I had heard all sorts of things from friends and colleagues about Thailand; more bad than good stuff. So it was time to hop on a flight and discover Thailand for myself. Needless to say I fell in love with the beaches, which is inevitably true for any tourist that visits Aonang and Phi Phi islands. We had planned a nice 15 day long (honeymoon) with stops at Krabi, Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok. The theme of our trip obviously was beaches and Bangkok was added just for the shopping getaway it is supposed to be, besides for the sake of cultural curiosity.
Although our trip was just a few months post the Tsunami, we saw no signs of damage anywhere, which was quite impressive. The idea initially was to just lie down and stare at the sparkling waters whilst our minds were recuperating from the daily rigmarole of life but there is so much to do and see in and around the city if you are a travel enthusiast. And I don’t think I can ever sit still anywhere. The first stop was the Krabi province, which has its own airport situated 15 kms from the city center. You can either take a connecting flight via Bangkok or book a private car and drive down to Krabi from Phuket airport. Chartered planes also fly into Ao Nang beach, a white sandy beach with clear waters.
The best part about first stopping over at AoNang is that it is centrally located in the Andaman Sea hence not too far from Phi Phi and Rai Leh- the most picturesque beaches in Thailand. A favourite spot for families and couples, the place is littered with tiny shops, massage parlours and laidback bars and restaurants across the beach road for entertainment. Beach bums might prefer sipping on their coconut water or beer on the beach or heading out for a swim. With the rustic charm of a small town and humongous limestone rocks adorning the southern part of the beach, Aonang, Krabi is on my list of ‘places I want to revisit someday’. Yes, it was that beautiful. Also hopefully by the next trip I will have the license to scuba dive in the clear waters of the Andaman Sea.
While in Aonang we took a few day trips closeby which are quite cheap, especially if you haggle. There are several options like rock climbing, snorkeling, diving, elephant trekking and kayaking through the caves for the adrenaline junkies. A heads up if you ever plan to take the kayaking trip, please cover yourself as much as possible if you don’t want your skin to get burnt. And also kayaking is not as easy as they make it look on television. I can explain, I wore a tank top and beach shorts to kayak, which were very comfortable during the trip where we would kayak our way to the caves and then stop and explore the age-old structures. And later I had a horrible tan running halfway through my thighs and legs, so when I wore my swimsuit later, people also assumed I was wearing tights on top.
Snorkeling and the underwater water is a must activity on your Thailand trip. Some beaches have stalls that rent snorkeling gear, some provide special trips that just take you snorkeling and ferry you to and fro, so take your pick. But be careful, sometimes the water can be too choppy for any kind of water sports. Also please wear appropriate clothes for these activities. There were Indians we came across that went for the underwater walk wearing jeggings and lycra tunics! For some reason it made me think about Water Kingdom in Bombay. The weird thing was although I was the only one in a swimsuit, I was been given the dirty ‘how dare she’ stare. I was also mistaken to be a foreigner by Indians on our snorkeling trip to Coral Island. Two Indian aunties stood in front of me and spoke in rapid hindi about ‘how these foreigners wore bikinis and walked half naked and had no sense of shame whatsoever’. I heard, started fuming, still stood there to listen to what else they had to say. How amusing these aunties are I tell you. Moving on.
There is a Phi Phi one day trip but to truly soak in the islands, however it is better to stay there for a couple of days. Phi Phi, pronounced as Pee Pee is made up of five islands, Ko Phi Phi Don being the only inhabited island and also the hotspot for snorkeling, diving and water sports. One can hire a speedboat to get to any of the other islands, or just book a tour. A trip to the islands is incomplete without a ride to Maya Bay, famous for where Leonardo starring ‘The Beach’ was shot.
Surrounded by cliffs on three sides, with the clearest waters in the island, underwater coral and exotic fish, Maya Bay surely spells out paradise. But the number of the people pouring in, in large numbers post the release of the movie can be a bit of a dampener to its beautiful imagery. It might be a good idea to go early in the morning or post 5p.m. to escape the crowds. Unfortunately we did a one day trip that did not include a stopover at Maya Bay, but we hope to go back and stay at Phi Phi or if possible settle down there.
Shopping wise Aonang is a better bet than Phi Phi, although the later might be a lot cheaper for some stuff. Colourful lamps, beach wear, bags, souvenirs…basically enough to keep you busy. Look out for the waterproof beach bags, they come in very handy especially if you are travelling alone or in twos.
Phuket and Pattaya were great beaches too but not half as picturesque and serene as Aonang or Phi Phi. However the party scene is more happening in the aforementioned city beaches. And most of the tourists with their children just stand open mouthed staring at the skimpily clad girls/ lady boys, dirty pole dancing in the open bars and clubs across the cities. It was really weird to see the sight; most girls looked like underage malnutritioned college girls-probably their source of pocket money. Another thing I noticed in especially Pattaya and Bangkok were men traveling alone and most of them old white men who were accompanied by Thai chicks to clubs, rooms, restaurants, shopping, bars – they were probably hired as escorts for their trip. It was sort of sad and extremely creepy. Shudder.
All in all I realized Thailand has a lot of facets to it. It can be a culture shock for some but you cannot deny how much there is to see and do. And if you love seafood, typical Thai food will keep your palate and stomach happy. For the veggies however be careful, even the papaya salad, a Thai specialty contains miniscule prawns. The beautiful beaches have left me with enough memories to reminisce till my next trip to the Kingdom of Thailand.
ps: pictures in the next post :)
