HappytimeBlog » Krabi

Railay to Ao Nang

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:47:04 +0000

The day before we left Railay we were feeling a bit adventurous and Georgie had gone as far as putting her trainers on which she claims gives her that “pumped” feeling! So we went in search of another viewpoint I had seen on a map, this one was even harder to find but once we had it was a piece of piss compared to the death defying climb a few days earlier and it lead out into a pretty massive cave that looked out onto the sea and the view stretched right across to the mainland, after a scenic ciggarette we climbed down and went and played with some monkeys that were hanging about in a tree near the beach being fed by people so they could get close and take their picture, this of courese sent Georgie giddy with exitement and she bought some bananas to feed to them but they were a little feisty and grebby so she just dropped them on the floor and watched from a distance as they scrambled about around us. Although our short climb that morning was fun we still had energy to burn so we went off towards the jungle where we had heard of yet another cave and after asking a few locals we found the diamond cave, so called because inside it has a waterfall of shiny shimmery deposits thet look like millions of tiny diamonds, but after our previous adventures this tourist attraction seemed a little flacid so we set off along a path that cut through the jungle and up a steep hillside expecting to find another viewpoint… What we actually found after a 45 minute sweaty hike up the steepest path ive ever climbed through really dense jungle was another beach called Ton Sai, its between Ao Nang and Railay and its a propper backpacker beach with straw huts and hamocks everywhere it looked really nice and in high season probably has a wicked buzz with all the travellers and rock climbers but when we were there it was all a bit too sleepy and as sunset wasnt far away we hopped in a longtail and headed back to Railay west, where we met up with Matt again… As it was our last night we thought we would meet up for some grub and drinks with Matt later on and we had had a wicked time the other night… The plan was a few jars then pack my bag and off for an early night ready for moving on the next day… What actually happened was we rolled back home in the early hours fairly well sloshed and having had a really fun night with our new mate swapping stories and getting into the whiskey. We said our goodbyes and went off to bed…
The next morning i woke up early as usual and packed my bag up on the balcony so not wake the sleeping princess, but as i was i noticed something in the corner of my eye, i glanced round to see on of the monkeys that regularly swings by sitting on the handrail a few feet away just watching me with a really puzzled look on his face, this just confirmed what i had said to Georgie the day before that it was the monkeys watching us not the other way around. After about 5 minutes the monkey had got more confident and come even closer peeking at me from arms length desperate to see what i was up to and now joined by a few friends, so i whispered to Georgie to come see and as she staggered from the pit all eager and exited they decided they had seen enough of the bag packing and darted off into the trees,,,
Bags packed we headed to the west beach to catch a longtail to Ao Nang which is a nice enough place with a bit more to do than Krabi town but the weather was pretty rubbish so got a room at J Hotel which was cheap and clean, really nice actually and then went for food… We spent the day just lounging around and eating darting in and out of the rain just waiting for today and our sleeper train adventure back to Bangkok to see “the rents” YAY!!! We are both propper exited and cant wait to see them (YOU) have a safe journey and see you soon xxxxxxxxx love you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Railay Viewpoint

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:44:55 +0000

After the sunset the other day we got back to our room and hatched a plan to climb a viewpoint that we had heard about from some other travellers, they also told us it was pretty tough going and that flip flops wouldnt do very well and coming from people we had met at a place heavily geared towards rock climbing we thought we would take note and should set an alarm and get up early to beat the heat… But as we laid in bed reading a monsoon came along and danced across our tin roof with about as much delicacy as heavy machine gun fire until the early hours… and we know because we were awake!
That plan lost it was onto plan B, which consists of reading, beaching and swimming… not a bad consolation really, after plan B we wandered over to Phra nang beach again to see if we would be lucky enough for another sunset like the night before. Filled with hope we sat on the beach and waited patiently, but although it was amazing it wasnt a patch on the previous nights so we headed back to our roof top jungle hut with an early night and early rise in mind.
This morning came and I was awake before the 6:30 alarm, I had been woken up by a loud howling noise and I got up to see where it came from. Outside our balcony is on the third level so apart from the really tall palm trees all the trees are about the same height as us and at 6am everything was very calm and misty, except of course for the howling which after i had rolled a ciggarette and cracked a can of birdy’s iced coffee I saw was a family of monkeys in the tree right next to me! I sat and watched them till they buggered off and Georgie surfaced.
We put our trainers on and walked down the path towards the viewpoint climb which we had seen a few days ago and looked pretty tough going, that sad we were well “pumped” as Georgie put it but i think that was the birdy’s talking to be honest. Stood at the bottom looking up my head was as far back as it could go and I still couldnt see all the way up because the rocks and tree trunks the path worms around are big and many and the only way to tell if your going the right way up the bright red clay covered slope are ropes tied around trees and rocks dangling down from various heights.
We set off without a second thought and although it was pretty tough going and actually fucking dangerous it was really fun and challenging. I think it probably took us only half an hour to get to the top which cosidering we had to watch every hand and every foot was pretty good, we strutted around on top like we had climbed everest and the view was just amazing, we took some pics of the beaches below and waved at the guards of the flashy resort then headed back down for a swim in the sea as by then we could start to feel the heat… Apparently getting up was the easy bit and getting back down was all together more tricky and made the old arsehole tighten more than a few times!
We splashed about in the sea and washed the thick red clay off us before exploring the caves around the beach and heading back to Ya Ya’s for breakfast…thats right all that adventure before breakfast!!!
The rest of the day however has been overcast and as I type we have just seen the back of the 3rd thunder storm of the day so we spent the day reading on or balcony and darting through the downpours for food. Oh and the monkeys came back and ran along the roof just below our balcony a few feet away…and of course Georgie went apeshit…

Love you millions and miss you just as much xxx

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The Best Sunset in the World…

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:33:24 +0000

This morning started with bleary eyes and dry mouths as we were woken up the morning after the night before by the bangs of conker like nuts of some sort falling from a tree that towers above our penthouse hut onto our tin roof then bouncing onto the block next to us and back again all the way down each roof on each side on every one of the three floors. Midday was not too far away so we went for breakfast and read for a while before heading to the beach to cool off if the heat, much the same as usual… strolling, paddling, bobbing and reading until before we knew it, it was time for dinner.

While we sat next to the mangroves at Ya Ya’s resturant I noticed that with the tide out the muddy east beach went along much further than we thought so after dinner we went for a stroll not expecting much but having been told about a cliff top viewpoint we decided we would at least go and see where it started, we followed the path between a fucking posh resort and the cliff and at times the path is under the cliff and stalactites hang down around you, it makes you feel really small under the massive overhangs and trees cling onto the sheer faces and vines dangle down to the floor in places they must be 100ft long… After the most interesting 5 minute walk I’ve ever had we hear waves crashing and the cliff and resort part to reveal a beautiful quiet beach with only a handful of people on it, probably due to it being low season and that the only way there is the pretty well hidden path or the gates leading to the extremely flashy resort. We were completely taken aback by it as although we had both seen maps and read the guidebooks and are pretty familiar with the place we were not expecting a beach, let alone one better than any other here! And very probably any one we have seen yet!

It is literally breathtaking… I mean it was on a par with Railay west and Bamboo island and even Ko Samet but we sat on the sand and watched the most amazing sunset we have ever seen and I’m pretty sure will ever see! For nearly 3 hours the sky changed from one gorgeous colour to another completely turning the light on the beach bright vivid orange and an electric shade of pink at times, as the tide rolled out we sat on a patch of sand exposed by the low tide with nothing but sea and cliffs in view and watched the sun disappear over the mainland in the distance. There is nothing around but scenery and maybe 20 other people along way down the other end of the beach and it didn’t feel like we were watching a sunset more that we were in a sunset, the clouds felt so low and the colours reflected off the water and the sand as vividly as the sky it really was all around us. There are pictures and even videos but of course they cant come close to it, after a while we gave up trying to capture a picture of it and just laid in the sand until it was dark…

World Travel by the Loney Planet Bloggers

From Krabi to Railay

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:55:17 +0000

In Krabi at night just outside where we were staying they have a night market of food with stalls selling all sorts of tasy goodies and lots of little tables and plastic chairs, there were probably only 5 other travellers there and the rest were Thais all getting their dinner after work and school. Everything was stupidly cheap and looked really good so after walking past a donut stall we sat down and had some Thai donuts and hot coffee and it was delicious. Much like Phucket town it really felt like we were right off the tourist trail, it probably has alot to do with it being low season and it really shows in Krabi and not in a bad way it makes us feel like we have stumbled across a hidden gem. We had our donuts and went off to our secret garden shack and got our heads down ready for a short trip to Railay the following morning.
Bright and early we get up, have some breakfast and jump on a baht bus to Ao Nang a beach just on the other side of Railay but with more boats running to it than Krabi. Railay is part of the mainland but its surrounded by huge limestone cliffs on all sides so it can only be reached by longtail boat, at the boat stop we got chatting to another traveller called Matt and to keep things cheap we shared a boat around to Railay West beach where lonely planet calls the best beach in all of Thailand and i can see why its stunning! It has beautiful warm water, epic limeston cliffs and lush golden sand also an island feel because of its difficulty to get to.
We headed off the beach and along a path to the east beach which is still beautiful but its dotted with mangroves and the sand is quite muddy, because there is where the cheaper accomodation is, found a wicked fan room in a block of wooden flats in a really green leafy resort with trees and plants everywhere…Penthouse of course… at Ya Ya resort and dropped our bags off tried to fix the squeaky fan then went exploring. It had a really nice bohemian feel everywhere and really nice happy people after a bit of grub we decided the beach needed some attention so got our cossies on and strutted to the sand, after maybe 5 mins of gawping up at rocks and longtails all decorated bobbing together you start to see why the lonely planet loves it here so much, Georgie also says its her favourite place too although im still in love with Bamboo island off Ko Phi Phi. After several hours of the beach life we wathed the sun go down behind some massive clouds and went back to our pent house shack for a quick shower before heading out to see what goes on after dark here.
We obviously stumbled across a reggae bar or two near where we are staying but we werent really up for a drink so we went for a walk along the west beach and lloked at the stars and cliffs in the moonlight then popped into a little coffe shop shack thing near a flashy resort with big wooden tables and nic naks all over the shop and pictures and books everywhere, we ordered a pot of tea each and in the corner were lots of old well used board games so we grapped a ropey old scrabble and sat and played that till the tea was all gone with the winning word… yancle… comming from Georgies special dictionary.
On our way out someone called Georgie from the bar right near the tea shop and when we turned around it was the chap we had met on the boat over Matt staggering about obviously enjoying the cheap booze and after a bit of a chin wag decided we felt much more awake and will help our new friend prop the bar for a while… several hours later we all staggered back to our respective diggs to sleep of the Chang beer and prepare for the arduous task of chilling on the beach tomorrow…
much love to the english massive xxxxxx

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Koh Phi Phi to Krabi

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:12:23 +0000

After our super duper camping adventure with Toby and Laura we dragged our tired asses back to our guesthouse and said goodbye to them as they left for Krabi heading for Bangkok then Chang mai. We miss them already.
We spent a very quiet afternoon napping and generally relaxing after an adventure filled few days, this R&R actually ended up lasting 2 days until we decided that for all its chams and it has oodles it was time to move on… So this morning we got up to the sound of the alarm and loaded with our packs stomped to the pier before the heat kicked in, it turned out the boat had air con and a good film on so the 2hr or so journey flew by.
As we marched down the long concrete and very new pier we passed a long line of what looked like school children waiting forthe boat to empty so they could board and it seemed the exitement had gotten to them because every one of them waved and shouted hello with all their might, it made us feel like giant celebrities walking a down red carpet sided with midgets! We decided to go it alone and left most of the other passengers behind at the tourist office while we hopped in a minivan and stopped when we saw somwhere we liked the look of. The Blue Bay Resort’s entrance is through a garage with a small office in the back corner, up a flight of stairs and its suddenly your in the middle of a lush tropical garden, mature and pristinely kept with rattan bungalows dotted about and all for 400baht with a/c… As we climbed onto the porch of our hut we saw a tiny old man probaly in his 70′s hobbling about in the buhes trimming and pruning and as friendly a person as weve ever met.
Bags dropped off we set to exploring Krabi town, its quite small and has a very similar feel to Phucket town, very few other travellers about and really friendly people. We strolled about for a while then decided to get a longtail boat around the mangroves close by and for the price he took us to a massive cave inside a giant sandstone cliff filled with huge stalegtites and at the very top in the dark what must be hundreds of bats judging by the mess on the floor below. Next we stopped at a corner to a large island which we are told has a large muslim village on, but we were there for monkeys! Obviously the monkeys know if they come and prance about when they hear the boats then they will get fed, and they did. Im no sure what kind of monkeys they were but they werent shy and one took a jump onto the boat because Georgie was holding some fruit as she scrabbled behind be sat in the middle one of the drivers tried to shoo it with a flip flop but he didnt give a shit and just sat there waiting for his banana and posing for a pic, then the other driver sprung to action with a fishing rod which the little hairy fella did not like and actually dived off the boat underwater and swam the 6ft back to the other monkeys… What struck me was the desperation the two boat drivers were trying to get the monkey off the boat with as if it would rip us to pieces all the time Georgie was snapping pics and I was laughing.
Then we went to a floating fish farm
where a chap gave us coffee and showed us what lived in his murkey floating pools around his floating shack… Big Snappy fish, all he had to do was drop the food and as quick as lightning a massive head snatched it below, he also had a puffer fish which he eagerly yanked out of the water and it puffed up to the size of a basketball and then stated spitting the water at us. We left there and headed back to the pier, Krabi is a very sleepy town and apparently not much going on of an evening so probably an early night is in order. xxxxxxx Lve love love xxxxx

Off the beaten track: Bamboo Island Camping Thailand – Koh Phi Phi