Phi Phi Islands

Day 4 

After all of the activities yesterday we all agreed that we really needed a day to just chill out and let life catch us up. We had a quiet morning and then spent the afternoon relaxing on the sun loungers. 

We had booked onto the 5.30pm shuttle bus to go into Ao Nang which is the nearest town with all the bars, restaurants and shops. Dave was excited to get the chance to go back to Wanna's Place, a Swiss/Thai restaurant he loved last time. After a few days of Thai food, Dave, Colin and Jayne were all happy for a break and so they opted for the house special of steak which you cook yourself on a cast iron hot plate. They absolutely loved their meals, my Pad Thai noodles were ok but nothing special and such a tiny portion I was contemplating having a dessert!

After dinner we strolled along the main shopping street, browsing through shops and people watching. That's when a gaggle of three Ladyboys approached us and you should have seen both Colin and Jayne's faces! One of them in particular was absolutely stunning and I would defy anyone to say that you could tell that she'd been born a boy.  Colin and Dave had their photos taken with them and as we were tipping the ladies another group came down the road promoting their cabaret show. There was another stunner in this group, immaculately made up, fantastic dress on - they left Colin speechless!  He kept shaking his head and saying that he couldn't believe it! 

Poor Jayne has been struggling with a chest infection over the past couple of days do while we were in Ao Nang she popped in to speak with a pharmacist. Fortunately she could speak perfect English and was able to suggest a few medications that would help. Thankfully Jayne began feeling better quite quickly and could breathe a little easier. 

The guys had their first experience of Thai street food tonight, Colin was drawn to a pancake stand where the lady took pre-made balls of dough and stretched them out super thin before popping into a hot pan. It almost instantly cooked and produced a super thin and crisp treat, especially when smothered in Nutella! Later on we watched a guy cook Pad Thai to order using two enormous pans on raging burners. He was flipping and spinning his spatulas putting on quite a show while cooking fab smelling food. At just 30 baht a plate this was a real bargain and I was still hungry after my tiny dinner so I decided to give it a go - bloody lovely! 

The sights, sounds and smells of Ao Nang are very different to the quiet chilled atmosphere of our hotel and we all loved the change of scenery for the evening. Colin even found an Irish bar that may well be showing the rugby later in the week!

An encounter with Ladyboys.....

Day 4 After all of the activities yesterday we all agreed that we really needed a day to just chill out and let life catch us up. We had a quiet morning and then spent the afternoon relaxing on the sun loungers. We had booked onto the 5.30pm shuttle bus to go into Ao Nang which is the nearest town with all the bars, restaurants and shops. Dave was excited to get the chance to go back to Wanna's Place, a Swiss/Thai restaurant he loved last time. After a few days of Thai food, Dave, Colin and Jayne were all happy for a break and so they opted for the house special of steak which you cook yourself on a cast iron hot plate. They absolutely loved their meals, my Pad Thai noodles were ok but nothing special and such a tiny portion I was contemplating having a dessert! After dinner we strolled along the main shopping street, browsing through shops and people watching. That's when a gaggle of three Ladyboys approached us and you should have seen both Colin and Jayne's faces! One of them in particular was absolutely stunning and I would defy anyone to say that you could tell that she'd been born a boy. Colin and Dave had their photos taken with them and as we were tipping the ladies another group came down the road promoting their cabaret show. There was another stunner in this group, immaculately made up, fantastic dress on - they left Colin speechless! He kept shaking his head and saying that he couldn't believe it! Poor Jayne has been struggling with a chest infection over the past couple of days do while we were in Ao Nang she popped in to speak with a pharmacist. Fortunately she could speak perfect English and was able to suggest a few medications that would help. Thankfully Jayne began feeling better quite quickly and could breathe a little easier. The guys had their first experience of Thai street food tonight, Colin was drawn to a pancake stand where the lady took pre-made balls of dough and stretched them out super thin before popping into a hot pan. It almost instantly cooked and produced a super thin and crisp treat, especially when smothered in Nutella! Later on we watched a guy cook Pad Thai to order using two enormous pans on raging burners. He was flipping and spinning his spatulas putting on quite a show while cooking fab smelling food. At just 30 baht a plate this was a real bargain and I was still hungry after my tiny dinner so I decided to give it a go - bloody lovely! The sights, sounds and smells of Ao Nang are very different to the quiet chilled atmosphere of our hotel and we all loved the change of scenery for the evening. Colin even found an Irish bar that may well be showing the rugby later in the week!

Off exploring

Day 3 Saturday started off really warm but a bit overcast which we were more than happy about after perhaps overdoing it a bit yesterday! We met our car at the front of the hotel at 9.15am and started out to the Emerald Pool. The standard of driving in Thailand is somewhat different to what we are used to, I don't think I've ever been in a moving vehicle traveling quite so close to the one in front! It was a white knuckle ride the whole way with overtaking on bends, cutting up other drivers and some questionable use of the horn! It seems that this was completely normal and we got there in one piece. The Emerald Pool was beautiful, not too busy and we were able to have a lovely cooling swim which we really needed after the drive. Getting to the pool from the car park was via a lovely walk along boardwalks through rainforest. The noise of the insects was deafening, it was so loud it almost seemed artificial but quietened as we approached certain areas. Colin spotted a large lizard just chilling out on a log in the water and the butterflies were stunning, huge and gorgeous colours. It really was an experience. After we had finished swimming we walked further through the rain forest to the Blue Pool. There was no swimming but it was exactly as it says on the label, a bright blue crystal clear pool that was Spring fed and bubbled up from time to time. There was quite a crowd on the viewing platform and oddly an elderly lady was holding up a small radio playing loud Chinese choral music. It was a strange combination of a beautiful environment and incomprehensible noise! After a lunch that cost the grand sum of just £3 each and included unlimited Thai red curry, beef with cashews, vegetables and jasmine rice, we jumped back in the car to go to the hot springs. This naturally hot water cascades over a series of smooth rock pools making natural jacuzzis. It was around 40 degrees in the water, a very hot bath, so it's not recommended to stay in for more than 15 mins or so. At the bottom of the cascade was a large pool that Dave jumped into and was really shocked to find it was freezing cold! Jayne thought he was pulling her leg so she followed him in and it took her breath away. As we strolled back to the car through the jungle I was so touched when Jayne told me that this day had been amazing and was up there with her trip to Abu Simbel. Our final stop was the Tiger Temple. Dave and I had already braved the 1200 steps to the top of the mountain last time we came so we didn't mind if we did it again or not. Colin and Jayne both fancied having a go at it so we started up. After two very steep sets of stairs we decided to have a rethink! It was hot, Jayne's hip started to hurt as did Dave's knee so we turned around and came right back down again. We opted instead to go into the Tiger Temple, when we were inside a lovely Thai lady explained that throwing money through the ornate gate and onto the table was very good luck. We all gave it a go but not one of us was able to do it, it seems we must all be lucky enough already! When we got back to the hotel Colin and Jayne went to cool off in the pool while we went to try and catch up on some of our sleep debt. Our evening meal was at the Nakamanda hotel next door, one of our favourite places and where we went on the evening of my 50th birthday. Poor Jayne made a bad choice for her meal and ended up with a bowl of pomelo and just three prawns, no wonder she was feeling acid burn for the rest of the night :( After a very busy and active day we were very happy to saunter back and crash out!

Now that's more like it!

Day 2

Each of us woke up spontaneously at 3am due to jet lag last night and spent a couple of hours desperately trying to get back to sleep so we were 4 very weary travellers at breakfast today!  The breakfast buffet was amazing with something for everyone regardless of how you wanted to start the day. I love the array of fresh fruit and the odd naughty croissant washed down with proper coffee from a bank of five high-tech machines that wouldn't look out of place in a Costa or Starbucks!

After breakfast we had a meeting booked with the Hayes and Jarvis rep Tor who gave us a few tips for places to eat locally. Bless his heart he was super apologetic for not wearing his uniform but he was all over the place as his Grandfather had passed away last night. We felt so awful for him as he had tears in his eyes while he was trying to give us his briefing. Tor gave us details of a fabulous trip to the Phi Phi Islands via speed boat. This was something that was on Jayne's bucket list and Dave and I had loved it last time so we signed up right away for Monday. 

As we were in the mood to book trips we also dropped into the hotel travel centre to see Dong who had looked after us so well last time. We really wanted to go back to the Emerald Pool and the Hot Springs and as we were a group of 4 Dong suggested that we privately hire a car for the day. This way we would be able to spend as little or as much time as we wanted at each location and not be stuck to someone else's schedule. It also worked out cheaper than a guided tour - Dave and I knew what to do at each location so we didn't really need a guide! That was a great idea so we booked it all for Saturday and decided to spend the rest of our day on the beach. 

Rather foolishly none of us put on any sunscreen and boy did we know it come 4 o' clock! We went swimming in the gorgeous turquoise sea and tried the main swimming pool. Both were fabulous and despite the hotel being very full, it doesn't feel like it at all.  This is a really tranquil location with just the chugging of the odd long tail boat to break through the swish of the waves on the beach. 

We were all feeling knackered so we dragged our bones back to our rooms for a bit of a nap - it took longer for Colin and Jayne to get in as they had left their key in their room and were locked out. The staff here are so helpful they were let in just a few minutes later. You didn't hear a peep from any of us then till we got ready for dinner at 8pm. We followed Tor's suggestion and ate at a local restaurant, Mothers House. It was great food and much cheaper than the restaurant at the hotel. 

Finally four very weary travellers with a definite glow of sunburn trudged back to our rooms in the hope of a decent night of sleep......

And here we go....!

We have all been counting down the sleeps until our trip to Thailand for so long now I could hardly believe that the day had finally arrived. We've  been packed and ready for over a week (very unusual for us!!) so it was an unusually chilled out morning. We loaded up the car at 1pm and set off to Heathrow. As is usual when Jaynd and I are together we were soon nattering away like mad. It wasn't long before we realised that the reason it was just us girls talking was because Dave was driving and Colin was fast asleep! Of course I had to snap a picture for proof just in case there were any attempts to deny the sleep interlude.
I was very impressed with his smoothly everything went getting to the airport, sends parking booked, a shuttle bus dropped us at the terminal, we checked in and went straight through security. We had a relaxed meal together before I roamed around the MAC counter and before we knew it it was time to board.
The plane wasn't full so we were very lucky to have three seats between each couple so we could all spread out. The flight crew were lovely and had the most beautiful uniforms in stunning jewel colours. Each one was a different colour or tone but the basics of a long skirt with a fitted top and sash were the same. The crew were so lovely and helpful, they really couldn't do enough for everyone.
Poor Colin was taken suddenly poorly after our main meal and turned a ghastly shade of grey. He really looked awful but thankfully managed to get a good sleep and recovered quickly. The other three of us struggled to get more than an hour of sleep each but before too long we landed in Bangkok. We had only an hour or so the fill before catching our connection to Krabi so grabbed a coffee and browsed through the airport shops.
By the time we finally landed in Krabi I think all of us had had enough and we're ready for the hotel. There was a small problem with the case that Colin and Jayne brought with them in that they had padlocked it but left the key on the kitchen table st home! Thankfully the maintenance guys were able to remove the padlock with a hacksaw so they actually now have clothes to wear!!
I was a little disappointed to find that the rooms we have were smaller and less well appointed than the one we had in June. I have contacted reception and we are talking with the manager in the morning because while the rooms are fine, they are not the standard we have had before and I feel like I've let Colin and Jayne down. Watch this space for an update tomorrow!
After a quick shower and change of clothes we all went to the hotel restaurant/bar for something to eat and a few drinks. It was the first taste of 'proper' Thai food this trip and it was fabulous!  The few beers that washed it down were very welcome and by 11pm we were finally ready for bed.
The alarm is set for 7.30am for our run along the beach tomorrow .........

In June of 2015 Dave and I went to Thailand to celebrate a milestone birthday for me.  We had an incredible time and shared our photos and stories on Facebook every day. The feedback was great and a part of me wishes that I had written everything in one place so it would be easier to go back and find.  So when we decided to go back to this beautiful country I knew that this time I needed a blog, a place to record all of the adventures and memories of our time in Krabi, Thailand.  The difference this time is that we will not be alone - this time we are travelling with our friends Colin and Jayne which should be a recipe for loads more fun and games!!
We leave the UK on 3rd February 2016 for two weeks of sun and fun in the Land of Smiles - brace yourself Thailand we are coming!