January 14, 15 & 16
January 14 we travelled from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to Krabi Thailand. We checked out and called for a Grab about 9:30 am. We arrived at the airport well 10:30 am. It’s a good 40 minute ride depending on traffic. We had relatively good traffic conditions and we were heading out of downtown which helped. Our driver held the speed at 120 km/h on the110 km/h posted highway. The amount of construction of new highways and sky scrapers is unbelievable. The picture at the top of this post shows some of the overpass construction we passed.
AirAsia has self check in counters like everyone else. Of course Linda’s boarding pass didn’t print. We had an AirAsia rep help us out. Our bags were tagged and we dropped them off at the belt.
We proceeded to our gate K14 which was nowhere nearby. We went through one set of security scanners which seemed a bit lax. We then went through passport control, which was quick. A long ways down the terminal we finally hit the final security check point. We had to drink our water and once again get ready to open up every thing. It usually helps if Gary takes his wallet and wrist watch and puts them in his carry on bag. They both set off scanners. We both walked through with no glitches. We got to our gate so early we could have gone to Manila which was just starting to board. We had a drink and sat and read for 2 hours. Better being early than late. As we found out later the couple sitting beside us missed their flight earlier. The inconvenience and cost of doing that far outweighs the the time we spent reading and waiting.
When we arrived at Krabi we had to pass through customs before picking up our luggage. The passport control there is thorough to say the least. Since we had applied and received Visas in advance we got the fast track line. Thailand not only takes your picture but they also scan all your finger and thumb prints. This is getting more widespread. Malaysia only does your pointer finger on each hand same as Hong Kong.
We had pre arranged a shuttle through Krabi Shuttle and we were upgraded to a Toyota 4 runner for our ride. That was considered the Luxury SUV, we had paid for a Camry style vehicle. We liked the ride and thought our chances would be better in a crash, considering the way they drive here.
We checked into our hotel and went for a walk. We hit a place nearby and had a beer and fries. We came back to the hotel for a quick rest and then went out to find a place for supper. We missed happy hour which increased the cost of beer by nearly double. A large Leo beer went from 65 to 120 baht, about $5.15 CAD. Keep in mind a large is 2 beer in one bottle that we share. We shared an order of stir fried chicken with cashew nuts and a steamed rice. It was good. We got back to the hotel and went to bed.
Jan 15 we were up early and down for breakfast by about 7:30 am. It is a huge spread of everything you could imagine. Gary ate watermelon until he sloshed. There was dragon fruit, pineapple, guava and salads, tomatoes, breads and hot foods as well as the omelette bar where you could order eggs any way you liked
Coffee, espresso, tea and 3 juice selections. Later in the morning we went to the pool for the day. They have lounge chairs with padded mattresses and pillows under umbrellas that kept us comfortable. We alternated from sweating and reading to swimming and repeat. That evening we made sure we got to happy hour on time. We tried an Indian place and it was excellent. Not only do they have Indian but also Thai and Western dishes so lots to choose from.
The next day we repeated breakfast and pool till about 3 pm. We showered off and went for a walk to look around town. We are staying on Aonang beach (pronounced ow-nahng). We are on the North side of the big rock or cliff that separates the two sides of town. You have to walk inland of the big rock/cliff to get to the south. Today we took the 15 minute walk south to see what was there. It appears the beach is way nicer on the south side. We will find out more tomorrow when we have a boat trip to Railay Beach, a cave and some other beaches. About 6 hours total costing us 2200 baht for the two of us on a private tour. Including the national park fees of 400 baht each, our cost for the day is $130 CAD.
We are very sorry to hear about all the terrible cold weather at home. Hope everyone is surviving ok. This is what we are so thankful to be missing at home in Saskatoon.
