Reminiscing: Backpack Trip : Krabi

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, The most Merciful

Alhamdulillah. I've been delaying my post about the backpack trip to Krabi. Finally, I can spend some time to write about this. teehee.

Basically, the trip was according to plan, and under-the-budget.

Estimated Budget : RM500 / 5000 Baht

( approximately : MYR 1.00 = Baht 10 )

Train Ipoh - Hatyai : MYR 40.00 ( Upper Bed )

Train Hatyai - Butterworth : MYR 23.00 ( Seat )

Hatyai - Bus Station : 50 Baht

Van Hatyai - Krabi : 325 Baht

Car Taxi Krabi - Aonang : 200 Baht

Popeye Guesthouse : 500 Baht / 3 night ( 500 Baht / night divided with 3 person )

Island Hopping Long Tail Boat w/ lunch : 400 Baht

Dinner : 250 Baht

Open mini van Aonang - Krabi Town : 100 Bhat ( 2 ways )

Tuk Tuk around Aonang : 50 bhat * i dont really remember*

Van Aonang - Hatyai : 300 Baht

Lunch : 160 Bhat

TOTAL : : MYR 296.5 , Rounded up MYR 300 / 3000 Bhat

So, this is the budget that I used during the trip exclude the some banana pancake, junk food, the nasi pulut and everything. HAHA

The trip begin by departed from Ipoh Train Station at 12 in the midnight. I brought some fritters, nuggets, fries with me just in case my travel mates were hungry. Fell asleep and woke up for Fajr Salah. Then, arrived at border of the two countries Malaysia - Thailand at Padang Besar around 8am. Here, we need to take out all our things including backpack to be checked at immigration counter and filled a form. Got our passport copped here and waited for 1 hour before continuing the journey. There was only 2 coaches that will enter Thailand.

We arrived Hatyai around 12 noon which was 2 hour late from the schedule. From the train station, you need to find a transport to Krabi Town. It can be by bus or by van. Here, there will be a lot of agents that will try to persuade you to take their van. Here we made a scene. LOL. A guy came to us and asked to follow him to his agency workplace near the train station. He offered about 600 Baht to Krabi, which was damn expensive for us. To say NO was something they don't like to hear because the will try their best to make you take them. We already searched from other experienced backpackers before start this trip and almost of them advised to look for other choice because agents' price usually doubled up. They got angry but hey, we have the right to choose ! HAHA so , this is the usual scene that you maybe come across when looking for a reasonable price. At this this, come our savior *LOL* ,a guy and he can speak kelanatanese Malay,and he offered to take us to the bus station which was 5 mins away from the train station. 50 Baht / MYR5.00 per head and he dropped us at a place that he know will offer cheaper price. This shop is right in front the bus station. After bargaining with the agent there, we got 325 Bhat per head for the van to Krabi Town. The first priced that she offer was 400 bhat which was cheaper that the first agent that we met. The van will pick us at 2pm so we still have time to wander around the Hatyai. First thing that we did was looked for a sim card w/ internet access. It costs around MYR9.9 / 99 Baht and we need to reload 100 Baht / MYR 10 for activation. Tips here, asked the shop keeper there to activate it for you. Some phone may not work. Then, we bought 2 packet of nasi w/ ayam goreng . It costs MYR8.00/ 80 Baht. It was damn delicious ! Banyak pulak tu ! The chilli sauce was superb. Then we took the van to Krabi town. 4 hours of journey and it was raining. The van dropped us at a quite weird place. No other shops there except the shop that we were dropped. That shop provided a taxi to Aonang.Quite gelap dah and jam dah pukul 8 malam. Dan semua dah penat. 200 Baht / MYR20 per head untuk kerete teksi. We just ambil sebab semua dah tak larat asyik duduk je. HAHA So here, dari Hatyai , kita kena amik any transport to Krabi Town which take 4 hours of journey. Krabi town ni dalm 15- 30 minutes to Ao Nang. Boleh juga kalau nak cari guesthouse di Krabi Town which is cheaper dr AoNang. Aonang pula, area yg sebelah pantai.

We choose to stay at Aonang sebab pagi pagi nak tengok sunrise senang. ececey. Aonang ni kira bandar pantai and sangat hidup waktu malam. Then, we arrived at our guesthouse, Popeye Guest House. Bilik sangat condusive. Okay je and Owner pun mesra. After lepak lepak kejap dalam bilik, kitorang pergi cari makan skit kat luar then cakap cakap dengan owner aktiviti apa bole buat. Haha. Dia bawak jumpa sorang agent island hopping, so kitorang grab yg macam harga tertulis kat atas. Harga semua tempat sama je untuk island hopping ni. Ada dua choice either nak naik speed boat or long tail boat. Speed boat MYR100/ 1000 Baht . So we decided amik long tail boat je. Macam, boat panjang gitu. HAHA. Balik bilik semua tidur. HAHA. Guest house kitorang depan Ao Nang medical centre.

Second day,

Pagi tu pukul 8, orang tour guide tu pick us dekat guesthouse. Pakai sesiap baju renang haha. Bawaklah towel ke satu. Aku sumbat je semua dalam dry bag tu. and bawaklah duit sikit, photocopy of id card and pasport. Original tinggal dlm bilik, Kunci. Tips ni. HAHA. Island Hopping ni, kitorang pergi 4 pulau. Bukan reezeki, hujan turun pulak. Sejuk teramat. HAHA tapi sangat cantik ! Tak ingat sangat nama pulau yang pergi. Snorkeling.

If you wearing proper baju and yes, menutup aurat, bole aja nak solat zohor kat sana. Kitorang solat terus after lunch sbb zohor masuk dalam pukul 12. Other muslim foreigner pun ada yang solat kat pantai. Never leave a chance to da'wah when you have one :) Balik around 3pm macam tu. Sampai je bilik, terus mandi terus tidur. HAHA . Then ready for maghrib * Isyak and out for dinner and night walk. Dinner ni , it's up to you guys which type of dinner that you prefer. For me, I prefer to spend money on activity berbanding makan. But sometimes, nak jugak rasa makanan kan. So we chosed a muslim restaurant lepas jalan jalan skit pusing 2 3 kali cari suitable spot nak makan. Ikan masak lemon, kerang, sotong celup tepung, tomyam total 1000 Bhat untuk 4 orang so dlm 250 Bhat per head. okay jugak la. Then night walk and beli la 2,3 benda.

Third day,

Next day was totally a day for shopping. We went to Krabi town, and walk and shop and capture moments. Pegi Krabi Town dr Aonang : 50 Bhat per head. Seharian kat sana, around 4-5 kitorang balik ke Ao Nang. We had or lunch at a cafe which is so comfy and food is tasty. The honey lemon green tea was awesome. An cheap. 4 person 600 Bhat !.

Pastu balik, letak barang and keluar balik tengok sunset. What the eyes see is more breathtaking than what I captured.

And night walk again. Serious, nightwalk ni, aku sangat suka. Mind here, bukan aku suka sebab boleh tengok bnyak life yg hidup tak bertuhan, tapi learn to become a good observer and people around us. Taste a lot of food. Note here, please taste the Banana pancake or any other pancake. Yums. and the shakes too. and any other food sell at the street. They're wayy cheaper than the restaurant and more delicious. But asked or look first wheather it is Halal or not. Halal food was not something hard to find here.