Chiang Mai- Bangkok - Krabi

by Laura mochilera

Dinner y the river with trekking buddiesI left Chiang Mai after 4 fantastic and intense days and I am now in Krabi (aka among the travellers that I met so far as "crappy") town, a pretty uninteresting place in the south which is however in one of the most beautiful provinces in Thailand.

I will stay here tonite and get the morning ferry to Koh Phi Phi tomorrow. For those who dont know what the hell is Koh Phi Phi (this goes in response to a comment), it is one of the islands on the southwest of thailand which was heavily hit by the tsunami, and also next to another island where the famous movie of "the Beach" was filmed. In short, supposed to be pretty close to paradise (if you dont look arround at the millions of tourists invading the place).

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Parti de Chiang Mai esta manyana tras 4 fantasticos e intensos dias y ahora estoy en Krabi (tambien conocido como "crappy=mierdoso" entre los viajeros que he encontrado hasta ahora), una ciudad bastante poco interesante que sin embrago se encuentra en una de las provincias mas bonitas del pais.

Pasare aqui esta noche y manyana tomare el ferry de la mantyana a Koh

My room for tonight phi Phi. Para aquellos que no saben que demonios es koh phi phi (esto va en respuesta a un comentario), es una de las islas en el suroeste de tailandia que fue destruida por el tsunami, y que se encuentra situada al lado de otra isla donde la famosa peli de "La Playa" fue rodada.

En fin, se suponde que es bastante cercana a la idea del paraiso (si no miras alrededor a los millones de turistas que invaden el lugar)

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I left quite early this morning the hostel in Chiang Mai and faced the challenge of getting a taxi or a tuc tuc at 6 am quickly and without being ripped off, still dark, only some market stalls starting to open... quite an experience, but I succeeded. I flew from Chiang Mai to BKK and from BKK to Krabi. I was actually a bit sad to leave chiang mai, I really liked the place and yesterday evening I had a great time.

I bumped again into this girl from Chile, Josefina, who I had met before in the street asking for directions. We went for a dinner&beer by the river with the rest of the trekking buddies and it was excellent. It was great to share a talk with someone female, spanish speaker, solo traveller and with so much in common. So sad that we met just the last day before leaving!

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Sali bastante pronto esta manyana del hostal en Chiang Mai y me encontre con el reto de pillar un taxi o un tuc tuc a las 6 am sin que me timen, aun de noche, y cuando solamente algunos puestos de los mercados comenzaban a abrir... bastante experiencia, pero lo logre.

Vole desde Chiang mai a BKK y de BKK and Krabi. La verdad que fue pelin triste dejar chiang mai, em encanto el sitio y ademas ayer por la noche me lo pase genial.

Me encontre de nuevo por casualidad con una chica de Chile, JOsefina, que me habia encontrado por la calle preguntando por direcciones.

Fuimos por una cena&cerveza al aldo del rio con el resto de mis colegas del trekking y fue fantastico.

Estuvo muy bien compartir una charla con una chica, hispanohablante, que viajaba sola, y con la que tenia un monton de cosas en comun. Una pena conocerla el dia antes de irnos!

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So I left Chiang Mai with great memories and now i am ready for new experiences in the south. I must say that although krabi is indeed a bit "crappy" (and still must find a decent place to have dinner... interesting task ahead), this guesthouse, and particularly my room, is amazing!! It is in the top, with a balcony, all blue, big and spotless clean and I have an outdoor shower sourrunded by palm trees.

It seems like the setting for a coconut/mango shampoo commercial! And this for 9 EUR a night!

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Asi que dejo Chiang Mai con grandes recuerdos y estoy lista para nuevas experiencias en el sur.

he de decir que aunque Krabi es realmente un poco mierda (y aun tengo que encontrar un sitio decenta para cenar... interesante labor tengo por delante), este hostal, y mi habitacion, se salen!! Esta arriba, con balcon, todo azul, grande y super limpio, y tengo un banyo y ducha en el exterior rodeada de palmeras. Parece salido de un anuncio de champu de mango y coco!! Y por el modico precio de 9 EUR la noche!!

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I may not write much from phi phi, donno how is internet situation there. So dont panic or be disappointed if you dont see updates in the next 2 days...I am overwhelmed by all your nice messages and it is very nice so see that you care so much about me when i am alone some thousands of km away! Lots of kisses to all!!

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Igual no escribire mucho desde phi phi, no se como estara el tema de internet por alli. Asi que no os asusteis o no os decepciones si no escribo en los proximos 2 dias.. Estoy emocionada por todos vuestros mensajes de adiccion al blog y me encanta saber que hay tanta gente que se preocupa por mi cuando estoy a miles de km!! Muchos besos para todos!!

Krabi - Phi Phi Island

by DaleandBella

We booked a tour to one of the 'must see' islands off Krabi Mainland - Phi Phi Islands. These are well known for two strikingly different reasons - one is they are probably one of the most picturesque set of islands in Asia, and so became the setting for the Leonardo di Caprio film "The Beach" (which we haven't watched yet), and secondly because they were badly devasted in the 2004 Tsunami - they took the worst impact of all the islands.

You wouldn't be able to tell this though, if you visit the islands now - as they look so beautiful, and the islands have been rebuilt with beach huts etc. The morning started early with an 8am pick up from our hostel, a mini bus took us to Aonang beach (about 20 minutes away) where we joined more people and boarded a 16 seater speed boat. I don't know why - but we chose to sit at the front of the boat (along with a few other brave souls) - I didn't realise that you have to be a bit of a thrill seeker to sit there until after we set off.

The boat speeds along at about

Phi Phi lagoon100 mph breaking through the waves and everytime you hit one, you would come down with a thud. Of course the front of the boat (which had it's nose right up in the air) took most of the impact of this - and so did we! It was an exhilarating ride - and a good team bonding exercise - you got to know the people around you very quickly as you were practically sitting on their laps every choppy wave! Great bunch of people though - we had such a laugh.

The speed boat took around 45 minutes to get to our first stop. Today we were being taken around a series of islands - monkey island (for snorkelling), Maya Bay (the famous "the Beach" location that all guides boast about), Phi Phi Don for a spot of lunch, a blue lagoon, Viking Cave, and lastly Bamboo island which was my favourite of them all. The water on the beach at Bamboo Island was so crystal clear it was like sitting in mineral water - and so warm too!.

The sand was pure white like caster sugar and there were so many beautiful shells, corals and fish around

Phi Phi backdropsthat it felt like there couldn't be a more perfect beach than this. In fact, we (by this time we had made a little network of 'front-of-speedboat' friends) were so enjoying just laying on the shore line and letting the white waves lap over us that we didn't even realise that the rest of our speedboat had boarded and they were all tucking into fresh pinapple and watermelon! Even that didn't make us rush from our places very quickly.

This was an amazing day, again we felt a little guilty for having such an exotic time when we were backpackers - this should be for honeymooners! But this is what travelling is all about - experiencing things which are once in a lifetime.

I am sure when we are in Bangkok in a few days we will slip back into traditional traveller mode!

Lovely Scenery. Lovely Company. Lovely Day.