It's my first day back in Singapore after spending the past 2 days of 2015 in Krabi, Thailand. It has been a trip that was severely lacking in sleep and a really costly and expensive one as well. All my expenses were from my own pocket and for someone who's not going to have any more income and one more backpacking trip to go through before having a job in March, it all doesn't bode well for the health of my bank account.
But it honestly doesn't matter.
There are more important things to life than simply working 24/7. The reason why I am utilizing so much time of my post ORD life on enjoying myself and pursuing what I love is because I know that once school starts, it's going to be a lot tougher before I can fully enjoy myself.
The Krabi Trip with my close friends has been one filled with plenty of lessons and takeaways. I simply do not know how to begin. If you happen to be reading this post, you will simply be amazed as to what happened to us during our time there.
So without further ado, here goes!
Takeaway #1: 4 people staying in a room is a yes-go and a no-go as well
From the title you can guess that the 4 of us close buddies(Timothy, Shao Hong, Kevin and myself) tried to be clever by booking only a single deluxe room for 4 straight nights. It was definitely a viable option. I have heard of friends and families staying in a room with 4 or more people without even getting mentioned or caught by staff. However smart we tried to be, we were simply outsmarted and the hotel staffs were 2 steps ahead of us.
So how did we get outsmarted?
First off, we were brutally exposed from the first second we were at the hotel. The hotel we stayed in Krabi was relatively new compared to other hotels in the vicinity and is called," Krabi Front Bay Resort." The moment we stepped out of the transport to the hotel, a porter was there to escort us to the lobby, helping us carry all our luggage. All of us knew we were in trouble from the first minute. But wait...maybe we can still get away scot-free?
Next off, 2 of our friends went to hide somewhere in the hotel and the check in was successful. The manager was wary that there were 4 of us instead of 2 as he asked us where were they. We just gave a remark that they are not joining us which obviously was utterly untrue. So when we were up in the hotel room and thought everything was safe after only 5 minutes, we contacted them to join us. And then.....room service came. Goodness me. We did not request for any extra beds but they still came up claiming that they want to help us by adding one more bed. The helpers saw all 4 of us in the same room and we knew we were probably doomed. But second time lucky maybe? Obviously, that was not the case and when we discussed about this days later, we kind of guessed that those 2 helpers exposed us!
To end our torment, the hotel room service called our room saying that they were going to report us to immigration(I really feel this is bullshyt). We had no choice but to get another room which was a block away and just like that, we immediately had a deficit of 7000+ baht. Day 1 of Krabi, 7000 baht less which is about SGD250+ to spend and enjoy our trip with. It was extremely agonizing but thankfully, it didn't affect our mood too much.
Takeaway #2: No matter how well prepared you are for the trip, expect the unexpected
I would not say that we were fully organised and well-prepared for this trip. I myself only packed my luggage a day before the trip. Researched for what we can do while we are in Krabi during the same time till the late hours of the day akin to burning the midnight oil. In spite of all the research that were done in which we felt was sufficient, we did not do more than half of what we expected ourselves to do. We certainly managed to do certain things like going to Ao Nang, experiencing kayaking and water rafting.
Ultimately, luck played a huge factor in our trip.
We did not go to the Monkey Cave Temple. Wasted a day in Phi Phi Islands as we could only stay there for a short while due to the ferry timings. Chanced upon a really awesome travel agency all out of luck and I will get to that later. Took a Tuk Tuk only at 500 baht from Ao Nang back to our hotel which was a crazily awesome experience. Just imagine wind speed against you at 80-100km/h for 30 minutes. Just fantastic.
All in all, planning does not mean executing in travelling every single time.
Takeaway #3: Knowing my travelling/holiday style and make adjustments
This is probably the most important lesson that I have learnt from this Krabi Trip. Different people have different vacation and travelling styles. I am the kind that would just aggressively spend my time there, making every single minute overseas count. There are the kinds that simply just want to shop or just want to sloth around and use their phone/sleep most of the time.
Right Shao Hong?
At the same time, it is also important to take stock and know the drawbacks of your own tendencies. When I become over aggressive on how I use my time, my energy levels drop at a rapid and steep rate and increases the chance of getting sick. That was exactly the case for this trip as I was down with flu on the second last day of the Krabi trip. It didn't help that travelling from place to place requires long travelling times of at least 30 minutes and when I had to climb up 1237 steps of Tiger Cave Temple.
Fatigue was real towards the end of my 5 days in Krabi. I will definitely manage my energy levels better in future trips and this is certainly valid for anyone who travels.
Takeaway #4: All the street sides travel agencies can provide one heck of a deal especially in Krabi
View at Phi Phi Island
Krabi mainly has 3 main areas of attraction if we exclude the many small islands around it.
Ao Nang, Krabi Town and Railay are the 3 most talked about places from this part of Thailand. We resided in Krabi Town but out of the 3, we did not manage to get to Railay. A huge pity but it was all due to circumstances. However, none of the travelling would have been made more affordable, cheaper and possible if it was not for the travel agencies found along the streets.
View at Ao Nang
From my observation, the travel agencies at Ao Nang are extremely expensive as compared to the ones in Krabi Town. Even in Krabi Town, there are plenty of travel agencies that provide travel rates to places at cheaper rates and I would definitely like to recommend this place to those who would like to go to Krabi Town in future.
Pardon the bad lighting!
There is a travel agency at Chao Fa Pier right smack at the coast of Krabi Town and the owner was outgoing and gave me the impression that he has a wide connection. He managed to get us cheap rates all round. Examples include how they just charged us 300 just to go to the airport rather than 350 which was the rate at our hotel, giving us a rate of 1600 baht for water rafting, ATV, Fish Spa at Phanga as well as a trip to Ao Nang and charging us only 700 in total for a round trip from Klong Jirad Pier to Phi Phi Islands when buying at the ferry counters could mean a charge of 200 more baht.
It is these small details that counts and I highly recommend this travel agency to whoever is thinking of having a vacation in Krabi!
Takeaway #5: The language barrier exists in Thailand, but it is in acceptable range
Language barrier is not something I am particularly looking forward to in my Trip to Vietnam. Thankfully in Thailand, apart from a few small exceptions, communication was the least of my worries. The locals like cab drivers and the hotel staffs were all perfectly able to hold their own in coversations. It made travelling much easier in Krabi.
Takeaway #6: There is always a shop that sells what you want at a cheaper rate
Think water sold at 34 baht is cheap in Thailand? Think again. I got a 500ml bottle at only 10 baht at a shop in Tiger Cave. Think a singlet sold at 150 baht is cheap? Think again. Walking down the streets and patronising another stall might make you encounter the same singlet but this time at a cheaper rate of 100 baht.
Cheap deals and bargaining is something you will never get bored of in a Thailand tour. Your negotiating skills are truly put to the test in Thailand.
Takeaway #7: Bring mosquito repellants when you go to Krabi
There are mosquitoes everywhere in Krabi. They are not the small friendly ones that barely does any damage. Their bites can be truly annoying as they always come in swarms. There are mosquitoes in our hotel room, mosquitoes when we dine in restaurants, mosquitoes in cafes. They are simply everywhere. There was even a single night when I woke up at 5am because I got bitten by mosquitoes across my shoulders.
How can a vacation truly be enjoyable without sufficient sleep?
Insect repellants would have done wonders if we knew that Krabi was raided with them.
So these are basically the 7 most important takeaways from this trip. There are actually several more but they should not be made fully explicit.
Right Shao Hong?
Krabi was chill and to be honest, I felt neutral because of my expenses. Otherwise, it would have been fully enjoyable. I will definitely go back to Krabi again if there is a chance.
So with that, Peanut has left a marker in Krabi.
Stay tuned for more adventures!
Signing off,
KY
