Beautiful Thailand: Krabi Day 3 - Kayaking and more swimming

Noticed posters advertising Kayaking while exploring the streets of Krabi during one of the window shopping sessions. The posters looked really interesting and the places looked exotic. Considering there was one more day to spend in Krabi, half a day kayaking trip was booked.

The plan was to leave early and be back by 12:30 pm. As always the start was late, 2 of my friends who had gone for a walk in the morning had lost their way and by the time they came back and got ready, the pick up van was already waiting for 45 mins.

The start point for Kayaking was about 30 Kms from the hotel. On arrival coffee was served and the group was asked to select a kayak and start off. It was surprising since there was no instruction given, no guidelines and no life jackets. The water in the beginning was shallow and the kayak got stuck in between. My friends later told me that it was a hilarious sight to watch me pull the kayak will the other 2 just sat on it. It took a while to master the art of rowing and in the meanwhile, the rest of the group had gone ahead. Finally caught up with the group just as they entered the Mangrove Forest, the silence there was calming but it was broken often with the Guide singing ‘No Monkey No Cry’.

Kayaking back was more challenging as it was upstream and by the end of the trip my shoulders were hurting really bad. Once on the shore coffee and fresh fruits were served. And after some photo sessions it was time to leave.

Once back in the resort, it was time to vacate and move to a different one. This one was in the outskirts and hence away from the hustle and bustle. While some of my friends slept, the rest of us took a dip in the pool and explore the neighbourhood. One of the discoveries was a tiny shack on the beach that played retro music and had rustic ambience. In this background I watched the sunset. It felt like a perfect ending to my stay in Krabi.

Beautiful Thailand- Krabi Day1

After a week of working hard and partying harder with my colleagues in the Bangkok Office I was ready for a break. I had taken a week off to explore some bits of Thailand.

I was meeting my friends in Krabi, a coast in the southern tip of Thailand. After a night long journey I arrived at Krabi to be greeted by a sleepy, mist covered small town. There were taxi drivers offering rides to the beach destinations near by at exuberant rates (500 Bath). Based on suggestions from a colleague I looked around for a van/tuk tuk that would take me to Aonang Beach at a nominal cost (50 Bath). The ride in the tuk tuk was short and in 30 mins I was in Aonang beach.

Luckily I could check-in to the hotel (Warner's Place/ Andaman Sunset) earlier and after a quick breakfast I was out exploring Aonang. As I walked on the beach I came across a path that seemed to disappear into the hill. As I was meeting my friends much later in the day I decided to walk on. The walk turned out to be rewarding as I was treated to beautiful sights of the beach from the top and I also walked into a private beach that was not as crowded as the main beach. Though I would have loved to spend more time there rain played spoil-sport and after about 15 mins it started to drizzle hard.

To avoid getting drenced I decided to get a Thai massage in one of the many places set up along the beach. It was 1 hour of absolute bliss. By then the rain had stopped and as I walked along I found company called Scuba Addicts, they offered the cheapest session so I booked myself for a scuba diving session next day.

Just as I was done with this I found my friends and joined them for the rest of the trip. Spent rest of the day window bargaining and shopping. Dinner was at a small place called Blue Orchids. And soon after that headed by to the hotel to catch some sleep.

More Pictures can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/aishwarya.belliappa/BangkokTheVacation#