives you light. The journey ended with a disappointment.

After an 8 hours island hopping, we had another dinner. Finally, I got to eat Phad Thai in Krabi! However, another disappointment was that I didn't get to drink their Thai iced tea. I drank my favourite iced lemon tea instead.

We went back to the hotel and I watched another final of the French Open, the battle between two men.

Third Day (9 June 2014)

For the 2nd time, we had breakfast at the same venue, trying new dishes that time. However, it was a race against time because we had to assemble at the lobby at 8.30am for another trip. Fortunately, we made it on time.

The first trip was elephant trekking. As compared to snorkeling the previous day, that was equally disastrous. My shorts was in the terribly wrong condition. One wrong move could lead to dropping of my wallet and phone so I had to quickly remove those valuables from my pocket, hold tightly and quickly put it into my bag. However, another crisis happened when another wrong move could lead to my bag dropping due to the hole on the seat. How stupid am I! I should've placed my bag in front of me. That 40-minute experience, I did it badly. I would've done better if I were to take elephant trekking the next time round.

The second trip was the temple and followed by hot spring waterfall. I only managed to soak my legs on their hot spring but where's the waterfall? Did you call that waterfall when it's a small amount of waters flowing from a low height? Also, it stated hot steam but there wasn't any steam from the waters! Don't believe it? See the next two pictures below. Maybe they were trying to say hot 'stream'.

After visiting the hot springs waterfall, the final trip for the day was the Emerald Pool. However, the directions to the Emerald Pool were really tricky. Just as I thought it was 800m away and I could see the pool in your eyes. Sorry, another 120m would get you there after seeing that signboard below. Can't you just put 920m to the Emerald Pool at the entrance? Oh, you go straight first and then to the right. It does make sense.

Finally, we've reached the Emerald Pool. I didn't go for a swim. I just went to soak my legs for the next 20 minutes.

That concluded the trip in the mid-afternoon and we went back to the hotel. My parents went for a massage while my younger brother and I went for gym.

At night, we went to the seaside to have seafood for dinner and watched the beautiful sunset.

After dinner, we went for desserts and I ate the Thai Lollipop which only costs around S$0.25.  Unfortunately, I've chosen the wrong flavour. The white one I'm holding....it's Sour Plum flavour. There are other colours but I didn't get to try so if you want to try it, go to Krabi and find one.

In addition, ice cream and pancakes were also added into our desserts list for the night. Those concluded our final night in Krabi.

Final Day (10 June 2014)

For the third consecutive day, we went to the same restaurant for breakfast. Similar to the previous day, I've tried their Banana Pancake.

After breakfast, we checked out the hotel and bid farewell to Krabi as we went to the Krabi Airport. That was the 4 days 3 nights experience in Krabi. The End. (P.S Continue scrolling down. There's an epilogue.)

Epilogue

On the 2nd night in Krabi, I've tried to order their Thai iced tea but the waiter said they did not prepare it anymore since it was so late. I thought I didn't get to try it until the final day at the Airport.
I finally got to try it at the Cafe after getting our boarding pass. It tastes great, by the way.

Upon arriving back to Singapore, I've text a message to my Liaison Officer for the submission of my log book. I didn't know he sent me an e-mail message until I read it at night. I thought I was going to be in big trouble if I cannot submit within that week. After a conversation with him on the phone and some text messages, I finally submitted my log book to him on the final day of submission. Close shave for me!

The End.