Krabi Part A - Traveling To Krabi From Phuket Airport

This has been one of the best trips we've taken. For one thing, Krabi is so darn beautiful. There're lots of good restaurants catering to vacationers but it's not as touristy as Koh Phi Phi or Phuket. Another thing, huge cliffs and trees are everywhere. The buskers at Ao Nang are not as hardcore. Ao Nang is not a huge place (say, 2 long streets worth of shops, massages and eateries) so it's cosy as well. We bumped into new friends on the streets whom we've met on tours or at our hotel. We love talking to Jiwaran, a lady who booked our tours at the Visitor's Centre so we have a chat with her every night after dinner.

During low-season, things are cheap. We went from 14-21 July 2010. Our Jetstar tickets to Phuket cost $44 net per pax, return trips. Initially, we wanted to just hang out at Phuket. Then Bryan found out that Krabi is just 3-4 hours away. Since we were at Koh Phi Phi and Phuket last year, we thought we might as well try a new destination.

We stayed at Ao Nang Cliff Beach Resort for 6 nights, booked via PYOTravel. There was a "stay 2 nights and get 1 night free" promo so we paid $66 net per night. The hotel is awesome. We love our room and the pool. It's smacked at McDonald's, 7-11 and Swensen's so we've a sundae almost every night.

Upon arrival, we took a cab from Phuket Airport to Wan Mai bus-stop, a deserted shabby looking bus stop, so we could take the local bus from Phuket to Krabi Town. We paid 146B ($6.30) per pax for a 2.5 hour ride. We dropped at the Krabi Bus Terminal, hopped onto a taxi that cost 300B ($13) for 2 of us that will take us to our hotel. I was eager to get going so I convinced Bryan not to bother checking on competitors' rates. Although on hindsight, we could have gotten a much better rate. Hmmmm.

It was about 3pm by the time we've washed up. So we just blew 400B ($17) between the 2 of us for Thai Massage. There was a DVD player in our room so we bought some DVD for 100B ($4.30) each. We ate a sundae and have a pizza and some cocktails (lots of 1 for 1 cocktail promotion during low-season). In just day one, we spent 24313B ($105) between the two of us, with the bulk going into transportation.

I'll write more tomorrow onwards and give an expense breakdown, if you ever would like to visit Krabi. It's really a beautiful place and it's not expensive during low-season as well. Till then, I hope you have had a good weekend!