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ao nang

Thailand 2009: Day 8 – Flying from Phuket to Bangkok

By Mithun Divakaran
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Feb 01, 2010
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Bangkok, Phuket, Thailand, Travel

Date: Dec 20th, 2009

Since I had to catch a 11:20am Nok Air flight from Phuket to Bangkok, I had to head back to Krabi first. I checked out of my hotel just past 5am and got a pick-up taxi that was heading to Krabi town.

Ao Nang in the morning — Ao Nang at around 5:30AM; above photos taken on the Nokia E72

The taxi went around slowly (as usual) to collect more passengers before picking up speed. After a while, it was still me and an American girl (forgot her name) in the back. So we got talking.

She’s been by herself in Thailand for quite some time, originally with the Peace Corps and now teaching at a school in Trang, which is where she was headed. She told me about Trang and how I should come there as it was a lot less crowded than Krabi — but still offers pristine coastal beauty. Sooo, another destination for my next trip! 🙂

Taxi to Ao Nang to Krabi — Left, the american girl; Right, possibly-on-drugs white bloke

The white dude in the “lungi” who joined the taxi ride kept twitching and stammering throughout the journey to Krabi bus terminal. He made me look rich.

I reached Krabi around 7am and got a bus to Phuket but asked that I be dropped near the airport. The American girl advised me to do this because the bus will pass the airport anyway. But if I headed straight to Phuket bus terminal, the ride back to the airport from Phuket town would have cost me half-an-hour. See kids, striking conversations with strangers isn’t all bad.

Since I woke up early, the lack of sleep caught up on me while on the journey — and I just couldn’t keep my eyes open fo long.

I was awoken at around 10am by the bus stewardess as we neared my stop. I got down and out into the bright sunshine still in a daze. I looked around and wondered where the airport was. I saw the bus push on and across the road stood two moped taxis calling out to me. There was nothing around besides a highway, a few farm houses and trees. Also, a small sign pointing to a road that leads to the airport.

I crossed the road and somehow managed to get on the moped with all my luggage.

Taken (very carefully) on my phone while on the bike

The short ride cost 50 baht or so (don’t quite remember exactly how much I paid). Anyway, after answering my dad who called me just as I had arrived, I took a trolley and went in. Checked in my luggage, got a window seat and my boarding pass. Twice. At the gate where we were supposed to wait for our flight, a machine that supposedly opens the door with the boarding pass managed to get mine stuck in it. So I went back to the Nok Air counter and quite embarrassingly got myself another boarding pass.

While my flight left on time, I sat by the window feeling quite sad that my stint on Thailand’s beaches had come to an ‘incomplete’ end. That feeling changed a bit a few minutes into the flight.

Panyee floating village Phuket — Ko Panyee a.k.a “FLoating Village,” wanted to go there too

Phuket Andaman sea cloud — I love this photo

I felt a bit more satisfied after seeing all that.

By 12:30pm, we were above Bangkok.

Bangok city aerial highway — (Taken on the Nokia E72)

We landed at Don Muang, Bangkok’s old International Airport, which is still being used by mostly budget carriers for local flights (hear that BIAL?). Took a metered taxi and headed to the highly commercial Sukhumvit area of Bangkok city. I didn’t have a hotel reservation or anything but I just looked at the city map and decided to stay in Soi 7 since it had a BTS station very close by. I had planned on taking the sky train this time to get around Bangkok.

I got down at the BTS station and just walked down Soi 7 (soi = street) in search of a room. Found a small sign for a family-run guesthouse called Thai House Inn pointing into an alley. Don’t be deceived into thinking you’re going to expect a down-rotten room in here. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you get for 700 baht (Rs. 970) a night (cheap for this area). The room and the toilet were clean and the only thing you will not find is a TV. (In case you want to know how to find it, I found a video by somebody who liked the place just as much.)

I checked in, unpacked, freshened up and went out for lunch. I was resisting eating Pad Thai (considered Thailand’s national dish) mostly because I’m not much a noodle person. But I caved thinking why come all the way here and not try it the way locals make it.

Pad Thai Bangkok — Sea food Pad Thai (badly taken on the Nokia E72)

It was okay. I still prefer my steamed rice and Thai curry combo 🙂

After lunch, it was straight to the BTS station (Nana stop on the map) for my next sightseeing destination. There was a reason I wanted to be back in Bangkok city by Sunday — Chatuchak Weekend Market.

Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

The day I left for Thailand

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket

Day 6 – Leaving Phuket for Ao Nang by bus (via Phang Nga)

Day 7 – Touring Koh Phi Phi (Maya Bay, Monkey Island & Bamboo Island)

Day 7 (Part 2) – Exploring Railay, Krabi

Day 8 (Part 2) – Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok

Day 9 – MBK, Siam Paragon… and ‘little Arabia’?

Day 10 – Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha

Day 10 – Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and finally leaving Thailand

Figures, lessons learned, and things I couldn’t do

Thailand 2009: Day 7 (Part 2) – Exploring Railay, Krabi

By Mithun Divakaran
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Jan 30, 2010
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Krabi, Thailand, Travel

Date: Dec 19th, 2009

Having decided I wasn’t going to end my Krabi trip in further disappointment, I got down from my tour boat at Railay instead of Ao Nang, which is where my hotel was. I wanted to see as much as possible of what I had intended to in Krabi.

I was on the Railay West side and I made my way through a narrow ‘street’ in between resorts on either side. It was one short walk to get to Railay East.

Railay Krabi Thailand trees — You just need to walk this small stretch to get to Railay East

Railay is essentially for backpackers. And if you are into reggae. Seriously.

It was funny to see Thai Rastafarians but the place had loads of them. Bob Marley, Jamaica and ‘weed’ art pretty much painted Railay East’s bar scene. Accommodation is mostly budget and the parties go on until late.

Railay Rapala hotel restaurant — There’s even an Indian restaurant on Railay East (taken on E72)

Railay was hit by the 2004 tsunami too — but compared to Koh Phi Phi and Phuket — not as badly.

You have to walk a bit to get to the shore.

Railay East beach tractor — Or take a tractor.

Railay East was, well, different from all other coastlines I saw in South Thailand. It’s still a cool place to be if you just want to party and smoke up — because just about everyone who chose to stay in Railay looked like they didn’t want to be among the ‘other’ tourists.

As it neared 5pm, I walked back through the hotels and resorts back to Railay West.

There is a boat taxi counter on the beach itself. A ticket back to Ao Nang costs 80 baht (Rs. 110). That’s fairly steep considering the journey takes less than 5 minutes. On top of that, you have to wait for the boat to get enough passengers before it can leave.

But wow — the ride as short as it is — is beautiful!

Getting to see the enormous rocks from up close was an awesome experience.

Having taken a longtail boat, I must say, the ride is a lot smoother than I thought.

Ao Nang Krabi rainbow — What a sight to end the evening

Ao Nang beach sunset — Sunset at Ao Nang beach

I went back to Ao Nang Grand Inn, freshened up and collected my bags. Since I had to catch a flight from Phuket back to Bangkok the next morning, I was contemplating spending the night at Krabi town.

But since I was still on the “don’t-want-it-to-end” mood, I instead sought a cheap room in Ao Nang itself and decided to leave early next morning. I found a decent room just a few shops down from Ao Grand Inn for 300 baht (Rs. 415) . I checked in, showered and went out in search of a bigger bag as I was tired of carrying around 4 small bags (including the tripod stand).

I found a 80 litre capacity bag for 1500 baht (Rs. 2,000), which I thought was a good deal as I had bargained it down from around 2000 baht most shops were selling it for. Of course, once I got back to Bangkok a day later, it wasn’t quite a bargain I thought it was.

Dinner was at Bernie’s Place, run by a Dane, who was offering an all-you-can-eat buffet for 250 baht (Rs. 340) that was attracting quite a crowd. And boy, was it a good deal or what! First you have option of whatever you want barbequed — chicken, fish or corn. Then there were breads, fries besides a decent selection of starters and main course items. Then ice cream for dessert. Highly recommended if you are hungry!

By the time I was stuffed and cleared the bill, it began to rain lightly in Ao Nang. As the streets cleared, and knowing there was little to do in such a scenario, I headed back to my room (after picking up an ice cream from a 7-11) and called it a night.

I had planned on seeing quite a lot in four days… and I saw most of it in one. Not bad, I guess.

Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

The day I left for Thailand

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket

Day 6 – Leaving Phuket for Ao Nang by bus (via Phang Nga)

Day 7 – Touring Koh Phi Phi (Maya Bay, Monkey Island & Bamboo Island)

Day 8 – Flying from Phuket to Bangkok

Day 8 (Part 2) – Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok

Day 9 – MBK, Siam Paragon… and ‘little Arabia’?

Day 10 – Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha

Day 10 – Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and finally leaving Thailand

Figures, lessons learned, and things I couldn’t do

Thailand 2009: Day 6 – Leaving Phuket for Ao Nang by bus (via Phang Nga)

By Mithun Divakaran
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Jan 21, 2010
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Krabi, Phuket, Thailand, Travel

Date: Dec 18th, 2009

I woke up at around 8am, headed out for breakfast and went back to JungCeylon at around 10am. I went back to the camera store I had picked up my Slik F630 tripod and asked them if they had the part which had fallen off the night before. They checked their store room and they didn’t have it. To get a new part, they would have had to order it and it would cost me 300 baht (!) just for that screw!

I pleaded with the salesman I dealt with yesterday if he could give me the part from the unit they had display. I know it was a long shot and not right of me to ask for it but I was desperate. After half-an-hour or so of pleading, he actually gave me the part from the display unit and I handed him the 300 baht. I was really grateful to him — but I just hope he didn’t get into any trouble because of it.

As it was already past 11am, I dashed back to my room, collected my bags, checked out of my hotel and walked towards Beach Road where I boarded a local bus heading to Phuket bus terminal. I had already wasted precious day time and wanted to be in Ao Nang before sunset.

Taking the Patong bus to Phuket bus terminal — The ride took around 30mins; cost 35 baht (Rs. 50) (Camera: Nokia E72)

I bought a ticket to Krabi which is where one needs to disembark first before heading to Ao Nang. The ticket cost 115 baht (Rs. 160) for a regular A/C bus. The journey would take two and half hours but I was hoping to get there at least by 4:30pm.

The bus set off at around 1:30pm and slooowly made its way out of Phuket town (which really is worlds apart from the Patong area).

I stared out the window throughout the bus ride and clicked quite a bit en route to Phang Nga.

I knew Phang Nga was near the Andaman Sea but even though we never could see the sea proper, the hilly landscape was equally picturesque.

By around 4pm, we arrived at Phang Nga town.

Phang Nga was on my on tour itinerary as well — mostly for the James Bond Island (you can read about it here) but I was starting to get worried about if I would be able to see it all in the time I now had in Ao Nang.

I got down at Krabi bus terminal and was approached by a travel agent who asked me the usual barrage of questions: “where you go?,” “you have room?,” “you need tour?” etc. Since I really wasn’t in the mood, I caved in, got a room booked and bought a boat tour to Koh Phi Phi from the agent. He then led me to the pick up taxi which was heading to Ao Nang.

As I sat inside and waited for the driver, I felt glum. I kept thinking about all the places I had planned on seeing and what I wanted to do in Krabi: Phang Nga bay, Wat Tham Suea (Tiger Cave Temple, where you have to climb up 1,200 steps and they say you get one heck of a view of the Andaman sea on one side and the hills on the other), Phi Phi islands, rock-climbing in Railay, kayaking to Pranang Cave Beach…

And now I had just one full day in Krabi province — and there was no way I could do it all.

Finally arriving at Ao Nang

It took nearly half-an-hour for the taxi driver to leave the Krabi bus terminal as they normally wait for a few more passengers to fill up the taxi before it sets off. It then sloooowly made it’s way through Krabi town to pick up some more passengers before finally shifting gears and speeding up. I would definitely not recommend taking a pick up taxi like this.

It was past 7pm when I finally reached Ao Nang (its supposed to just take 30 minutes). My hotel was Ao Nang Grand Inn, opposite the McDonalds at Ao Nang and a 5min walk from the beach. The room I got was supposed to be an A/C room but the A/C wasn’t working. I got a make-shift fan instead and the two beds were apart from each other. I had asked the agent for a single room but for 600 baht (Rs. 830), this wasn’t a bad deal. The agent at the bus terminal told me this was the cheapest room available but as you’ll read in the next post — it wasn’t 🙂

Anyway, I was only going to be in the room for a few hours. I had to check out early in the morning itself (12 noon is the standard check out time) because the Phi Phi islands boat ride was going to be a full day tour.

Ao Nang at night — The road Ao Nang Grand Inn is located

After freshening up, I walked down to the beach side road and checked out whatever Ao Nang had to offer.

Ao Nang beach lantern — This guy was struggling to get his lantern up in the air

Ao Nang beach at night — Which these small girls found very amusing!

Ao Nang night stores — Plenty of shops and a variety of food options along beach road

Thai Barbeque chicken — Dinner: Thai barbeque chicken — I was hooked on this!

Ao Nang is a quaint little town, and a lot less noisy compared to Phuket. I would suggest Ao Nang over Phuket to any honeymooner or anyone looking for a quieter, less crowded town to base yourself to see the tourist sights South Thailand is famous for. In fact, they are closer from Ao Nang.

Just because it’s small, doesn’t mean you’ll have a tough time with shopping and other services. Ao Nang has enough ATMs, foreign exchange centers, fast food chains and other essential services tourists need. There are enough bars to service the crowd seeking them and a few night clubs. But if you did your research, you’ll know Ao Nang isn’t a place famous for a night life, compared to say, the likes of Phuket or Pattaya.

Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

The day I left for Thailand

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket

Day 7 – Touring Koh Phi Phi (Maya Bay, Monkey Island & Bamboo Island)