Jan 19 2014

Thailand Day 8: More beach relaxation and the Krabi Night Market

After a really good night’s sleep at the Mercure Krabi Deevana, we woke up and just lounged about for most of the morning. We sat outside our room by the pool, and just soaked up a bit of sun. We checked out of the hotel right before noon, took our luggage, and began to walk toward the next hotel (which was on the other side of the main Ao Nang strip. On our way, we decided to take a tuk-tuk since the bags were becoming quite cumbersome.


Amazing pool-front room at the Mercure Krabi Deevana, Ao Nang
Click for larger, higher-quality image

When we arrived at Aonang Phu Petra, it was well before check-in time, but fortunately, we only had to wait about 15 minutes for the room to be cleaned. They also upgraded us to a poolside room, and gave us free breakfast tickets at the hotel restaurant! Though the pool is quite small, and the resort has some really quirky rules in place (pool closes early, shuttle doesn’t run very late, et cetera), the room is massive and quite modern (especially the bathroom).


Outside the bungalow at Aonang Phu Petra
Click for larger, higher-quality image


The enormous bedrom at Aonang Phu Petra
Click for larger, higher-quality image


The modern, luxurious bathroom at Aonang Phu Petra
Click for larger, higher-quality image


The cliff-side pool and view from Aonang Phu Petra
Click for larger, higher-quality image

We unpacked our things, and headed down Ao Nang to the beach. We also stopped in at Tandoori Nights for lunch. I got chicken hawa with some naan, and she got chicken korma with puri. Both of the meals were nice, although a little expensive.

After walking around the beach for a bit, we went to the bus stop right outside of Nanta Restaurant in order to catch a tuk-tuk to Krabi Town. That’s the only place to catch one that will offer a decent fair (60 baht per person instead off almost 500 baht elsewhere). We went to Krabi Town in order to see the night market.


The affordable tuk-tuk to Krabi Town – outside Nanta Restaurant (very close to Ao Nang beach)
Click for larger, higher-quality image

The Krabi night market (which is right behind Vogue Shopping Centre) was pretty neat. It was filled with vendors selling everything imaginable from food items, to clothes, to trinkets. I ended up getting some spicy basil chicken and rice, which turned out to be a very, very bad idea. Not only was it incredibly spicy (to the point where even I didn’t like it), but it really upset my stomach.


The night market in Krabi Town
Click for larger, higher-quality image


The spicy basil chicken that I bought from a street vendor – wicked hot
Click for larger, higher-quality image

We headed back to the hotel, grabbed some fruit juices, had a couple cocktails, and went to bed.

Jan 18 2014

Thailand Day 7: Mangroves and back to Ao Nang

Well I THOUGHT that we were going to get some rest before today’s activities, but I was mistaken. It was so blasted hot in the tent, and loud outside (with the various animals making noise, and the heavy winds), that I don’t think I actually slept at all. We went up to the reception area for breakfast, which was primarily a western-style one, consisting of pancakes, waffles, cereal, et cetera.

After breakfast, we took a bus about 45 minutes away from the camp, and spent a little bit of time in a local market. Deb was able to buy some new shades at a Tesco Express, but we got a little ripped off. The tag said that they were 135 baht, but the cashier charged us 199 baht. Eh, no big deal; I’m cool with a couple extra dollars. 🙂

After the market, we took the bus a bit farther to the pier in Khao Sok, and hopped on a speed boat. The speed boat took us through the mangroves, where we saw some a couple species of snakes, some birds, and even some monkeys! We headed out into the Andaman Sea, and got off of the speed boat and onto a Burmese junk boat for lunch. The captain made some green curry, but made it wayyyyyyyy too mild for my liking.


The mangroves in Khao Sok / Takua Pa
Click for larger, higher-quality image


A Mangrove Snake hanging out in a tree in Khao Sok / Takua Pa
Click for larger, higher-quality image

After lunch, we got off the Burmese junk and spent about an hour on the beach of a deserted island. Some people were soaking up the sun, some were swimming, but I was more interested in taking some photos. In particular, there were a ton of little hermit crabs running along the shores, so I tried to capture pictures of them. They were really fast, so it proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated!


Trying to capture (photograph) a hermit crab on Koh Phra Thong
Click for larger, higher-quality image

After the beach, we headed back to Elephant Hills. If we had stayed, we would have had similar activities to the night before and dinner thereafter. However, Deb and I agreed to pay some additional money to have the minivan take us back to Ao Nang a day early. We had slept so poorly the night before that the day’s activities weren’t really even that fun. Our next hotel (Aonang Phu Petra) didn’t have the additional night available, so we ended up going back to the Mercure Krabi Deevana for another night (which turned out to be excellent after all).

We were upgraded to a nicer room since it was technically our second stay. The room was right off of the pool on the first floor, and much closer to everything. Though it had a bit more noise, it was great all around. We walked to the little shops nearby, and picked up some Stoli vodka to make our own drinks. We sat our on the porch that led directly into the pool, had a couple cocktails, and called it a day.

Jan 17 2014

Thailand Day 6: Elephant Hills and the elephant experience

We woke up and gathered our things for our trip to Elephant Hills luxury tented camp in Khao Sok National Park. The minivan arrived to pick us up around 08:30, and the drive was supposed to be about 2.5 hours. However, we ended up getting there in about 1 hour 45 minutes. These four German people in the minivan with us were freaking out about how fast the driver was going, and how he was weaving in and out of traffic. We didn’t mind, as his driving seemed quite tame by comparison to taxis in Bangkok.

Upon our arrival, they led us to our tent (which was number 20), and we put away all of our things. We met back up at the reception area for lunch, which consisted of some typical Thai curries (Mussaman—one of my favourites), some sweet and sour chicken, and some vegetable dishes. We had fresh pineapple and watermelon for dessert.


Our luxury tent at Elephant Hills in Khao Sok
Click for larger, higher-quality image


STUNNING view from Elephant Hills in Khao Sok National Park
Click for larger, higher-quality image

After lunch, we departed for the elephant experience, which is essentially the highlight of the excursion… after all, it is called Elephant Hills for a reason. 😉 We got to meet a bunch of the Mahouts (which are elephant trainers), some of the elephants (both younger and older ones), and prepared some food for them. After watching the Mahouts take the elephants for a swim, we had to wash them off–they got quite muddy in the little ponds. After bathing them, we cut up some food (pineapples, sugar cane, and some green bananas) to feed to them. It was really interesting that certain elephants didn’t like some of the food, and would refuse it by throwing it down on the ground.


One of the Mahouts catching a lift on his elephant – Elephant Hills
Click for larger, higher-quality image


Close up of one of the elephants – He says hello
Click for larger, higher-quality image


Elephant swimming and really enjoying the mud
Click for larger, higher-quality image

After feeding them, we went over to see the newest addition to the elephant herd–almost two-year-old Ha-Ha. Deb sat her purse down on the ground a bit too close to the fence, and Ha Ha put the “Ha Ha” on her by taking it and swinging it around. Ultimately, only her sunglasses got broken, but everything else seemed to be fine.


Two-year-old (in early 2014) baby elephant Ha-Ha – Elephant Hills
Click for larger, higher-quality image


Baby elephant Ha-Ha playing
If you want to download this video clip, please right-click here and hit “save-as”

I went over and planted some banana leaves in the ground, and our tour guide (whose name was Rain [ฝน in Thai, pronounced “Fo-uhn”) told me that basically, we just needed to water those stems, and they would grow without any other interventions. In just about three or four months, they would be ready for the elephants to eat.

We headed back to Elephant Hills for a few evening activities, which consisted of a short documentary about elephants (their biology, their important cultural roles throughout history, et cetera), watching some local school girls perform four traditional Thai dances, and a brief lesson on making yellow curry. Thereafter, we had dinner, which was pretty good, but not as tasty as lunch, in my opinion.


Local school girls performing traditional Thai dance
Click for larger, higher-quality image

We headed back to the tent so that we could get some rest before our activities tomorrow morning.