Krabi Trip: Day 2, Ao Nang

Kraaaaaabi part TWO! Go!

Woke up early to get dressed up and have our breakfasts before we were picked for island hopping!

It was really nice(and cold) to walk along the streets towards the beach. Morning air is fresh and chilly(...till we passed a place near the beach which smelled like rubbish).

Beach was nice :) Oh! I borrowed Char's spare maxi dress cz I couldn't afford to spend on a cover up lolol Thanks, Char!

longtail boats

Walked back to look for SIM card and breakfast! I wanted the SIM card solely for the data, not so much the calls and texts. Went to the 7 Eleven stores, one ran out of the Happy Tourist SIM and the other said data can't work on iPhone and S4 =.=" She said it's only possible after tweaking some settings on my phone by going to the telecommunications shop, which won't be open till 10am. Didn't have time, so I didn't get it in the end. It costs 299baht(RM29.90) for 7 days of unlimited data, if I remember correctly.

Bus timetable from Ao Nang to various places.

For breakfast, we wanted something local, but we couldn't find any stalls which was rather surprising. Settled for McDonald's which cost about RM15 :/ What happened to cheap breakfast?

Walked back to our guesthouse to wait for the truck. I like the free pick-up an drop-off services provided by these companies. They literally know every single guesthouses and hotels around!

They were very punctual, reached our doorstep at 8am. There were other tourists on board too, and we went to pick others up. Arrived at the gathering area to be segregated into groups with different coloured stickers which says "Barracudas". That's the company name haha

We were grouped according to our activities respectively, like for those going to Koh Hong, 4 Islands Tour and a few more which I don't remember.

different tables to get your respective stickers from

We waited and waited as more people came down from the pick up trucks. I think we spent about an hour just waiting. I was so sleepy then zZzzZz Before I could doze off standing though, our group was called to move over to the beach! We're moving! The guide gave us a short briefing before letting us off to one of the 4 longtail boats.

Climbing into the boat was scary at first. Slippery ladder, wobbling(?) boat, thinking I'd slip and fall into the water and drown...or fall into the boat and it'll either be embarassing or I'd die hitting my head hahaha Got used to it from climbing up and down the boat 3-4 times in the entire trip lol

We're setting off!

First stop was Lading Island where the 4 boats made a perimeter for us to snorkel in. Put on life jackets and snorkeling equipment, and off they jump off the boat into the water!

I decided to give this one a miss cz I can't swim. I know the life jacket will make me float, but I've never worn on and jump into the water, so I don't fully trust it lol Also, I get scared when my feet can't touch the ground. Kinda glad I made that decision and took things gradually.

Tried waiting for Miss Boobs to move aside, but she never did, so I proceeded to take photo anyway lol

Wooh!

my attempt to take a photo "with" her haha

The water was so clear, I could see fishies near the surface of the water!

We anchored there for about 20mins, not very long because the waves were getting rougher. Everyone got on the boat and we moved on to Pakbia Island, where we could snorkel for a longer time.

Boat driver

First beach stop

We were given about an hour and a half to snorkel, chill and have our lunch. Lunch was provided, so don't worry about getting hungry in the middle of the day while enjoying the beach!

Our guide, the one in orange with sunglasses

I didn't want to hold anything but the reiling, getting off the boat...so what I did was throw my sandals onto the beach and climb down haha The slippery ladder was definitely no fun..my heart's always on the verge of jumping out of my throat when climbing up or down and my feet slips.

This time, I wanted to try putting my head into the water lolol I've never done that cz I just can't hold my breath under water. I panic immediately. Even with the snorkel mask, I had to calm myself and slowly go into the water and stop myself from coming up after a second. My heart was literally beating sooo fast!

On a side note, snorkeling costed me a silver earring. The earring on my right ear was loose, so the tug of the mask while I was wearing it made it come off. Tried looking in the clear water, but couldn't find it :(

Focusing lolol

Glad I decided to do this there where I didn't have 2 things to panic about. The fact that my feet can't touch the ground makes me scared as hell. Which is why I said, good thing I didn't jump off the boat during the first snorkel stop.

I know that the life jacket will keep me afloat, but I've never worn one, so I don't fully trust it lolol Just know that as long as my feet can't touch the ground and having my face underwater will make me panic like nobody's business.

We wanted to move to a further spot, but that only means deeper so I can't feel the ground. I was up for it since I had my life jacket on and Char will be beside me.

Then a funny thing happened. As soon as I depended on the jacket to help me float, it did...on my back! As in I can't float on my front hahahaha No idea why! I tried to turn, but I always end up floating on my back. I tried till I was too tired, so I gave up and backstroked LOL nolah, more like let Char drag me around by the jacket hahahaha

Done goofing around(and peeing hahaha) in the water, we chilled for a bit before having our lunch! Speaking of peeing, you don't judge me, k? There's no toilet around, only the vast ocean. Tell me you'll hold the high tide of pee in till the end of the tour of half a day! hahaha

bikini model XD

Lunch was rice with veggies, chicken and fried chicken

There was a cool old-school swing made of ropes and a log. Char wanted to get on it to take pics, she literally rushed for it before a white lady could put her butt down on it LOL

happy kid. wheeeee!

We left soon after. I thought they'd bring us to a lagoon as stated in the itinerary..well, they did bring us..but we didn't get down of the boat since it's just water and no land. Wait, lagoon can have land too, right? But yeah, we just made a U-turn out of the lagoon and went on our journey to Koh Hong.

Part of the lagoon lolol

taken while we're in the lagoon

spotted a middle aged white man kayaking in the lagoon

hahaha I know you guys can't see the shape of the lagoon from the photos, but trust me, it's surrounded by those walls of rocks and trees..so use your imagination.

that's me being sleepy on the way to our last destination

As soon as we got off the boat, we saw ticket counter for the national park. Being the nature lover she is, Char went up to the counter to ask for the price. Since we came with a tour, it's included! Only downside?....the national park is just a small pathway with trees LOL Our guide kinda laughed when he told us it's not really a national park hahaha

there you go, a national park for you haha

We walked over to the other side of the beach through the park and there were many more tourists than at Pakbia Island. Probably cz it's the main island we all signed up to be at.

life jacket, my life saver

I actually like this photo cz my leg looks niceeee XD

I spent most of the time on Hong Island just sitting, chilling and people-watching cz I didn't wanna get burnt in the sun, plus I was rather sleepy by then. People-watching was fun...you get to see eye candies, funny posers, cute kids and annoyingly attention-seeking people.

I had the most fun watching several white women posing for the cameras sexily. It's like they're doing shots for magazines haha I can never do sexy poses for the camera in private, much less in public on the beach. They were literally jumping in the water to get that sexy-splash pose, the hand-on-the-head-smelling-armpit pose and even rolling around in the sand! LOL

Good for them that they dare to do it and are comfortable in their own skin...and they'll get nice photos for keepsake. I just find it entertaining, that's all. At least their photos won't turn out like my boring smile-at-the-camera-wait-what-do-I-do-with-my-hands poses...they're not even poses lah *face palm* :(

here's one rolling around on the beach

fine white powder sand is what the beach is famous for

Being the last and main location of the tour, we were given the most time here. Got a bit bored towards the end, so I offered to braid Char's hair XD I still remember how to do French braid! Thanks to Tamil for teaching me in Form 6 hehe Have always loved the French braid, especially when I got my first one done by her and I had highlights in my hair...fuh! Damn nice!

so full of concentration

tadahhh! My handiwork :D

That sums up the Hong Island tour! It took us about an hour journey to get back to Ao Nang. I may have doze off a couple of times :X

We're backkkkk!

We chose to walk back to our guesthouse instead of being sent back cz we needed to buy ticket for Koh Lanta the following day. Before that though, banana + peanut butter pancake!

500baht(RM5)

There's many agencies with slightly different prices, so we randomly picked one of the cheapest agency, which is pretty much just a stall at the side of a shop. The price varies by the mode of transportation. If I'm not wrong, it's the cheapest to travel on land.

Ao Nang - Koh Lanta

Van: 300-350baht, 2.5hours

Ferry: 450-550baht, 2.5hours

We decided on taking the minivan to Koh Lanta for 350baht(RM35) which leaves at 10am.

Went back to our guesthouse to freshen up and then head out for dinner! Because we budgeted an amount for our dinner, we can't go all fancy..because if we did, we'll be penniless for the rest of the trip lolol

I don't really drink alcoholic drinks cz I don't like the taste. However, since we're in Thailand, Char wanted to try Chang beer and so we shared a bottle.

Wrong bottle holder lol

I honestly can't tell the difference between beers' taste cz they all taste the same to me haha Maybe cz I'm don't drink often, so the taste of each isn't really prominent in my head for me to compare.

Naan for dinner. I got Aloo Naan, potato-stuffed naan

After dinner, it was shopping timeeeee! Gotta shop for souvenirs to bring back home haha Should definitely bring more money the next time I travel. Hey, it's my first time...I'll learn from my mistake.

The shops along the beach was soooooo long, never ending, I think. Most shops sell the same items though, maybe you can try your luck bargaining around haha

In between looking for souvenirs, we walked through lanes and corners along the street and guess what?! We found the place where a ladyboy cabaret show was held every night. Initially I intended to attend a show, but wasn't on my must-do list cz the one I wanna go to is in Bangkok haha

Anyway, didn't get to go to the show cz it costs 500baht(RM50) and I Youtubed it...wasn't very entertaining lolol

Blue Dragon Bar, Center Point is the venue

random photo of lined-up taxis by the roadside cz I don't have any pics left to upload lolol

I didn't take photos that night cz I was too tired and lazy to whip my phone out. Gotta get a camera when I have the money! Just hang it on my neck LOL

these were bought at the night market in Krabi Town the day before..forgot to post it up. Michelle's shortalls for 200baht(RM20) and Rebecca's t-shirt for 100baht(RM10)

And this! This is my dad's t-shirt cz he loves martial arts haha 175baht(RM17.50)

It was so hard to bargain with the t-shirt lady. Char and I bought one each and her lowest price per t-shirt was 175baht...for size L. Can't believe they charge different price for different size...like we're literally paying for the extra cloth lolol

I guess that's all for this post! Sorry it took so long, been super busy with assignments. Yes, it's 3am cz I'm wide awake from napping twice in the afternoon heh