We booked our transport through our hostel, and although this one wasn't half as convoluted as the last it did have some memorable moments. The first being that once our minivan departed from the ferry, the driver realised he'd completely forgotten to pick up someone. Luckily for the forgotten one, he arranged for a taxi to bring the guy to the ferry where he could walk on... unluckily for us the next ferry wasn't arriving for another 30 minutes. Oh well, this gave us time to grab some snacks and to really stock up on our nicotine consumption before the rest of the 3 hour journey. Finally the guy arrives. We all sit down. A head count is taken. Smiling to himself the driver shuts the door... turning around to find another one of our bus buddies trying to get in the bus. He has miscounted and had almost, once again, set off without all of his passengers. The rest of the journey went smoothly, but none of us got off until the final destination from fear of being left behind.
Krabi Town is the provincial capital of the region of Krabi, and is sits along the river. Although there isn't any beaches, there is a promenade that runs all the way along the river out to the harbour nearer the sea. During the evening we saw a lot of people wandering along here, appreciating the views along with the sculptures that are dotted along this path. We really enjoyed the vibe of Krabi, it was lively and friendly without being too overwhelming. The main reason we headed to Krabi was for its night markets, the markets themselves were a riot of smells and sounds, from the many food stalls, live music and traditional dances. It was here that Bens love for random meat on sticks continued, I was a bit more reserved in the food I tried, sticking to shrimp batter balls.
If I could have found it, here would have been a short video of Ben trying a spicy bbq baby squid and having a bit of a shock at the heat! Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it anywhere but I'll definitely pop it in once I get a hold of it!
All in all, Krabi town was a nice place to chill for a couple of days, but soon enough it was time to head off to our next destination, Phuket.
Once again, we arranged for a minibus transfer - it seemed to be more convenient than the much cheaper local bus. It wasn't, not only was there multiple random stops and changes, it didn't actually get us to Phuket town centre itself but only to Phuket bus terminal 2. What made me feel slightly better was that everyone was confused as us, so at least we weren't the only ones lied to. After a few discussions we were told the only way into town was by shared taxi, we all hopped in together, paid the ridiculously high fee, and within 5 minutes was overtaken by the official bus. We were once again lied to, but hey, at least we got dropped off right at our hotel... that's a positive right?
Our first hotel was located in the old town portion of Phuket, a vibrant area filled with beautiful old buildings, clothing boutiques alongside trendy bars and restaurants. If anything, despite its age, this area felt modern, with a lot of the shops catering to a more "hipster" clientele and feeling like it was designed to attract people taking photos for their instagrams. Walking street, a covered walkway connecting two parallel streets, was covered with art and filled with people taking photos of it. We were no different in this regard, but we managed to avoid the pitfall of buying any of the overpriced items from the stalls there. The street art wasn't just limited to walking street but could be found all over the town.
Tucked away in-between the old town and banking district, we found a build your own noodle cafe. Had we not looked it up online before hand I doubt we'd have found our way in. The entrance led into a small galley down the side of the open kitchen and from there we was directed into a canteen style room. The menu took up one wall of the room but it was pretty simple, type of noodle, type of protein and the sauce you wanted. Everytime we headed back there, it was always filled with locals and tourists which I feel is always a good sign! The food was delicious and so much cheaper than the other restaurants we'd seen about the place, would highly recommend.
Deciding that after all the great food we should really get in some exercise, one evening we walked over to monkey hill to see the sunset over Phuket. If you're wondering about the name its quite simple, it's the only real hill in Phuket town and it happens to be the home to a fair amount of monkeys. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint us all at living up to it. We didn't realise how unfit we'd become before being over-taken by geriatric Thai locals running up that damn hill. We were sweating and huffing, afraid of getting our water bottles out for fear of the monkeys stealing them, and all the locals, still in business casual would lap us like it was just a causal stroll in the park! After much debate about whether the view at the top would be worth all the effort, we finally reached the view point and it was stunning. Well worth the blood sweat and tears (maybe that's an over exaggeration) plus Ben made friends with a small monkey, that may or may not have just being trying to rob him.
With the heat and humidity in Phuket town seeming never-ending, it was once again time for a beach trip to cool down. Sadly Phuket town doesn't have its own beach, but with many options to choose from we jumped on a songthaew (think pick up truck, covered in a cage with two rows of seating facing each other) that took us down to Rawai Beach. As with all public transport it took us slightly longer that the 30 minutes google maps predicts, but all in all it was a smooth journey. The beach itself was stunning, a large white sanded beach led down to a crystal blue sea with small fishes darting around those swimming. Trees bordering the beach provide shade to those like me, people who like to be near the sun but not quite in it. Just off the beach was a small market, with stalls selling all the usual tourist crap alongside street food stands selling amazing smelling food.
Although it didn't seem to be that crowded on the beach, everyone seemed to want to leave at the same time. Unlike in England where when a bus is full its full; here, some "ingenious" plans came into play once all the bus seats were taken. First came having people sitting on the floor squished in-between everyones knees, when still more people wanted to come on at the next stop, we were forced to take a detour to find a slightly bigger songthaew. As I was one of the first on last time, I was the last off, somehow this volunteered me to clamber up onto the roof of the new songthaew to grab down some benches that sat in the middle of the row. There was honestly a brief moment when I thought the driver wanted me to sit up there for the rest of the journey, thankfully he didn't. For about two stops, everyone had a seat but still more people wanted to catch a ride, at this point we'd left logic and sidled into the absurd. Any one else who wanted a ride had to find a foothold somewhere and just hang on to the outside of the bus, when the heat of far too many people got to us, and our journey was coming to an end, we switched with some of the holder-on-ers who looked like they were getting a bit tired. It wasn't the most comfortable but at least we was getting a small breeze! Despite how mad we must have looked, we all eventually made it back to Phuket town safe and sound.
Like Krabi Town, Phuket Town Is also famed for its night markets. Unlike Krabi, Phuket's night markets are not on every night. The Indy Night Market, is held every week from Wednesday to Friday and is a hit with locals and tourists alike. This small market is more catered towards foodies with tons of different street food stalls although, you can still pick up clothing and crafts but the selection is not huge. It was a fun place to visit, with it's lively and friendly atmosphere, but if you only have time for one night market in Phuket I'd definitely go for the Sunday night market.
Set in the heart of old town, the Sunday night market takes over the historic Thalang Road, and it's overwhelming with the amount of stalls and the visitors it attracts. When we visited (with some newly made friends), we battled our ways through the crowds to try some interesting street foods, but we quickly got tired of this and popped off to a local bar to play some pool. What we didn't realise, was that after a certain time the the food stalls are packed away to be replaced with those selling homemade crafts, so when we returned to grab some more food our choices were limited. We still had fun looking through all the items on display and luckily there was still some food stalls dotted about, you can rest assured we didn't go hungry!
For our last two days in Thailand we decided to stay nearer to the airport, our flight was due to depart at 6am and with my constant paranoia that I'll miss my plane I'd rather not have to deal with getting a taxi at that time in the morning. We stayed in an area near to the airport but not that near to anything else, to get to the local restaurants it was a 40 minute walk through the Sirinat National park. Luckily for us, this national park is mainly made up of a pine forest that leads down to the beaches, giving us plenty of shelter from the downpour of rain that threatened to soak us on our way to get dinner. Despite the weather it was a beautiful walk and a nice place to end our trip.
Next stop Cambodia
Trip date: Feb 2020
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