The Ugly Duckling

My friend and I wanted to have a day by the sea. We chose to go to Krabi, at the East Coast south Thailand. We have heard of its pristine blue waters and of course the nearby Phi Phi Island, made famous by Leonardo di Caprio.

We stayed at Sekusit Resort located at the farthest end of the beach resort. The beaches are about 45 minutes drive from the airport. All hotels are built opposite the beaches. There is a long dyke separating the beach from the streets.
We paid for a seaview room, which isn't the case. The room was on the fourth floor and there is no lift. (I twisted my ankle just 2 weeks before the trip). Since the room was prepaid we could not get a refund. Thus I endured the stairs and a somewhat blocked seaview room. The garden view room overlooked a row of potted plants and wall fence to the neighbour's.


We were famished and asked a tut tut to take us to a restaurant which sells good Thai food. We spent about RM 45 for lunch consisting very thick coconut green curry (mild), a small plate of fried morning glory and fruit juice. This is pricier than Malaysia. For dinner we splurged on seafood at a restaurant facing the beach. The venue was lovely because it was breezy. But the food was over priced and disappointing. The portion of pepper crabs which we ordered was very small and cost about RM 30, it was served with the shells covering the platter. So we did not see the tiny bits of crab underneath. I can't remember the rest of the food except the bill at RM 80! We rented a motorbike to move around on the second day. It was the coolest Vespa I've ever seen.

Personally I found Krabi a disappointment. The entire coastal line is dotted with hotels and rows of stalls selling clothes, collectibles, items for tourist. The food is pricey. I could not find authentic Thai food, not even from the road side stalls. The cheapest food from the local hawkers cost about RM 5, similar to KL standard but with a smaller serving. There were many stalls selling Thai pancakes with a variety of fillings like banana and chocolate, cheese, tuna, ham. The pancakes are similar to our local roti canai. The fruit shakes are good especially banana shake..
The beach and the sea is slightly polluted. We stayed for 2 nights.

We came accross a resort which gave us a culture shock. It appeared like an apartheid community for caucasians.

On our 3rd day we went to Phi Phi Island. It was another shock for us The whole beach front is covered by shops! Our hotel was within walking distance from the pier. Our hotel Phi Phi Island Resort cost about RM 175 a night. It was seaview as well but below my window lies zink roofs of rows and rows of shops. We have to look further accross the roofs to see the sea/coast.



We took a half day snorkelling trip which cost RM 45 per person. The water was blue and clear. We snorkelled off an island before stopping over at Monkey Beach. The corals and marine life isn't too bad. (i'm lost of words as I've seen better corals and marine life in Redang and Lang Tengah Island off Malaysian waters). Approaching Monkey Beach was an adventure. We had to swim about 5 meters to get to the island. The sea became choppy as a storm was approaching. 2 meters from the island, there were roped tied to the clift. We have to hoy ourselves up to the clift. Then climb a rope ladder. The waves would either pull our body away from the clift of slap us against the rocks. My partner asked me to brace myself for the next wave to carry me to the clift.

After reaching the top of the clift which was about 1 storey high, we had to walk through a small jungle which lead to a hidden beach and a lagoon. It was beautiful. I was reminded of the Blue Lagoon. This is wear Leonardo Di Caprio was filmed in the movie Beach.
There was a slight sand storm because of the approaching storm.

We returned to our fishing boat. The sea became more rough. After climbing down the clift, I had to pull myself over the 2 meters of rope to avoid getting slapped against the rocks. Moving with the waves helped.

The boat ride was rocky at certain parts of the sea and we were drenched from the constant waves splashing into our boat.

On our last day, we were running out of money. We stayed at a budget hotel on Krabi. It cost only RM 50 and it has all the facilities of a 3* hotel. It was clean, it had a fridge and a save to keep your valuables. Seven Eleven is a life saver when your funds are short. My friend bought a rice patty burger and you can help yourself to all the salad as filling. There were packed boxes of noodles and fried rice which we bought for lunch and breakfast.

We spent RM 2000 for a five day trip which could have cost less if we had gone to the East Coast of Malaysia.