Wander

Day 16 (29/11/2010):

Today, I just spend my day wandering around Phuket on my bike.

Adventures @ Phang Nga

Day 15 (28/11/2010):

Today can be summarized with just 2 words: water-rafting and ATV. I did the 9km white water water-rafting route which comprises of Grade 1 to 4. It was fun but wasn't too exciting as the controlling of the raft are done by the 2 Thai guides.



The ATV was more fun. At the beginning, I couldn't control the ATV properly. But after seeing how the Russians in my group maneuvered their ATVs really inspired me and the fun began from there.

Diving Again

Day 14 (27/11/2010):

Yay, it's diving day again. This time I am diving near Racha Yai and Racha Noi with All 4 Diving, previously known as the Sea World Dive Team, onboard their Similan Queen. The joke is that the boat never been to the Similan Islands. Dive 1 at Marina Bay, Racha Noi; Dive 2 at Camera Bay, Racha Noi. Apparently the dive site was named Camera Bay because someone lost his/her camera there, probably one of the pioneer divers there. Last dive was at Bay #1, Racha Yai, which was pretty different because there was 2 wrecks at the dive site. We were able to swim through one of the boat wrecks.



It was quite an eventful day. Just after the 1st dive, as I descended from the upper deck to the lower deck, I slipped and fell, leaving a bruise from the last step of the stairs on my back and a dent on my camera. Amazingly, after everything I put my camera through during this day, drops, smashes, rain, sand, mud, wind, dust etc, it still works almost perfectly. Just that after this incident, the battery couldn't eject smoothly anymore but the rest of camera functions still pretty much work as the day I bought it.

After the 2nd dive, we caught a glimpse of something flowing far away out in the sea. When we gotten closer, it was a body. It was pretty much rotten already. The skin turned whitish-grey. The head was gone. The hands and feet were gone. The forearms rotten til the bones. The chest area already cave in. Not a pretty sight. The guys was pretty dead for a few days already, with accelerated decomposition from the heat and sea water.

After the 3rd dive, I managed to start a conversation with this amazing Thai girl. I learnt that she is a dive instructor and brought her friends from high school to discover scuba diving. 1st Thai dive instructor I met, so far all the dive instructors and divemasters I met in Thailand are either Europeans or Japanese. She did an exchange at University of Hawaii so her english was pretty good. It was really a pity that I'm leaving Phuket in a few days time and couldn't get to know her.

In the evening, I went into Phuket Town to find a restaurant named Phuket Phochana recommended by Annkht for tim sum. However, I learnt that it only opens from 6am to 2pm. Bummer. So I went to the night market instead.

Untainted

Day 13 (26/11/2010):

After checking in to my new accommodation, I rented a scooter for fun and for the day.



My 1st stop was the Phuket TAT.



The nice lady at the counter recommended me some places for food, beaches, sceneries and museums. She also told me in chinese which translates to: If you never been to Promthep Cape, you have never truly been to Phuket. Promthep Cape was recommended to be the best place in Phuket to enjoy the sunset. And that evening the sun set at 6.06pm. The time was 11:38am that left me about 6 and half hour to wander around.

I haven't ate breakfast yet so next stop had to be for food. The lady from TAT recommended me 2 places for food. One seemed to be a night market and the other a morning market so I just ate pad thai yet again at a random local restaurant. After that I went to the Phuket ThaiHua museum which shows the lives of the early chinese immigrant to Phuket. After that, Khao Rang which shows a view of the Phuket Town, Rawai beach, Karon View Point which shows a nice view of Kata and Karon beaches and Nai Harn beach. It was 5pm then and time to head for the Promthep Cape. The recommendations were right. It is truly stunning. This is probably the only thing left untainted by massive invasion of tourism into Phuket.

5:27pm: The evening sun casting its reflection onto the Andaman Sea.


5:45pm: My silhouette watching the sun disappearing behind the clouds.


6:02pm: The sun returned as a round ball of fire.


6.05pm: The sun disappearing over the horizon.


6:13pm: The afterglow.

To Phuket

Day 12 (25/11/2010):

I didn't do much today except traveling to Phuket. I got stopped by the rain as usual for a few hours.



It started drizzling again when I reached Patong Beach so I didn't waste a lot of effort to find accommodation. Just went to one which looked decent yet not too posh. Sino House Patong; 800baht a night; got pretty much everything; wifi, mini fridge, safe, aircon, tv. However, the wifi was pretty slow though.

I took a walk around Patong, at the same time looking for better accommodation and found the Power Inn; for just 600baht a night it got everything the Sino House have and better; plasma tv, internet using cable which turned out to be much faster. So yup, decided to shift there the next day.

Riding in Thailand

Just love riding in Thailand. Helmet is optional. Road directions are optional. Traffic lights are optional. Even age limit is optional. Nah, just kidding. The only thing that is legally optional which I learnt from Ire is helmet for pillion.

However, it is probably still not a good idea to ride illegally in Thailand especially if you don't know how to dodge the traffic police's road blocks. Just in Phuket, I was stopped 3 times by the traffic police to check my driving license and twice in Krabi. Probably due to too many tourists renting scooters and riding illegally without proper licenses.

Mud spring waterfall

Day 11 (24112010):

I got back to Krabi from Koh Phi Phi today and wanted to check out Saphan Yung hot spring waterfall. Just wanted to relax and enjoy the hot spring today. However, got caught by the rain which lasted for about 2 hours. When I reached the hot spring waterfall, there wasn't much of a hot spring, more of a mud spring waterfall. The pool wasn't hot and saturated with mud.



Haiz. I was so disappointed and headed back to Krabi. In the evening, I met up with Ire and Annkht again for dinner at the local night market. I had the damn nice Thai fried rice with everything (at least that's what they claim). Highly recommended by Paul.

Diving

Day 10 (23112010):

A regular diving day trip on Phi Phi starts at 8am at the dive shop in my case is Moskito Diving Center. Moskito Diving Center is the 1st dive shop on Phi Phi Island with an interesting slogan at the back of their T-shirts "When diving was dangerous and sex was safe" which is probably true at the time when the dive shop was 1st established back in 1987. For this trip, the boat we took was the Nautica, the nicest dive boat I ever dived from.




The 1st dive was at Bidah Nok. The visibility was not so good due to the full moon that just past. I saw the usual suspects; peacock mantis shrimp, giant moray eel, cornet fish, banner fish etc. 2nd dive was at Nalong. This time we saw multiply hawk bill turtles and yellow boxfishs. It sure good to be diving again. However, it seems to me that the coral reefs are dying. There seems to be more dead corals than live ones. I'm sure there were more colours to these reefs a couple of years ago. What could be the reasons to the dying corals? Global warming? Too many divers? Too many boats moving around them? Water pollution? Whatever the reasons are, it's just sad to see our once colourful underwater world turns dull.

The day ended at the Rolling Stones Bar where they housed the live rock band "Made in Thailand".

Koh Phi Phi

Day 9 (22112010):

I reluctantly left Krabi for Phi Phi Island in the morning as Ire and Annkht have been so hospitable to me but I knew I had to continue my journey. It was a beautiful sunny day when I reached on the beautiful Phi Phi island.


Phi Phi island's pier.

I started my time on Phi Phi island with an accommodation hunt. As it was already the peak season, looking for cheap and decent accommodation wasn't easy. After a long search, I managed to find a place which has wifi, personal bathroom, hot showers and aircon and ain't too expensive, 600baht a night. Surprisingly, this combination was pretty hard to find at this time on Phi Phi island.

After a short rest and a short stroll along the beach, I headed for the viewpoint on Phi Phi island. The hike up to the viewpoints wasn't as strenuous as the Wat Thum Suea but it was pretty challenging as well. There were 2 viewpoints. By the time I reached the 1st viewpoint, I was covered in sweat. When I reached the 2nd viewpoint, the sun was almost setting behind the Phi Phi island cliffs. It was one of the most beautiful sunset I ever seen.



After dinner, I met up with some couchsurfers who work in Moskito dive center and signed up for some diving the next day. YES! I am diving in Phi Phi. Woohoo! You are all welcomed to be jealous.

After signing up and fitting all gears, we went to a pub call Reggae Bar. The special thing about this pub is that there is a fighting ring in the centre of the pub and they showcase muay thai every night. For a free bucket, customers are also welcomed to pit their fighting skills against one another. Just be ready as your opponent will not be going soft on you.


Muay Thai.


Moskito Divers.

Loi Krathong

Day 8 (21112010):

Tonight, it will be my 1st time celebrating Loi Krathong. It is a festival celebrated on the full moon of the 12th month of the Thai calender. This year it falls on 21st Nov. Loi means float and Krathong is a vessel made from banana tree trunk which allows it to float, banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. The Thais float their Krathong into the river to give thanks to the river godess for giving life to them and their crops. Annkht is sweet enough to help me make a Krathong. Check out my beautiful personal Krathong courtesy of Annkht. This is like the most beautiful gift anyone handmade for me.



The evening was pouring yet it did not dampen our determination to float our Krathongs onto the Krabi river. After some efforts, we managed to light the candles on our Krathongs and sent them floating off into the Krabi river.


Ire and Annkht releasing their Krathong.


My Krathong on the Krabi river.

Lethal Lagoon

Day 8 (21112010):

If you think what I have done so far was dangerous, you haven't seen anything yet. This was probably the most dangerous day of my trip so far.

I started the day with a fairly safe ride to Ao Nang, strolled along the Ao Nang beach through the monkey trail to Phai Plong bay. The reason the trail is called monkey trail is because you have to share the trail with monkeys. The monkeys there ain't afraid of humans. They will walk pass you on that narrow trail if they have to and occasionally greet you.



After the stroll, I took the long-tailed boat to Railay beach. Only then, I learnt that long-tailed boat gets its name from the long propellor which seems like a tail behind the boat.



On the Walking Street on Railay, I finally get to eat the real Thai pancake I was recommended. I ended up eating that for both brunch and lunch.



On the other side of Railay, I found some people doing rock climbing which I was pretty interested in but decided I didn't have enough time for it.



I decided to take a hike on the trails to the viewpoint and lagoon instead. The start of the trails was pretty steep but still manageable as there were reachable steps with occasional need for hands. After awhile, it got steeper and hands were needed for most parts.



After some climb, there came a T-junction where left turn for the viewpoint and right turn for the lagoon. Fellow hikers along the way recommended I go viewpoint 1st as it is a easier hike so I did. I was able to see most of Railay from the viewpoint.



At the viewpoint, besides the trail I came from, there was another trail which leads to somewhere else. After advising some hikers that the lagoon is the same way we came from, I stupidly decided to go against my own advise and went on the other trail out of the viewpoint. After a few minutes on that trail, it became increasing weirdly challenging. I had to climb on all fours on the limestones. It wasn't really difficult to climb, just dangerous. At some points, slipping could mean dropping off the cliff onto the beach. What made it worse was that I was wearing slippers and have no more water.



It got even more dangerous when the trail got muddier and less limestones that I could grip on. The further I went, the more reluctant I was to turn back and the more determined I was to continue. However, at one point where I couldn't go any further because there wasn't anything to step or grip on and sliding off the mud could mean a long fall. At that time, it was already 40 mins since I left the viewpoint. I backtracked for awhile and then, went on another trail branching off. After 15 mins of climbing and trekking, I managed to reach back to the viewpoint. Such a relief, I though I was going to spend hours getting lost.

After returning back to the 1st T-junction, I decided I had spare time before I needed to return back to Krabi so I went on the trail towards the lagoon. I got really dirty and muddy at this point so I wasn't taking much photos. The trail towards the lagoon was on another level of difficulty and just as dangerous. It started off with slippery muddy slopes with only ropes and tree roots as support and after that, a muddy trail which I could only overcome barefooted.



Next, were 3 4-5metres vertical drops with a rope each and some places to grip or place your foot along the way. A loose grip is a fall onto the sharp limestones on the bottom of each vertical drops. Reluctantly yet determined to overcome my fear of heights. I, somehow, managed to use both the ropes and the uneven surface on the wall to aid my climb down.

The lagoon was indeed an amazing place. It is surrounded by high limestone walls and vegetation which explains the difficult climb to reach the place.



The climb back up was much faster and easier. A little rushing for the last ferry from Railay back to Ao Nang, I quickily made my way back. I only recommend this trail to the lagoon for those who can really hold their weight with their arms and grips. Definitely not a trail for children or elderly which the locals failed to display at the start of the trail.

Phanom Bencha Adventures

Day 7 (20/11/2010):

Ire's girlfriend, Annkht, works for the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) branch in Krabi. A new resort invited TAT to check out their place and Annkht invited Ire and I to join them as they also wanted some foreigners in their photos.

In the morning, Ire and I took a walk along the trail in the mangrove forest just behind Ire's apartment. I learnt that these mangrove forest could protect the inland from Tsunami, probably one of the reasons why Krabi wasn't badly hit by the 2004 Tsunami. They are also cultivating mangroves trees in attempt to enlarge the size of the mangrove forest.



After the walk, we headed over to TAT in Krabi where we set off towards Phanom Bencha national park. After driving through the muddy trails, we reached Phanom Bencha Adventure.



We were welcomed by the people working on the new adventure resort, which hasn't been completed yet. We learnt that they will provide day trips on elephants or ATVs up the Phanom Bencha trails to viewpoints or waterfalls. They also will have accommodations and a restaurant. The resort have a pretty good view of the landscape downhill. This will make a good getaway from our busy lives and the city noises.






After the nice lunch provided by the locals, we helped them to correct their introduction on their brochure written in english. Then, we took a hike for a couple of hours through their new forest trail which is not yet well established.



The tiring day ended with sumptuous dinner at a restaurant in Krabi town with nice ambience and delicious food called Ruen Mai Restaurant. The coconut soup and mango salad we had were just simply awesome. This is surely a place to check out for good food.

Day out with Ire

Day 6 (19/11/2010):

An Austrian named Ire I met on couchsurfing invited me for a morning market tour, tim sum breakfast and snorkeling at the Klong Muang beach.

The morning market is a huge local wet market selling everything you can expect a wet market to sell.





Something interesting about this morning market is that at 8am, they will play the Thai national anthem and when the anthem starts to play, everyone will stand still.



After the morning market tour, we went to the nearby tim sum place for breakfast.



The Thai way of serving tim sum is different from Singapore. They just give you a tray of everything and you take what you want to eat and only pay for those.



After breakfast, we took a half hour ride on his scooter to the Klong Muang beach.



It is a pretty awesome beach with hardly any people on it. However, there is a need to take note of the tides because at low tide the beach may be too shallow to swim or snorkel.



Snorkeling was pretty disappointing with dead corals everywhere. According to Ire, just 2 years ago, those coral reefs were still colourful with colourful fishes swimming among time. The added long-tail boat routes maybe the main cause. Such a pity. Coral reefs take tens of thousands of years to form yet human only need a few years to destroy them. I wonder what I can do to help to stop the destruction of our beautiful marine ecosystems.

At night, I went to a different night market called the Walking Street. It only opens in the weekends, Friday to Sunday from 5pm to 10pm.

Pak-Up Hostel

My accommodation in Krabi is the new Pak-Up Hostel. Just opened on 5th Nov 2010, less than 2 weeks b4 i arrived. It has a 24hr reception which was a lifesaver since I arrived in Krabi at 1:30am.



After staying here for a couple of days, I find this place pretty neat, that is if you don't mind dormitory-style accommodation. Basically, 8 - 10 people share a room. Having said that, it is perfect for a backpacker like myself. For 150baht a night, it got everything a backpacker ever dreamed of:
1) Nice cosy bed with clean sheets. Both air-con and fan in the room.
2) Hot showers.
3) Free wifi. If you don't have a laptop, there are desktops at the lobby.
4) Washing machine and sheltered laundry area so you don't have to worry about rushing back to the hostel to collect your clothes if it rains.
5) Rooftop bar, with a great view of Krabi streets, to chill out.

In case you were wondering the weird name for the hostel, Pak is the young and pretty lady owner of the hostel. She is just one year older than I am and already owns a hostel. Up is short for Unchana Property, which is a company that owned by her family. She told me that it took a year to build from what was an old primary school to this stylish and modern hostel. From monitoring the progress of the renovation to choosing the banches for the reception, she had to do everything herself. I can tell she really put her heart into this hostel to make it what it is currently. Below are some photos of the hostel.


Front View


Lobby Stairs


My Room


My Bed.


Top-Up Bar

My photos probably don't give the hostel enough credit it deserve though. Probably I will put up better ones later on.