Krabi, Thailand - Part One.

I know I'm very late but Happy Chinese New Year to the Chinese readers. But I guess you guys have already celebrated it so, yeah. I only spent my first two days of CNY at Malaysia and I went to Krabi, Thailand after that for a holiday trip.

I had to skip one week of university for this. Nevermind, I'll just keep writing, hmm.

The main point of this trip is to visit my dad at Thailand and to learn scuba diving. My dad has always wanted all of us to learn scuba diving together with him so my mom made his wish come true. I can't swim so I'm kinda nervous when I heard about it. But yeah, I didn't want to disappoint my dad.

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DAY ONE

It was a 7AM flight so we had to get up early, like 3:45AM. Got into a taxi blah, got to the airport blah, had breakfast blah, got into the airplane blah, an hour and 15 minutes flight blah. The airport looks better when it's dark.

We arrived at Krabi safely and a van picked us up to our guest house, Baan Pulaoon (I don't know what it means). We didn't live in a hotel, a guest house. It's a house. With rooms like hotels. And a bathtub. Guest house. The lady manager of the guest house is really, really, really, really nice. And her English is good for a Thai. Best one I know.

It's cheap too!

After we left our luggage at the guest house, we walked to Kon-Tiki, a diving and snorkeling center. It was the only diving center that looks proper. We were greeted by a Danish guy who looks really fierce. *cough*

The guy told us about the courses available and in the end, my dad signed up for the Open Water Diver course and the rest of us signed up for the Discover Scuba Diving course. If you're able to complete the Open Water course, you'll earn a scuba license and you're allowed to dive in open waters. Meanwhile the Discover course is just learning basic skills under the supervision of other divers.

After hearing the Danish guy explaining us on what we had to learn in the course, I begun to panic. I can't swim, I can't hold my breathe underwater, and I can't get my head underwater. Basically, I'm a rock that will sink if I'm thrown into the sea. But I signed up anyway, after a lot of hesitation.

We're free for the rest of the day, so we walked around the area, taking a look at the restaurants there. The place that we stayed is close to Ao Nang beach. Unlike Bangkok, Krabi doesn't have the night life feel because there are Muslims living there. The amount of transgenders are a lot lesser and I see no prostitutes at all.

Krabi is located at the south of Thailand so you can see a few Malaysian cars. There are a lot of white people, next would be China people. In fact, I don't see as much Thais as white people. They loooooove the beach.

Anyway, we had our lunch and went back to our guest house to check in. We check out a few tours and the lady was kind enough to give us discounts. After resting for the whole afternoon, we went to Krabi Town by tuk tuk. The tuk tuk here is different and much more comfortable than the ones in Bangkok.

Awesome traffic lights.

We had our dinner and it was simple but delicious. All of the meals in Krabi that I have eaten are cooked only after you ordered them so I guess it's not bad. Some are worth the wait. After that, we went to the night market which is quite small.

I regretted having dinner first because they have so many snacks and food to eat at the market. I only ate some takoyakis and looked at the stalls. I wanted to buy a pair of sneakers that were hand painted by an artist but they didn't have my size. I bought a cap though.

The stall owner asked me what dasixthmonth means, LOL.

Along the way, some kid suddenly grabbed my hand dragged me off. He let go after a while. I don't know why and I don't want to know.

We went back to the guest house after that and that's it for that night.

DAY TWO

For that day, we went for an ATV (all terrain vehicle) trip. A truck picked us up and another family from China joined us. The ride was quite long but we reached the place with is near some oil plantation.

The guy gave us some briefing and we geared up with helmets, flu masks and sunglasses to keep to the dust away from our eyes and nose. Me and my brothers chose the ATV while my dad and mum rode the buggy. The ATV has only three gears and you accelerate but using your thumb to push a.. pedal? LOL. Okay, a small button.

We practiced a little bit before we went out to the main road.

It wasn't intentionally, but I was right behind the guy who was leading us. And it was actually a good thing because there is less dust flying around and I wasn't really slow so I wasn't dragging anyone behind. It feels so awesomeeee even if we're on flat ground, we're riding ATVs!

They took to us to some sandy areas and later to a muddy area and both were equally fun. Being in the front was good too because I get to see the guy showing off with his ATV, doing tricks and stuffs just right in front of me. It was an amazing experience.

We were halfway through the journey when one of the buggies died. It belonged to the family from China and they had to get another buggy before we continue our journey. We waited along a small road and we took the chance to take pictures.

 

First thing I thought when I saw this picture is KU-RA-YON POP! LOLLLL.

It was really fun and an hour was simply not enough. If we're coming back we'll definitely go for two hours. I really recommend riding ATVs for people who seek thrill and excitement. It's easy so you don't have to worry too.

We went back to Ao Nang and had a Thai meal. We returned to our guest house and rest since it's a little tiring after riding awesome ATVs. I took this chance to fill the bath tub with water and tried holding my breath underwater. It was a only a while, but it was something.

During the evening, me, my mom and my brother went to Ao Nang beach. My dad couldn't follow because he had to study for his scuba diving lessons. And yeah, it was filled with people.

That day, it was a low tide and you can see different types of sand at the shore. The water was cool and the muddy sand feels greaaaaat under your feet! I really enjoyed myself there. The sunset was very beautiful to watch too. There are monkeys too.

This sand pattern amazes me the most.

Shortly after the sunset.

We had a seafood dinner and it tasted greaaaat. The crabs we chose were so fresh I just felt so happy eating it. Although there are many restaurants selling seafood, there are strangely no restaurants selling Japanese food. There are many Italian restaurants, though.

DAY THREE

It was kayaking day! As usual, a truck came to pick us up. We reached Ao Thalane that is beside the sea and waited as more and more people arrive for the kayaking trip. We were basically just standing there, clueless, and waiting.

Finally, a guy who was supposed to be our guide handed us life jackets and the kayaking paddle. Then, we were told to get on the kayak without giving us any instructions. We only used basic instincts to get ourselves moving on the water.

We paddled ourselves across a sea and entered a mangrove swamp. I was on the same kayak with my brother and we were lagging behind and we tried really hard to catch up. It only took a while for us to get tired and we couldn't rest as much as the people in front because the guide would just paddle away, leaving us behind again.

As we entered deeper into the swamp, it gets harder because the area for you to paddle gets smaller. And the (bastard) guide wouldn't slow down his pace as we make our way through the swamp. Sometimes, you can choose to go left or right in the swamp and you really don't know what to do when you don't see anyone in front of you.

I'm lucky to have my brother as the same kayak as me and I managed to figure the way to paddle. My mom was unfortunately in the same boat with my short tempered elder brother so they got stuck a few times. And you couldn't really get down the boat to help them, so it's frustrating for all of us.

What pissed me off was the guides. First, they gave us no instructions, they never taught us anything. Secondly, they paddled away like being chased by crocodiles. They never bothered to look back to check on how we're doing. And lastly, when we're stuck, they don't help us in any way and expects us to know how to paddle correctly.

When asked if we're going left or right, the guy said 'backward right'. LIKE WHAT THE HECK IS THAT? I lost it for a while and yelled at him, saying that they never taught us anything, and he shot back at me saying that we didn't follow his instruction. Bastard asshole.

I was very pissed and so are my family. But we continued away, making our way through the swamp. A few of us got lost for a while and guess who is responsible for it? Well, for the whole trip, me and my brother hit a buoy, a rock, mangrove roots and trees. We all saw animals like a jelly fish, a monkey, a monitor lizard and a snake (HAI SERUUUUU).

No pictures of me because my camera isn't water proof and I'm afraid to pass it around to people or move too much on the fragile, unstable kayak.

Finally, we got of the swamp and paddled ourselves across the sea. It seemed like forever to get to the pier and it took them forever to get me and my brother out of the kayak. We had lunch that they served us after that and got into the truck once again where they took to us a stream called Phu Tara.

We had an hour to swim in it and I once again, took the chance to practice holding my breath underwater. I figured saltwater will be harder so I just tried my best with my brother teaching me. I managed to submerge myself for a few seconds into the stream water which isn't entirely clean and I'm satisfied with it, LOL.

At 3PM, they dumped us in front of of our guest house without saying anything. Not even a 'thank you'. My mom said they probably knew we're angry at them so they chose not to speak anything. Well, if you're thinking of kayaking, please don't book any tours with Krabi Fasai Tours.

I had a nap later and woke up with really sore muscles around my back and biceps. It was really painful and even getting up is hard. Me and my brother had to apply some muscle relieving cream and ate pain killers, or else I wouldn't be able to move around town.

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I just got back from my hometown and I have to go back to attending classes tomorrow. It feels kinda weird, and I have not mentally prepared myself to face lecturers and assignments. I missed a whole week and being a student that never skipped class for more than two days, it feels really weird and I'm worrying a lot.

I have to blog about my trip in Krabi in two posts because it'll be too long if I did it in one. I'll try to finish Part 2 soon, and that depends on how heavy my assignments are. Ahh, back to reality. It sucks.

Here's just a little sneak preview for my next post.