day 1 : Ao Nang & Krabi Town

day 1 : 30th May 2015

This is one of the rare trip that I didn't go crazy planning an action packed itinerary. After Seoul, we needed a real R&R. There are just three things that we must do.

1. Eat
2. Massage
3. Relax

And Repeat...Easy, peasy I think I can do that!...


It was a mere 1 hour 15 mins flight from Penang to Krabi. Captain on the deck announced we'll arrive in Krabi at 8:30AM with a temperature of 24 Celcius. But it wasn't! As we stepped out of plane, weather was searing hot. Was it 34 Celcius that he meant? Anyhow, the entire flight piled into the immigration center and there was no one around. Seriously? As we waited, I started to feel uneasy. Where are the immigration officers? Hobbes reminded me the three things we must do. Eat-Massage-Relax. So...RELAX I must. After all, hotel check in isn't until 2PM. Chill la. Some ladies were walking at the opposite side of the immigration and people started to holler at them. "Hello?", "Excuse Me?". They just ignored us. I think those are the cleaning ladies, fellas. After about 15 minutes, the immigration officers finally showed up.

Since we have plenty of time, we decided to eat and hang around the airport for a good few hours. Erm, not a really good idea. There's nothing much in the airport. Nothing appealing to shop or eat. The closest choice was Subway. So, we bought our bus ticket and decided to head straight to Ao Nang instead.


Bus Fair: 150 Baht per person
Get From: The official counter inside the airport
Take Bus: Go outside and look for the white colored bus. A personnel outside will get your hotel name.

Earlier, we were contemplating about taking a taxi or a bus with our luggages. Taxi costs 600 Baht and will get us to the hotel door step. Bus will be 150 X 2 = 300 Baht. If the bus drops us at the Ao Nang bus station, we might be calling a taxi or tuk tuk to get us to the hotel. So, the price difference isn't that great. But how wrong am I. The bus actually dropped us in front of the hotel. Explains why they took our hotel name. In the end, we saved 300 Baht for you know....Eat & Massage. Yay!

EXO is big here too

It's 3 hours until check in so we kept our bags with the hotel and embarked to find something to eat. I have no idea why I craved for McDonalds since we already had breakfast in Penang Airport's McDonald's. Hot! Hot! Hot! Did the air-cond work in McDonalds? I've not seen such an empty McDonald's before. Looking at the price, I probably know why. A set meal costs more than 200 Baht. Wow! It's twice the price at home and three times more expensive compared to our value meals. In other countries, McDonald's were normally our go to food due to it's affordable price. Since we're here and it's so hot outside, we decided to order a Crispy Pie and special ice cream. I get to choose 3 items to put into my ice cream. Each costs 50 Baht. The Crispy pie was yummy. Tasted like curry puff. The ice cream is just the perfect treat for a hot day. We still have a lot of time to waste and Hobbes spotted Attarak just opposite Mcdonald's. The massage place I found the night before which was highly recommended by visitors. So, we just ate. We looked at each other and squirmed in delight. MASSAGE & RELAX!


Place: Attarak
Price: 500 Baht for a combination of 1 hour traditional Thai massage + 0.5 hours of shoulder & back massage.

Took a few steps down into what looks like a stone enclave inside. The ambience was nice away from the heat. We were served with a cold drink and chilled towel. Ahhh....so nice as the chilled towel touches my skin. After a quick foot scrub, we slipped into the spa slippers and garments. Ready to experience our massage in the darkened room. For those who suffers from stiff shoulders due to hours in front of your PCs. I would really recommend the shoulder and back massage. Knots were kneaded. Limbs were manouvered in positions that I never thought I could reach. LOL! As I lay down in the dark, I thought how amazing is this. The night before, I was just at my home googling for a nice massage place 488km away from home and a few hours later, I am lying right here. After the massage, we were given some hot tea to calm our body. Attarak is a little pricier than the pletora of massage houses in Ao Nang. You can easily find a 60 mins massage for 200 Baht. With the amount of massage put into my body, I thought I could not walk properly tomorrow with pain all over my body (normal after effect after a massage). However, I was pleasantly surprised that I felt good the next day. So, I guess you get what you pay for :)

Relaxed....the hotel is now ready for check in.

The first hotel was at The Palace Aonang. The place looks nothing like a palace but it was a very decent deal for a night to crash. The view from the hotel is AMAZING! We had (I think) one of the best room the hotel has. Corner room at the highest floor. It gave us the street view and the beach view. Only those corner rooms get a beach view. Heheh...

In the evening, we took a SongThaew to Krabi Town's night market. Only available in the weekends and I think Friday nights too. Return trip costs 120 Baht per pax. It is cheaper if you book the same person who transported you to the night market. There were agents selling 250 Baht for a return trip to the night market but heck, I guess we strike up a good deal. A SongThaew first timer, I feel that I could topple off the vehicle at anytime. There's no belts or door which made it easy for people to hop on and off. Seeing cars and bikes at high speed coming after you. Little did I know, the SongThaew became our main transportation while in Krabi.

It's a norm, no helmet needed. No safety belt. The trunk of pick up trucks (4 wheel drive) can carry 10 workers. It's free and easy!

After about half an hour, we arrived at the night market. The night market didn't receive a lot of good reviews. With most tourists saying there wasn't enough stalls. Well, I really don't know where they went as the night market is da bomb. So many things to eat, buy and see. There was even a stage for performers. That night, not only were we entertained by singers but there was a cool hip-hop/break dance performance consisting of teenagers and little kids.

Getting our food was easy but finding a spot to sit was another story. I was so hungry I almost ate by the road side when Hobbes spotted a table right in front of the stage. Woolaa...front row seats babeh!

Food were cheap. A "Belacan Fried Rice" costs 45 Baht. I love the fruit smoothies. Just choose the fruit cup and they'll pour the fruits in and blend it right before your eyes. I chose the most colorful one. Strawberry+DragonFruit+Apple+Mango+Melon. They were blended with yogurt and the taste is heavenly. Best of all it costs only 25 Baht! About RM 2.50. Other famous fruit blending shop you find in malls back at home easily costs you more than RM 10.00 and they don't even taste good at times.

Delicate hand carved soaps for 100 Baht makes unique souveniers. 

Clay crafts

Relishing my artsy fartsy dream to body paint a human. Wahaha!

And the best art goes to ... The smiley face on his face

We spent a good 2 hours at the night market (7PM-9PM) and headed back to the bus stop in front of the 7-Eleven where our SongThaew asked us to wait. We were a bit early and opposite the bus stop looked like a fruit market where you can buy fresh fruits at market price. I spotted another fruit smoothies shop. I already had 2 fruit smoothies earlier but I can't resist the mango smoothie at just 30 Baht. I chose the best looking mango cup. They gave you a whole mango blended with yogurt. Just choose the cup containing your fruit of choice. They'll sliced it up and blend it up. I asked for a no sugar added one as I think I had too much sugar for the day. Even without sugar, the mango smoothie still tasted so yummy!

Our SongThaew arrived on time. We were the first one there and took the opportunity to take some pictures with it. After all, this SongThaew was lighted up with some luminescent disco lights. We got the driver's wife (who has never touched a DSLR before) to take our pictures. As Hobbes were teaching her the clicks, I turned around in horror as the mango smoothies has decided to sleep on the SongThaew's bench. Hobbes hopped back into the SongThaew for the shot. I tried to look relax as I forced a smile with the growing muck behind me.

As soon as the picture was taken, I was in a cleaning frenzy. My entire pack of tissues were soaked up but there was still so much mango smoothies around. Wet wipes! Yes, thank god for the wet wipes. That got the mess cleaned up. Just in time as other passengers came in. The bench was still wet and an "ang moh" was about to sit on it.

"Stop! Don't sit here. It's wet", I told him. He was so thankful of such a helpful lady that saves him from getting his pants wet. Tsk tsk....what SongThaew is this with wet benches. Too bad, he has to be separated from his girlfriend throughout the entire journey with the wet spot >.<

Best of all, all this hiatus and the SongThaew driver didn't even know this. Sorry, but I kept your bench cleaner with my powerful wet wipes.