Phuket & Krabi, Thailand
The bus took around 5 hours to get to Phuket from Khao Sok. We arrived at the bus terminal at 9:30pm and then took a taxi to our hotel. As it was pretty late, we checked-in quickly and headed down the street to grab some dinner before all the restaurants closed. We ended up at a steak house which had a pretty good (although pricey) menu. I opted for beef stroganoff which cost 499 baht (£12.50)! Thankfully, the portion was massive and it was absolutely delish.
The next day, it was raining so we decided to catch up on some things we’d been meaning to do, e.g. laundry, haircut, etc. After dropping off our laundry, we took a taxi to Patong. I found a decent barbers near to where we were dropped off and then we spent the afternoon looking around a shopping centre (Jungceylon).
On our last day in Phuket, we decided to rent a moped and ride it up to the Big Buddha. The name says it all really; it’s a giant Buddha statue atop a mountain. When we arrived, we were both pleasantly surprised that there was no parking or admission fee. The statue itself is pretty impressive and the views were beautiful. Well worth the trip!
Afterwards, we headed back to town to catch the bus to Krabi.
Dinner was first on the agenda (again) when we arrived in Krabi. Staff at our hotel recommended we check out the weekend night market for some grub. There was a pretty decent selection of things to eat at the market and everything was fairly cheap.
Next morning, we took a boat over to Railay Beach to chill by the sea. Although fairly touristy, it was a nice place to go and relax. Several long tail boats lined the shore, drifting lazily in the clear, calm water.
I dived straight in when we arrived and spent the morning swimming about and enjoying the views.
Later, we were joined by Dan and Charlotte. We grabbed some lunch together and then headed back to the beach. Of course, it started to rain pretty much as soon as we got back so we turned around and made our way to the bars! The weather settled after a little while but it looked like the rain was going to pick back up at any minute so we decided to catch a boat to Ao Nang to have a look around. Ao Nang is a small coastal town about 30 minutes from where we were staying in Krabi. It’s known mostly for its beachfront and is a popular spot for tourists.
We stopped for a couple drinks at a bar before choosing an Indian restaurant for dinner (Taj Palace). This place was great; my jalfrezi and garlic naan hit the spot and then some! Siwan chose a real Indian classic: the club sandwich.
Public transport is pretty limited at night in Ao Nang/Krabi Town. We waited around an hour at a bus stop before a songthaew (Thai converted pick-up truck tuk tuk thing) arrived and we hopped on.
The next day, we were back on the ped. We drove around 5km to go visit the Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Sua).
The temple is essentially a mountain that you can climb by walking up 1260 steps. This was particularly enjoyable in the intense heat and incredibly humid air with zero breeze. With that said, the spectacular views from the top made it completely worthwhile.
On the way back, we visited another temple and I made friends with a puppy.
Then, we went for dinner at a night market and somehow ended up at a gig.
By our last day in Krabi, we’d pretty much done everything we wanted to do so we decided to head over to Ao Nang and spend some more time at the beach (Siwan can’t get enough of baking in that sweet sun).
While we were there, Siwan wanted to get her nails done so we found a nail salon/massage parlour nearby on the beachfront. What a great opportunity for me to have a nice, relaxing massage! Except it wasn’t relaxing; instead, the lovely little lady beat the s**t out of me for an hour while Siwan giggled away in the corner. Best fiver I’ve ever spent.
We rounded off the day, and our stay in Krabi, with a trip to the cinema to watch Fantastic Beasts which Siwan actually enjoyed! :O
