Krabi…the story of day three!

This is our 3rd day in Krabi and also the last day here. Got up late and had breakfast at the hotel. Didn’t rush at all and taking everything in slowly. After that, we went for a walk in the town area and the beach front. Everything seem so calm and serene since it was early. A total contrast on how this place would be in the evenings, mostly hectic and noisy or rather ‘happening’. 

I also notice that there are many shops are being handed over to ‘foreigners’ to run the place which I feel loosing its authenticity. Also, there are many western/Indian/middle eastern eateries here which over-shines the local Thai restaurants which I feel rather off odd about. I hope the locals there will put some control on this matter. One comes to Thailand to eat Thai food!

Some of the shops which are just opened for business.

At the beach.

At the beach.

At the beach.

Along the beach side.

Shops at Ao Nang..

I stop by and got some souvenirs to be brought back home including a few packets of tom yam paste! I know... I didnt expect myself to buy these which by the way was really good! Haha. 

Krabi has been a ‘gentle’ trip to unwind and relax in that 3 days time. I managed to do what  I wanted to do, lots of food and massages. The people here has been good to us and shown us what is good hospitality is all about. As usual, I always liked Thailand for the people and how pleasant they are. 

Hmm which part of Thailand should I visit next?

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Krabi…The story of day two!

Day two at Krabi. We have booked for elephant ride and ATV ride for today. We had breakfast at hotel and waited for our transport which arrived on time :) Despite being to Thailand for many times, this will be my first time trying out these activities.

Me in the tuk-tuk which is the transport of the day!

The driver picked up other guest from surrounding area before heading on our journey to the elephant ride. It took about 1hour 30minutes for us to reach here. For obvious reason, the elephant ride is located in jungle where elephant feel most comfortable at. Upon arrival we were entertained by a baby elephant show which lasted for about 15minutes. The show was good and the baby elephant was cute. You have an opportunity to take some photos with the baby elephant.

The baby elephant show.

The baby elephant show.

Here comes the actual reason why we came here, for the ride. We got on an adult elephant, looks kind of old. The two of us sat on the back of the elephant and off we go with the ride. It was slow ride but I would say quite bumpy. The ride lasted about 15minutes going through the jungle terrain which was awesome. It’s amazing how such huge animals are able to keep good balance especially when we are on his back. After a while, the elephant that we were on kept pausing his walk, the handler gave him a couple of really hard knock on his head and the elephant started to move. That thing spoiled the whole experience. We felt sorry for the elephant and for the way it’s being treated.  When we got down from it, we bought some bananas to feed the elephant.

Don’t judge me based on this, I was merely curious to try this out since it is being offered here. It’s a one in a lifetime experience and once is enough.

On the elephant..

Our elephant ride.

Feeding the elephant…

Moving on. We headed for the ATV ride which is about 40minutes away from the elephant place. The driver dropped us at the ATV place and told us that he will be back later to pick us up. We got ourselves registered and waited for our turn. This will be our 1st time with ATV ride. We had to sign a consent form and went through ‘trial ride’ before being handed over with a real ATV. My partner had some hiccups with the ATV so he got a ‘milder’ version of the ATV. The journey begins. We were handed with an ATV for each of us and we followed a guide who brought us along the trail which is in jungle! How cool is that! The ride lasted for about 1hour and went through dry and wet terrain and through jungle.  I really enjoyed the ride and it was so much of fun! When we were done, our driver is already there waiting for us. We took our ride back to Ao Nang and stopped for lunch.

The trial track

Me on the ATV

Both of us on ATV…

We decided to treat ourselves with a nice lunch at this posh looking restaurant in Ao Nang. It’s called Tanta Restaurant. We sat and order our food; Pad Thai (I just love this dish), fish cake and a seafood tom yum noodle dish. For our drinks, we had iced tea and coconut shake which was rather refreshing.

Tanta Restaurant

Tanta Restaurant

Tanta Restaurant: Iced Tea & Coconut Shake

Tanta Restaurant: Pad Thai

Tanta Restaurant: Fish cake

Tanta Restaurant: Tom Yam Noodle

Guess what we did after lunch? Well, it’s time for massage! We went to the same place we had massage on the 1st day. This time, I had a full body massage with virgin coconut oil which was really good. It is supposed to be ‘cooling’ for your body.

We were walking back to the hotel after the massage when we bumped into a row of stalls selling snacks in the evening. We couldn’t resist and headed over there to check it out. Apparently most of the stall operators here are Muslim hence the foods are pork-free which is fine with us.

Yummy snacks

Yummy snacks

Yummy snacks: Prawn fritters

Yummy snacks: Fried spring rolls

Coconut water

Pad thai…again! I love this thing.

We headed back to the hotel and had a short rest which lead to a couple of hours of nap time! By the time we got up, I was too lazy to head anywhere. We suppose to hang out for drinks in the town but feeling too lazy. We had our dinner at a small restaurant just beside our hotel and ended our day at Krabi.

Deepavali 2014

“Deepavali (Diwali or Divali) is a “festival of lights”, is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. 

The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid-November.

Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate and decorate their homes and offices. On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new clothes or their best outfit, light up diyas(lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family puja (prayers) typically to Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth and prosperity. After puja, fireworks follow, then a family feast including mithai (sweets), and an exchange of gifts between family members and close friends. Diwali also marks a major shopping period in nations where it is celebrated.  Diwali is an official holiday in Malaysia, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Singapore, Fiji and Pakistan”. 

Deepavali decorations @ Sunway Pyramid.

Deepavali was celebrated on 22 October 2014 in Malaysia. We had a wonderful celebration this year. What can I say, other than plenty of food ranging from cookies, traditional dishes, curries, dosa and home cooked food. I took few days off from work so I took the opportunity to help out at home with some chores. 

Although our family is considered a small family, we had a wonderful time especially with lots of friends visiting us. I have a fair amount of non-Indian friends so they really love to have Indian food at our home during this festive. Deepavali is generally celebrated for about 7-10 days as people will be busy having ‘open houses’. That's the beauty with Malaysia, we celebrate so many festivals together and its a melting pot of culture.

Variety of muruku available.

Krabi…The story of day one!

Well, this trip actually happened in April 2014 so you have to pardon me for posting this so late. Anyway, this is summarized version of what did I do in Krabi.

Day One...This will be  the last time using the LCCT terminal in KL. Moving forward, all AirAsia flights will be based at KLIA2 which is a brand new airport. Yeay!... 

We arrived around 5+am and this how chaotic it was at LCCT…

Having my favorite Macchiato at Starbucks!

We flew via Air Asia and arrived in Krabi International Airport at about 7.30am. Since it was early, we decided to take the airport bus to our hotel in Ao Nang. Normally I would have taken a taxi but this time trying something new in Thailand.

Entering Krabi Airport.

Got our tickets for Airport shuttle bus to Ao Nang area.

Thats me...in front of the airport shuttle bus.

We arrive at hotel at around 9+am and we managed to check in early which were awesome. You can read about my post on the hotel here: https://brownboyspeaks.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/the-royal-nakara-ao-nang-we-loved-it/

So, since it was darn early, we just took our time and walked along the main area of Ao Nang. Most of shops were not opened as it was rather early. I have heard and read so many reviews on this ‘pancake’ so when i bumped into one, i decided i have to give it a try. Its very similar to roti canai which is available in Malaysia but this one is thinner and crispy and filled with so many type of fillings. Its a very sweet dessert.

Pancake stall at Ao Nang.

I had the nutella & banana pancake! :)

We spotted a massage shop which was just opened and ready to take on customer. We decided to go in for a message.

After a couple of hours passed by, we were out and feeling hungry so went to have lunch.After filling our stomachs with spicy and yummy Thai food we decided to head back to the hotel for a rest.

Our lunch.

Our lunch, pineapple fried rice.

Our lunch, tom yam kooong with rice.

We have booked a night market tour through the hotel earlier which cost us 300Baht per person. The tour agent will provide transport from hotel to the night market and return transportation as well. The transport came on time to pick us up and send us to town where the night market is at. You can find variety of local food being sold here along with merchandises. Everything seems to be looking good here in the market that we are so tempted to try out everything. We had dinner at one of the café just around the market.

Tadaa.. the night market!

Krabi night market

Krabi night market

Krabi night market

Dinner near Krabi night market. Padthai noodle.

Dinner near Krabi night market. Tom Yam seafood fried rice.

Bought this at night market. Its sticky rice with mango which was really really good!

Bought this too at night market, its called; meng kam. This was very fresh and really good, and cheap! The best i had!

That concludes the day one @ Krabi!