Of Peace & Serenity; Krabi

A lot of misconception by people thinking Krabi is an island. It is not, people. Nevertheless, Krabi is the perfect place if you wanted to clear off your mind from your work or from your hectic city.

I wanted to share you all the stuff that makes Krabi so famous so the next time you visit Krabi, you can straight away try it.

Beach

Krabi have 2 famous beaches you can stay. Both is almost the same. Ao Nang is the main tourist attractions and Railay beach is its sister and has an island feel. It is entirely up to your preference on which beach you like to stay. Or if you prefer to stay at both places why not spend one night in Ao Nang and another night at Railay Beach?

Activities

For this part I will enlist all the top activities you can try when you are in Krabi;

i) Phi Phi Island tour

If you are visiting Krabi for the first time, Phi Phi island tour is a must place for you to go. This island is the most visited place for tourists when they come to visit Krabi or Phuket. Mostly when you come here, you can either spend a night on this island or just to take a one-day tour to this island. Most of the time, the place you will cover when doing Phi Phi Island tour is like sightseeing, swimming or snorkeling at Maya Bay, Loh Samah Bay, Pileh Cove, Viking Cave, and Monkey Beach.

ii) Krabi Island tour

Krabi surrounded by many small islands and it is not surprising to see tours offering various kind of island hopping around Krabi. An example of island tour you could take is like Krabi 4 island tour, Koh Hong day tour, James Bond island tour and Krabi 7 island sunset tour.

I still remember ended up taking Krabi 7 island sunset tour. Well, it is not 7 islands but instead of 7 places. The whole package is good since you could go to lots of places in one day. However, the activities in each place rushed as you need to cover 7 places. The time allocated in each place is only around 30 minutes only.

The highlight of the activity is when after getting our dinner, they will bring you to the middle of the sea to see bioluminescent plankton. The light of the boat will be switched off and we are at total darkness. Then they told us to snorkel around the boat surrounded by darkness. At first, I hesitate to jump out of the boat as it is pitch black out there. But the moment I entering the water, I could see the light of the plankton. It is quite a nice scene to see.

iii) Emerald Pool & Hot Springs

If you want something that is not related to the beach, you can definitely try to soak yourself at the famous emerald pool in Krabi. This emerald pool can be found if you go to the Khao Phra Bang Khram Nature Reserve. If you are not taking a tour and decide to drive, you need to pay THB200 at the entrance for both hot springs and the emerald pool.

In order to reach the emerald pool, you need to walk for around 20 minutes from the entrance to the pool. On your way to the emerald pool, you will witness a hot spring available for you to soak yourself into. At the emerald pool, you also could swim over there and enjoy the scenery. And if you walk for another 20 minutes further up from the emerald pool, you can enjoy seeing the blue pool. This place is unfortunately not open for swimming and only for taking pictures.

If you wanted to experience something else, there are tons of activities you can do. Some of them are rock climbing, riding ATV, kayaking, riding a horse along a beach and many more.

There are like over 50+ activities you could do in Krabi. All of it you can mix and match based on what your budget and your time. There is a lot of a travel agent setting up a booth along Ao Nang and Railay beach. Just walk a few of them and search for the best price. They will bargain the price since the competition is high among them. If you found the best deal, grab it and make a booking. Whether you like it or not, I believe if you want to do any activities here in Krabi, it will always a better choice to pick a travel agent as they really control the majority of activities in Krabi. But there is always an alternative if you want to do it yourself without hiring any travel agent. This is entirely up to you to make up the choices.  

Banana Pancake

I read a lot of bloggers who recommend trying banana pancake in Krabi. To me honestly, I cannot find why it is so famous and craving by so many people. I detest none of the Thai food, in fact, I love them! I bet there are many other Thai foods in Krabi that is better and taste good. But for me banana pancake is like the normal ‘roti canai’ that I could find back in my town; Kuala Lumpur which is cheaper and taste exactly the same. One banana pancake in Krabi cost almost THB50 (USD1.5) based on what flavor you want to add while in Kuala Lumpur you can get the same pancake with only THB20 (USD 0.5).

The resemblance is uncanny, isn’t it? Okay. Enough ranting about this pancake. My advice just does not skip this signature food in Krabi. Try this banana pancake once to taste it. If you like it, good, buy another one. But, if you did not like it, then you can try other Thai food like Pad Thai or Mango Sticky Rice which are way better.

Pubs & Bars

Unlike its neighbor, Phuket which has its famous Bangla Road where most people spend their nightlife by either partying and drinking until morning surrounded by a loud noise and crowded people. Here in Krabi, such night is rare to be seen. Krabi is a much quieter town with not so much entertainment available at night. For me, its good news. After spending a whole day snorkeling, swimming or doing island hopping for the whole day; what would be more relaxing other than chilling at the bar drinking and feasting your ears with good music.  

Krabi is crawling with pubs and bars. Almost every corner has one. You need to search for which one that suits your taste and preferences and pay them a visit. They will surely welcome you with an open heart.

And so, Krabi is really a perfect place for you to go if you want to take your mind off and to take your body to rest. Enjoy every moment you spend in Krabi and have fun with it.