Aonang Beach, Krabi, Thailand

The trip out of KL to Krabi was uneventful, with a taxi from Bukit Bintang to KL Sentral and the Air Asia Sky Bus to the Low Cost Terminal that Air Asia uses. Things actually went too smoothly because we ended up with several hours to kill before we could even get into the departure lounge. The bus trip was very amusing because we ended up on the back seat and the view down the aisle consisted of row after row of heads flopping sideways as people fell asleep. One girl, just in front of us, must have suffered severe whip-lash because her head would collapse sideways at a 90 degree angle every thirty seconds or so. At one point, seven or eight heads seemed to be collapsing sideways in some form of synchronised ballet. We were in hysterics.

Once at the terminal, we delighted in the fact that Air Asia was having a blitz on hand luggage. It always annoys the hell out of us when we take so much trouble to obey the rules about one piece of hand luggage of no more than 7kg and we get pushed aside at the check-in counter by a family with two or three pieces of hand luggage each weighing so much they need to be on wheels. This time, the first thing that happened was the hand luggage was weighed and people were wringing their hands, shouting, pleading and crying, all to no avail. We smiled smugly with our 2 and 3 kg bags and left them to it. We did see one Aussie family with two primary school aged kids who had a neat trick. They put the large backpacks on the kids and made them carry them through. Who is going to stop a little kid and demand that their luggage be measured? Only Aussie could think of that.

Landing in Krabi is a much better experience than many Asian destinations. All transport services have been regulated and controlled so whether you choose to go to your destination by bus, tuk-tuk or taxi, you must buy the ticket from a central place inside the terminal and don’t have to deal with hordes of yelling touts. We never really care what we pay, we just hate being ripped off so this system suits us perfectly. On this occasion, we chose a private car because the various buses do a round trip through Krabi Town and we wanted to get to Aonang Beach ASAP. Our wish was granted, often at over 120km/hr. I’m sure our driver was very skillful and the Honda Civic was near new but if you drive the way he does your number will come up sooner rather than later.

Our reception at the Aonang Beach Home was very entertaining. The first thing we saw was a sign at the front saying “Closed 5 days for Renovation”. Hmmm? Then we met Anoma, a lovely girl who explained that the heavy rain of last week had caused extensive damage and repairs were required. We were the only ones booked at that stage so they were not taking any more bookings but would look after us. That is, all except Friday morning when everyone would be hung over from a staff party on Thursday night. “Sorry! Might be little bit noisy.”

All this was explained in such a way that our only wish was to agree and help in any way we could. In short, we were both captivated. The view from the restaurant and bar was to die for, being right on the beach front and facing some wonderful islands that make this region so famous. We settled in and retired to the bar for a refreshing ale. Anoma invited us to jump on the back of some motorbikes and join her and another at the local markets.

In the end, the hotel tuk-tuk bike arrived and we strained the engine of the little bike with 5 up. The markets were excellent. Unlike the tourist markets, most things were priced and having some locals with us to give advice and help negotiate made things easy. We sampled a few pieces of street food, bought a few bits of clothing, a watch and a belt and generally had a ball. The girls laughed at everything and by the time we got back to the hotel we felt part of the family. What friendly people.

Out on the street, we found a laundry for the washing to date, a place to buy a “Happy Tourist” DTac SIM card to give us local calls and Internet and a travel agent to organise an island trip and a ticket to Koh Phi Phi for three days hence. Krabi is certainly quiet, with the high season not starting until November, but the streets have just enough life on them to make them interesting. This place looks like fun.

26-27 September 2013

We relaxed and enjoyed the good life in Aonang Beach. It is a smaller more relaxed version of all that is good about Phuket without the crowds, abundance of trashy bars or over enthusiastic market stall sellers. The occasional tout outside an Indian Tailor’s shop would rush up, try to shake my hand and profess to remember me from my last visit but, in general, walking the streets is a pleasant experience.

We took a day excursion romantically titled “The 4 Islands Tour”. In reality, it is more like the “1 Island, 2 rocks and a Mainland Bay Tour”. The trip centres around Koh Poda, a very beautiful island only a couple of kilometres off Aonang. The scenery here features in many promotional pictures of Thailand and Krabi. Nearby, Tub Island is a landing place to explore the white sand quays that join to two other islets. Our fast speedboat stopped here so we could join the hundreds of others exploring the small stretches of coral sand and standing in front of cameras making victory signs or doing “Toyota Leaps”. It never ceases to amaze me that people can rack-up over 50 “jumping in the water” photos a day and still keep going. I can’t get Christine to jump once.

Despite the crowds, the scenery is all postcard stuff, with towering limestone karsts rising from the sea draped in deep green jungle creepers and surrounded by crystal clear coral waters. Under the water, the coral growth is reasonable by SE Asian standards but us Aussies are spoiled that way. It was also very disappointing to see all the boats throwing anchors down into the coral. We only saw one boat tie up to a mooring buoy. The Government needs to lay some moorings and make their use compulsory to save the coral they do have. Fish life was plentiful enough although there was a definite lack of sizable edible species, despite the waters forming a National Park.

After a snorkeling session, we headed into the beach for a picnic lunch. Normally, the lunch on these day trips is a bit of a highlight but this time it was a serve of dried out steamed rice with a very spicy chicken and onion goo that even a Thai family seemed to pass on. Fortunately, they served up excellent cake and watermelon as afters.

Then it was on to Koh Poda. This is an inhabited island and the locals have fenced off above the high watermark and now insist on 20baht (about 70cents) to land. This move seems to be backfiring as very few people deemed the sight of unkept facilities and run-down picnic areas worth even 20 baht and stayed on the beach. This meant they didn’t have access to the bar and market stalls either.

Next stop was Railay Bay on the mainland. This gorgeous place is touted as the World’s Most Beautiful Beach (along with a few hundred other spots) but it does have a fair claim. The bay houses a couple of very fancy resorts and is only accessible by boat due to the extremely rugged nature of the surrounding land. We walked along the edge of one huge headland under the stalactite studded overhang and carefully avoided the numerous monkeys awaiting the unwary along the way. The walk took us through to Phra Nang Beach and Phra Nang Cave, a popular pirate lair in times past. Several shrines were set up in the cave entrance, including one that seemed dedicated to phalluses. I guess if one must worship something then this seems a logical choice. In this case, it is an old traditional shrine set up by the fishermen who came to pay homage to the mythical Princess of the Cave and offer her fertility in return for a good catch. Seems like a fair swap to me.

By the time we headed home, the sea was very choppy and we abandoned our spot up the front and endured the noise and fumes down the back, where at least we didn’t get pounded to pieces. The boat only had two speeds, fast and very fast.

While “The 4 Islands Tour” may not have been the best excursion we’ve ever had, it was a fun day and excellent value. We always find it hard to pass up a boat trip anywhere.

We tried some Thai wine, a Red called Three Hills. We could have saved some money by making our own out of rasberry cordial and hand sanitizer. We didn’t try the white on the strength of it. Otherwise, we had very few failures in the food and drink department. There is the usual run of tourist restaurants selling everything from Thai, Indian, Italian and Chinese all in one to the relatively expensive seafood places along the beach. A lot of the beach side places advertise a range of simple Thai dishes for 100baht ($3.30) and, although small servings, seem to be great value when all that is needed is tummy fuel.

We have enjoyed Krabi and Aonang Beach. Not being real nightlife people, we would probably come back here rather than Phuket, mainly because of the genuinely friendly people. Having said that, we leave tomorrow for Phi Phi Island then on to Phuket to meet up with the Thorsbys.