Island hopping…

Krabi

Krabi, on southern Thailand’s west coast, is a province characterized by craggy, sheer limestone cliffs, dense mangrove forests, and more than a hundred offshore islands.

Accommodation in Krabi seamed to be a lot more expensive than the previous islands we had visited so we opted (well I did) for something a little bit different. We booked to stay in a little hut built on someone’s land. We finally found the accommodation after what felt like hours of walking trying to find the place and it was definitely authentic. 3 little huts sat in a garden next to Meekoch (the host) home, all built by him and surrounded by his chicken, cockerels, freshly grown food and herbs and more bugs than in I’m a Celebrity.

Before we’d even put our bags down Kyle was searching on booking.com for somewhere else to stay. The best we could do was ad least stick it out for the night and see how it was. The bed looked super comfy, the shower area was clean and Meekoch had put a mosquito net for us, which looked like a princess net when you lie in it. So we braved it for the night, but had a rude awakening at around 4am by the bloody Cockrill’s ‘cokcadoodallleing’ as if they were in the hut with us. At one point there was one on our roof and I opened the front door and it jumped right in front of me. Thankfully we were able to get some sleep before Meekoch cooked us breakfast at his home for us, which included eggs from his chickens and an edible flower which he insisted we tried in front of him. Watching Kyle’s face pretend he liked it was pretty hilarious. I quite enjoyed it.  Well if this wasn’t the real travelling experience I don’t know what is. We decided to just stick it out for the second night.

We decided to get a long tail boat to the famous Railay Beach and from there we kayaked to a nearby cave – Phra Nang Cave and spent some time relaxing on the beach. The water was a little choppy so trying to stay afloat whilst in the kayak was rather comical. Kyle not having much kayaking experience managed to somehow topple the kayak in about 2 feet of water and land face first in the water in front of hundreds of people on the beach – absolute comedy gold. The cave we visited was rather interesting . The fishermen, who say the cave is the home of a mythical sea princess, believe their offerings will bring them success in their fishing and protect them from danger, but what is more remarkable is that the cave contains a large collection of carved wooden phallic symbols (willies), offerings and other objects believed to help with fertility.Railay beach is beautiful. You are surrounded by huge limestone rocks which feels like you are trapped in a little bubble, and when kayaking past the stones you really did get to appreciate the size of them towering over you.

Krabi had a very much tourist feel about it with its street’s packed with tourists and souvenir shops. We have come to quite enjoy the quiter islands so for us Krabi was a little too touristy but none the less it still had some lovely beaches and places to visit. We spent our final evening enjoying the night life. We discovered if you want to eat cheap in Krabi, you have to eat at an Indian. And there are plenty for you choose from. The 3 nights we were in Krabi we enjoyed an Indian set menu for around 450bhat. (£10)

 

Phuket

Kyle was really looking forward to visiting Phuket. We finally arrived after the longest bus journey and were dropped in the centre. Looking around, you could be in America. Shopping malls, food chains and over the top advertisement in your face. It was so different from the Thailand we had seen on the islands. We had booked ourselves into ‘The Slumber Party Hostel’ which is basically what is says on the tin. At first we were a bit reluctant to book a party hostel, but the reviews and the price made it pretty impossible not to stay there, and I’m so glad we did. We had a great time at the hostel. On the day we arrived in Phuket, they were celebrating a special Buddha holiday which means no alcohol is to be sold or consumed for 24 hours. Makha Bucha: This is a very important holiday in Thailand where more than 1,250 disciples of Lord Buddha gather to hear him preach. This holiday takes place in February or March depending on the lunar cycle. The celebrations start in the morning by Thai Buddhists giving alms to monks. In the evening, they perform a candle ceremony which involves holding incense, flowers and a lighted candle as they walk around the temple. This is a particularly a quiet day as businesses remain closed throughout the day.For once in our lives we were grateful for this as we were both disgustingly hungover.

 

Phuket Elephant Sanctuary.

The sanctuary picked us up from our hostel at around 8.30 and did the hour drive to the sanctuary. Once we arrived we were divided into groups and given a huge selection of food for breakfast. After a welcome talk and presentation we started our tour around the sanctuary. All the elephants were roaming freely and we just fit in with their routine. Every elephant has a Mahout who stays with them throughout the day. A Mahout is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the family profession when he is assigned an elephant early in its life. They remain bonded to each other throughout their lives. We got to feed the elephants lots of juicy fruits and veg and got to watch them bathe.

We then took a walk around the jungle where we were told about all the elephants that were living in the sanctuary, watching each of them in their natural habitat, mainly munching on whatever they could eat. Just as we were about to leave, two of the elephants made their way to the mud bath and gave us a right good show. It was truly an amazing thing to see them enjoying and interacting with their Mahout. Before leaving we were given a full unlimited lunch and then taken back to our hostel.

This day was definitely a highlight in our trip and the elephants are more amazing than you can imagine in real life. The sanctuary is an amazing place that homes mostly injured, disabled and old elephants who have spent their lives working illegally in the coal industry and for entertainment reasons. The price of the visit was £130 each, which at first we thought was rather expensive, but it was worth every single penny. If you are ever in Thailand you have to visit a sanctuary. We joined our hostel on the bar crawl which was a fun experience. Both having to wear the most hideous vests and play endless games of beer pong. The bar crawl ended on the famous Bangla Road, which is a real eyeopener. Bars filled with lady dancers and booming music flooding into the street.

Rocking the vests!!

The hostel were great for providing tours run through them and we decided to join the Island Hopping tour for the day. We left at a reasonable time, 12pm and headed to the beach where took a long tail boat to surrounding island with a tour guide. We stopped in the open water to do some snorkelling and visited some private beaches where were played beach games and just chilled. It was a really great day organised by the hostel! If you are ever visiting Thailand we would recommend staying at The Slumber Party Hostel. They have hostels in Krabi, Phuket and Koh Phanang.

We spent our final day exploring Phuket on a moped visiting Monkey Hill, where we saw lots of monkeys up close, some were a little vicious so we didn’t spend much time there. We then went on to visiting the Big Buddha, which sits on top of the mountains in Phuket and is enormous once you eventually get to the top of the climb. It is the third tallest statue in Thailand, still under some construction. That evening we decided to drive to a local night market around 30 minutes away. Once we arrived we noticed that we had left all the money in the hostel – oops! We decided we’d drive back and get the money, but as Kyle got on the moped he noticed that something wasn’t quite right about it. The tyre was completely flat! We were stuck! Luckily, a kind Thai lady could see that something wasn’t right and told us that there was a garage around the corner still open. So Kyle had to push the moped in 30 degree heat around to the nearest garage. We explained to the garage owner and he kindly said he would do it for us, but we had no money! Thankfully, another couple were at the garage with the same problem and overheard our issue and offered to pay for the new tyre! We couldn’t believe our luck! Once the repair had been done we drove back to the hostel to get the wallet and went straight to pay the couple ! Thank goodness for those kind people!

Our time in Thailand is slowly running out and we only have a few other island stops before we head into Malaysia.

Cariad Mawr to all back home and a Good Luck to Wales playing Scotland next week (hehe)

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