I’ve stayed in the province Krabi for a week in total. My first two nights were spend in Ao Nang, which was a touristic town, with high prices and empty beaches. There were more tourists then I expected. Ao Nang is not the first place where tourists should go in my opinion. But as it is seen as a quick stop for a few days, before going to the islands Ko Samui, Phangan and Ko Tao, I can understand it.
After I’ve seen everything in Ao Nang, which is not much, I went to Krabi. I had to do my 90-days report and I had to apply for the corona visa which made sure that I could stay in Thailand for 90 extra days. This visa is for people who can’t go back to their own country or any other reason which is related to the virus.
I went to the Immigration Office of Krabi with a scooter I rented. It was a semi-automatic one for 250 bath per day. I was afraid at first, because guess what the scooter was when I fell before the Mae Hon Song-loop… Yes, that was also a semi-automatic one. Never rode a “semi” after the accident.
Black Crab Market
All the documents I had were signed and I got my first 15 days. It is a rule that you go back to the same immigration office as before, to be able to get the other 45 days. I paid 2.000 bath at this first visit, and had to return on the 25th of January to get the other days. This was so not in my planning… After the first day in Krabi I realized that I wasn’t able to stay here for 2 weeks. On this first day I went to the Black Crab Market, which was the famous market in the area. The entrance has a giant crab. Your guess of which color it had. There were many shops, some guy was playing music, the vibe was chill!
Wat Tham Suea
The next day I went to the Tiger Cave Temple. 1.260 pure steps of evil to the highest point at the temple. OF course, it was the hottest day I was there. Took my scooter to the starting point and had some fresh mango before doing the climb. Oh yea, take water with you. You will need it. But make sure the monkey won’t get them. There are tons of them at the entrance and along the way. The climb is doable in 20 minutes, but you might wan to take your time and enjoy the views you see along the way.
On top of the temple there is a small summit where you can walk around. You had a beautiful, almost 360 degrees, view over Krabi and beyond. I stayed there for an hour in total, including the time to catch my breath. The way down was way easier, but also difficult. Because you use other muscles my legs were shaking when I arrived down. I stopped when I was almost down, because I heard something in the trees. As I was standing still, my legs were shaking like crazy. There were lots of monkeys on the bottom of the climb, near the actual Tiger Cave Temple. That temple was kind of covered but the signs will help. It was not that interesting in my opinion. Lots of Buddha and Tiger figures.
Railay Beach
After the temple I returned the scooter, a day earlier than we agreed on. I didn’t have anything more to see in Krabi Town, and it was pretty much empty and not touristic. I also didn’t like the hotel where I stayed, very arrogant and not helpful for me. When they were being difficult about a bottle of water, I said to myself I’m leaving tomorrow. I also knew a fellow student I met in Chiang Mai who was in Railay for a few days. As I was waiting for two Dutch friends to go to Phi Phi with, I exchanged Krabi for Railay for a few days.
I took a taxi from my hotel to Krabi Pier, the only place where you can take a boat the Railay Beach. It costed around 200 bath for me. She also offered a service to take the ferry from Railay Beach to Phi Phi-Islands. Because this was our plan anyway we booked that one as well. This ride costed us 450 bath, but we heard later that you can have this 2-hour ferry ride for 400 bath. You just have to buy it at the right vendor. But before Phi Phi… a few days in Railay Beach.
Lots of beautiful places, lots of hiking, lots of swimming, lots of new sunsets and beautiful people I’ve met. On the first day I arrived there we did a hike with some travelers who stayed at the same hotel as where I stayed. We were going to ‘the lagoon’. Luckily I was able to do the whole hike, which was with crazy climbs and beautiful views. Unluckily we did not check out the sea, which made us arrive at the “beautiful lagoon”, where the water was gone because of the tide. It was all mud. Luckily we did a good workout, I guess.
The other 3 days we just chilled to the maximum. Went to several beaches in the area, had delicious food and saw amazing sunsets. Railay Beach, Phra Nang Cave Beach, Railay West Beach. All beautiful beaches worth visiting. West Beach is the calmest one as it is a 10 minutes’ walk from Railay Beach. You can reach it with low tide through the water. At the end of the day, when we wanted to go back, we went through the woods. It is a 10-minutes’ walk in total.
My stay in the province Krabi was short, but I was happy that there are some things to do there. Krabi is one of the many places foreigners visit, whom arrive with the plane in Phuket. 95% of these travelers go to the islands Ko Samui, Ko Phangan or Ko Tao, with a stop for some days in Krabi.
