Leaving Krabi, Thailand

Day 102 - Hey, we're back!

Getting back to Kuala Lumpur was easy peasy. We woke up at 7:00 as we needed to eat all the quick breakfast snacks we bought yesterday. Being across from the Krabi Night Market was fortunate. The sellers had a lot of fresh fruits cut and put into little packets. We had fresh mango, pomelo, guava, and pineapple. We finished the tiny bananas yesterday. There were yogurts in the refrigerator and we made instant coffee with the kettle in the room. We also bought a bunch of danish at a bakery last night. One big, sweet fruit cake was enough. The four other packages with other assorted croissant-sized treats had to be put into our backpacks.

We were in the lobby before 8:30 and found our taxi guy. There's a bit of a taxi mafia in Krabi, so if one just tries to get a cab ride to the airport it costs around Thai 500฿, which converts to about $US 16. As the airport is only about twenty minutes from town, that is too much. If one looks on the Grab app, it is even more! However, by stopping at one of the travel ticketing booths, without haggling, Thai 350฿ is offered.

So we checked in at the airport after a little trouble with one of the Air Asia machines, and a trip to the staff in the next door terminal. We had plenty of extra time for customs and security clearance. Our plane got off the ground exactly at 10:30 AM and into KLIA2 at 1:00 PM because we had to switch our watches forward an hour.

Our Grab driver from the airport to the Maytower was a young, Malay guy. With over 50 minutes to talk, we learned he is about to get married at the age of 29. We discussed the economy, the rise of China as a power, and good beach-vacation places.

Gung Ho to Ao Nang

Day 100 - Okay, I am sure I'm now in Thailand as when I ordered American Fried Rice for breakfast, it was not a problem. It has an interesting history and can even be found on Wikipedia.



Jay had a traditional English breakfast which is weird as I can't remember the last time I saw him eating a sausage. As soon as we finished, we walked to the 7/ll where the Baht-buses load passengers. I explained a little about them yesterday.



We were headed to Ao Nang Beach. It is only around 18 kilometers but normal taxis charge a lot. The rate for our method cost Thai ฿50, or around $US 1.60 each for one-way travel. We got off right at the beach.









We stayed at the beach for a few hours and walked up to the main tourist avenue when it was time for lunch. After eating Cashew Chicken and Pad Thai, we waited for the return Baht-bus right in front of the restaurant.

Later, at around sunset, we walked to the main temple in Krabi town. It sits on a hill looking down on the main part of the city. Today was an auspicious day as it was the full moon. In Buddhism, it is a day of worship. In fact, the restaurants were not servicing alcohol today, in respect for the religious day. It was picturesque.





In fact, the whole day was a treat for the eyes. Tomorrow, perhaps we'll hike a mountain or something!

Getting to Krabi, Thailand

Day 99 - A couple of weeks back, we saw a deal on flights and a hotel in Krabi, Thailand. Today, we arrived. First, we decided to take a Grab car to KLIA2, the airport for domestic and international short-hop flights. The drive to the airport took 50 minutes and the flight took an hour and a half.

We left the apartment at around 10:30 AM and touched down here in Thailand at around 2:00 PM. There was an extra hour in there as we're in a different time zone right now. We decided to take the cheaper transport shuttle bus which dropped us on downtown Krabi for our hotel. We chose to stay right here in the center of things and will get to the beaches and out and about on 'Baht busses'. We are familiar with this type of transportation from previous trips to the country. They are similar to pickup trucks with a specially-designed, covered seating in the rear for around 10 people (but on some occasions twice that). One jumps aboard and then pays the driver after ringing the bell for the driver to stop when one is near one's destination.

Our hotel is right across from the fruit and vegetable market and very close to the pier and river park. It was easy to find.







Travel is amazingly easy in SE Asia and cheap by comparison to other places in the world. I knew we had returned to Thailand when I was able to order Pad Thai for dinner. This seems like it'll be a great little getaway for three nights!