Around South East Asia: Part Sixteen
In which I explored Krabi
26.09.2025: Tour Day3, City2
Another morning in Phuket. I woke up at 6am, kept luggage at the reception area and had breakfast with Devashree at 07:15am. I was unwell, had a running nose, sore throat and what not. Luggage was loaded in the small tempo. We boarded the bus at 08:15am and drove towards Krabi. We passed by the Patong beach.
On the way, Kamlesh shared his traveler stories on the past tours he conducted. Two teams were made and Anthakshari was played. Our team was represented by Veena and Dipti. We halted at a petrol pump for washroom break at 11am.
Krabi is a coastal province in southern Thailand combining towering limestone karsts with pristine white-sand beaches and turquoise waters. We reached the venue at 12:45pm. The bus dropped us at a point and we walked towards a beach.
Nopparat Thara Beach
It is part of the Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. We walked till the point from where we would board the speedboat. These boats are bigger and faster than the longtail boats. It was a task to climb the boat, even though it was anchored to the shore, the waves were moving it back and forth.
The four island hopping tour starts now. We reached the first island for the day at 01:30pm and had thai lunch at the seating area till 2pm.
1: Poda Island (Ko Poda)
Famous for its beautiful white beach and the iconic, postcard-perfect limestone stack rising out of the sea directly in front of it. We were given one and a half hour to explore the island, swim in the water, etc.
It is here that I realized I am not an island person. I walked around the beach. There is a miniature temple like structure, similar to the one I saw in Phuket hotel, near many places on the way to Krabi.
These structures are called spirit houses, built to provide a home for spirits and are believed to protect the family or business on the property. These are decorated with flowers, food, and drinks as offerings to the spirits. They are usually placed in an auspicious spot on the property, often in a corner. I had a chat with Ashwini and Pallavi Jagtap, on travels while walking towards the boat. We boarded the boat at 03:30pm and sailed for 10mins to watch the next island from the boat.
2: Chicken Island (Ko Kai)
The island gets its name from a unique limestone rock formation that looks like the head and neck of a chicken. Again we sailed for 10mins to walk on the next island.
3: Tup Island (Ko Tup)
It is a key part of the Thale Waek phenomenon. At low tide, a magnificent white sandbar emerges from the turquoise waters. It acts as a natural walking path, connecting Tup Island to the larger Chicken Island and the smaller Mor Island (Ko Mor).
We can literally walk across the sea from one island to the next, with shallow, crystal-clear water on both sides. Done with photos, we sailed for 20mins, to watch the last island of this hopping tour.
4: Railey Island
Phra Nang Cave Beach is located at the southern tip of the Railay island.
The boat sailed us back to the first beach and we walked towards our bus, through the park. We boarded the bus and drove towards Hotel Deevana Krabi resort, reached there at 05:30pm. We got room keys, my room no was 1207.
First thing we did after getting in the room was washing our sandals. Why on earth do they have a glass wall in bathroom!
I was down by now, made hot coffee. We had to assemble at the reception for dinner at 07:30pm. Most of them were dressed in party wear. We were going shopping and having thai massage after dinner. We reached the dinner restaurant Bombay Palace at 8pm. We celebrated birthday of Disha Walke and the successful completion of tour.
Post dinner, everyone got off the bus at a point near the Ao Nang beach, except for me, Vasundhara Mishra, Kamlesh and Joey. Since I had fever, I cancelled the night plan. Vasu gave me a calpol. I went to my room, had the medicine, packed my luggage and dozed off by 10pm.
27.09.2025: Departure from Phuket International airport
Good morning from Krabi! I woke up at 06:30am, had breakfast at 07:30am with Devashree, Ashwini and Pallavi.
Luggage was loaded into the small tempo and we boarded our bus at 08:15am. We drove towards the airport, had a 45mins break at the petrol pump at 10am. We reached the airport at noon and queued for the boarding pass, gave the luggage and got the boarding pass by 12:30pm. We got packed lunch from Joey.
Bottles were not allowed through the immigration gate. Hence, we had to throw those in bins. Passport was stamped at the immigration counter, then we passed through the security checking, all done by 1pm. I had lunch with Lalitagauri and Padmini. Some went shopping, some were chatting. I was waiting to board the flight and sleep. The boarding started at 03:30pm and we took off in 15mins. Here is the view from Mai Khao beach.
The flight QP619 had very few passengers, apart from our group, gave a feeling of a private charter. Everyone occupied window seats. We landed at 8pm, which means 6:30pm IST time. We had a restroom break, got the stamp at immigration counter, no queue at all, took our luggage from the belt. I got in the rickshaw, faced the traffic, reached the station, boarded Virar train. Finally, 20th country ticked on my bucketlist.
