31st Jul – 7th Aug
We had been harping upon a trip abroad in Jul – Aug for quite some time. After considering numerous options n changing plans every 3rdhour over a week in July, one fine morning we zeroed in on Thailand. We had 8 days to travel across Bangkok, Pattaya n Krabi. For a change, Karthik did a lot of planning / organizing as I was busy at work.
Picking on lessons learnt from the Mauritius trip, we did a semi-planned trip this time. We had arranged for island / city / fun trips on 4 days and had left about 3.5 days to play around with. Thanks to TripAdvisor and few travel sites, we were loaded with options on sight-seeing, adventure sports and restaurant options. However, we were planning all of this in mid July and had to really rush up on everything in the last 10 days. Thomas Cook was the travel agent for the trip – ofcourse, they used a lot of local agents throughout.
31st Aug:
Our first destination was Krabi – a 3 hour flight to Bangkok and a hop-on flight to Krabi the same morning. While Bangkok n Pattaya were obvious destinations, we had to do quite some background work to choose between Krabi and Phuket. We rejected the latter mainly cos it is way too commercialized for our liking though am sure the place had its advantages. The trip from the airport to the hotel reminded us of our first few hours at Mauritius – the only difference being that this time we could see more people around on our way. Half an hour journey and quite some Mercedes / Nissan / Ford / 7-11 / Pizza joints spotting later, we reached Krabi Resort.
As we drove into the resort, I totally fell in love with it. The property spans across a considerable area full of greenery. This is the only resort which has private beach access and still is located in the main hub of Ao Nang – so location is a major plus. Our room was located in the A-wing n the beach was just 15-feet away from the room. We were excited n started chilling right away. We were busy soaking ourselves in the smell n sound of the gushing ocean water, until drizzles drove us in for a short nap. Later in the evening, we did a lot of walking around the place and explored few food joints for lunch / dinner. We came across quite some Indian restaurants but dint experiment much and stuck to Navrang Mahal (aka Royal Indian) restaurant whenever we had Indian food. We were looking forward to experimenting with Thai cuisine but the incessant stink of seafood from the Thai restaurants would ensure that we didn’t even step into one throughout the trip.
99.99% of the population in Krabi couldn’t speak English and we had to replace sentences with phrases / actions to communicate. It was frustrating at times and we had a hard time even to buy a local SIM card out there.
1st Aug:
Every morning for the next 3 days, I would wake up n walk right into the beach chair outside, watching the waves and taking in all the beauty until nature / Karthik call me in. We had planned a 4-island trip for the day through the travel agent. These trips were conducted both on long tail boats and speed boat / ferry. The pier for the local ferry was about 2 km from the hotel. Apart from the trip to nearby islands, speed boats were also available for travel to Phi Phi islands / Phuket and far away destinations on the west coast.
Out trip was on a speed boat and covered Tub island, Chicken island, Poda island and Phranang caves in that order. Tub and Chicken island are separated by a shallow strip of water which can be crossed by foot. The water was warm and we didn’t hesitate to soak ourselves completely. The crowd was not much and so, it was an ideal spot for relaxation. We started again only to stop in the middle of nowhere in the ocean – it was time to snorkel. I have an earlier experience of snorkeling in Andaman – but the difference was that it was a guided one and closer to the beach. Now, we stopped in the middle of the ocean and I was not so sure. After some initial hesitation, both of us got down into the water fully geared. Initially hiccups aside, it was good fun trying my luck at spotting fishes and loads of colors (read corals) in the ocean. However, I couldn’t swim in the wavy area and had to be literally dragged back by the boatman to the ferry. Karthik however managed to swim back on his own. Its such a pity both of us are water lovers and still suck at swimming. We stopped next at Poda island for lunch and had good veg fried rice + sauce. Post lunch, we again dived into the water until we were called back to the boat. Exhausted by then, dint do much at Phranang caves island except lie down in the shade, relax and get a henna tattoo done.
It was drizzling as we headed back to the hotel – perfect ending to a joyful day.
2nd Aug:
We had to decide between generally roaming around Krabi in a rented bike and water rafting / quad biking for the day; we chose the later for the love of action. It was an hour n a half journey to Phangnga (a place equidistant from Krabi and Phuket) which was located amidst hills, plantations and water body. About 3 -5 people were seated on each raft with 2 trained people on either ends of it. Inspite of the tips and instructions given, we figured that we barely had much to do as the trained rafters did all the maneuvering required. Adventure quotient would be minimal but the thrill & fun made it quite fulfilling. One of our fellow rafts tumbled upside down and added on to the drama. Overall quite safe n fun, but would not recommend for hard core adventure lovers.
The second half of the package was quad biking. I was a passenger on the quad Karthik rode. Initially it seemed quite easy in comparison to the one at Mauritius. However, the terrains that we crossed later posed quite a challenge and Karthik thoroughly enjoyed it. Mid way, we stopped in the hill and walked up to a small waterfall in the forest area. The place was very serene and soothing. At the end of the day, we were totally tired and slept through the entire journey back to the hotel. We also caught up on the traditional Thai massage at the hotel and it was awwwwesome!
3rd Aug:
We were to fly out from Krabi in the afternoon and decided to keep it light in the morning. We lunched at Pizza Company and had a nice long walk around Ao Nang not willing to part with this small, sweet town. We flew out of Krabi into Bangkok from where we were transported to Pattaya on cab. After about 1.5 hrs journey on the Bangkok-Pattaya highway, we reached Siam Bayshore Resort at Pattaya. Pattaya beach and the hotels on beach-side are separated by a road. Our room was a sea facing room with a lovely view and it was a sight to see the entire place lit up in the night against the background of the sea. The resort was located at one end of the Walking Street and there were reasonable amount of good restaurants at a 10 min walking distance. Pattaya is flashy n loud – not much to my taste but after walking up and down the place, I finally got used to it all.
4th Aug:
After having an average breakfast for the last 3 days at Krabi, I was more than delighted seeing the breakfast spread at Siam Bayshore. The spread was immense and the food delicious. We were scheduled for the coral island trip – which included some water sports n beach lazing. After rarely seeing Indians around in Krabi, it was quite a change to see that Indians comprised 80% of the tourists here. Wouldn’t say a welcome change though… cos there were too many prying eyes. Post some paragliding, water scooter riding and swimming in the beach, we were back to the mainland for yummy Indian lunch at Beverly Plaza hotel. In the evening, we were sent to a gems factory by our travel agent – Karthik was happy about the toy train journey there which is audio-visual and briefs the visitors on gems around the world. Otherwise, it was a worthless trip (the gems were overpriced!) and we would have rather caught up on our afternoon nap. In the evening, we watched the much talked about Alcazar show which included dance performances by eunuchs on different genres. More than the dance / choreography, the sets and the costumes were the subjects of interest.
5th Aug:
As I was browsing TripAdvisor, I bumped upon “Flight of the Gibbons” as one of the top-rated Things to Do out of Pattaya and Bangkok. No travel agent at Chennai had heard of this place – but we trusted the reviews and decided to go. The place is rightly located between Bangkok and Pattaya. We started early to our destination and as we reached the place, it seemed more of a forest ride. After a couple of stops, we were finally asked to be geared up for the “flight”. The next few hours were filled with fun & adventure – activities included gliding through ropes across elevated platforms build around tall trees, walking across shaky wooden pieces with support from the rope tied above, walking on ropes amongst the rest. The adrenaline rush was heightened due to the fact that all activities were performed atleast 10 mtrs above ground level. While novices like me found it to be quite a challenge, hardcore adventurists in our group did not find it exciting enough. At the end of it, our bodies demanded rest but destiny had other plans. We were dropped back to our hotel in Pattaya and were scheduled for a cab pickup to Bangkok. We were immensely satisfied with our local travel agents until then but they screwed up things that evening. Let’s just say that they did some miscalculation on timing and we were made to pay for it by travelling in a local bus from Pattaya to Bangkok instead of a cab. Well, we wouldn’t have been angry, except that the travel agents didn’t even call to apologise or communicate the change. Anyway, that incident aside, the entire trip was quite well organized
6th Aug:
We were put up at Rembrandt Hotel, Bangkok – the place was very formal after the resorts that we stayed at. The place seems to be a favorite among Indian travel agents and there were about 15 Indian restaurants located at 15 min walking distance from the hotel. The city tour that was organized was supposed to cover Golden Buddha and Reclining Buddha temple. We later realized that the trip was sponsored by another gem factory at Bangkok and hence we were supposed to again visit another gem factory (Argggh!!!). Based on a friend’s recommendation, we also wanted to visit the Grand Palace & Emerald Buddha. We were travelling with another Indian family – the father had visited Bangkok earlier and suggested we also visit Wat Arun (The temple of Dawn). They were not interested in the Grand Palace since they had other plans for the afternoon. After some initial confusion, the guide came up with a fabulous proposal. Luckily, the Grand palace was next to the Reclining Buddha temple and hence, the guide dropped us there and we were spared the trouble of the gem factory the second time.
The Grand Palace is the erstwhile residential place of the current king. The place was huge and we had fun figuring out place with a map in hand. Unlike the pleasant weather days in Krabi & Pattaya, Bangkok was mighty hot and humid. But the place itself was so brilliant, that the heat did not deter us - the architecture, vibrant colors, beautiful structures, the emerald Buddha (actually a jade Buddha which was mistaken in the past for emerald), paintings instantly flash in my memory when I recall it. We were happy about the day being well spent and relaxed for the reminder of the day.
7th Aug:
Lot of our friends had urged that we shop till we drop at Bangkok. We had too many things to do and a flight to catch in the night. After thinking back and forth, we finalized on Wat Arun and the weekend Chatuchak Market for the day. Wat Arun was splendid – though its called a temple, there is no deity that you can locate. The structure had Indian architectural influence and was like a south Indian temple atop a hill. We had to climb stairs, some of them very steep, to reach the top. One can get a lovely postcard view of Bangkok from the top. We were happy that we took the efforts of adding this to our itinerary cos it was really pretty. As we left to take our ferry, we came across people buying water snakes for cooking…. yikkkkkes!!
A cab and a train journey later, we reached Chatuchak weekend market. The place was swarmed by people across ages and had a good variety of stuff. We did some watches, junk jewellery, shoe n bags shopping in our limited time there. Things were not dirt-cheap but quality seemed decent for the price. My only regret was that we did not venture into even one of the numerous malls at Bangkok, but the sight-seeing more than made up for it. As we rushed back to the hotel, we also managed to stop for a quick masala dosa before leaving to the airport.
We loved Thailand – it is vibrant, colorful and diverse. Of all the places, I liked Krabi the best – it seemed like the ideal vacation spot and I would love to go back anytime. The country on the whole offered good variety of places and experiences. Thailand has something in it for everyone!!
Tips & Tricks:
1. Please mention your choice of food clearly to your travel agent if you are a vegetarian – we had no issues in our Bangkok Airways flight between Chennai and Bangkok. However, the crew had only non-veg food to offer in the Bangkok-Krabi-Bangkok sector cos we had not specified food choice at the time of ticket booking.
2. Krabi Resort (3.5 star resort) is situated in a prime spot at the Ao Nang area of the city. Location of Krabi Resort is a great advantage – just outside the resort are numerous shops and restaurants n major joints were located at 10-15 min walking distance; however, the resort itself was very peaceful and blissful to stay in. Service at the resort is below average and each request takes ages to get fixed. Also, the buffet breakfast was average and spread was not impressive. But, to me, the location itself offsets all the other negatives. If I were to visit Krabi any other time, trust me – I would have to stay at A1, Krabi Resort.
3. For the island trips, it is recommended that you start early to avoid crowds and relax completely.
4. July – Sep is the rainy season in this part of the world. Based on a friend’s reco we took a risk and rain gods cooperated. Plus, these days weather is so unpredictable that one can barely be sure. Except for few drizzles which helped in keeping the mercury down, we were lucky. However we heard that few days before we reached Bangkok, the place was almost flooded with rains. It’s a gamble – but July seems like a safer option. Sep – def No.
5. At Pattaya, none of the hotels will have a private beach and it doesn’t make much sense to spend extra on sea facing rooms except for the lovely view.
6. Wat Arun in Bangkok is located across a river and can be reached directly through road / ferry from the city side. When we hired a cab, we had no idea about the direct route on road – we had asked him to drop us at the ferry point but he ended up taking on road directly. On our way back, we took the ferry and it seemed more comfortable to reach the city.
7. Cab / tuk-tuk drivers tend to cheat a lot in Bangkok. While cab meters are usually trust worthy, we found the meter reeling very fast in one of our trips and had to finalize a rate verbally.
8. Being vegetarians, we were not sure about choice of food in Thailand. Krabi, especially is not yet a full fledged tourist place. However, apart from the Indian restaurants itself, all these cities had joints like Pizza Company n Subway that have atleast 1 veg item available.
Overall rating:
Priya: 8.5 / 10
Karthik: 9 / 10
