Ferg & Jude\'s Thailand Adventure 2002

Thursday 7th November
Krabi Town

We were picked up from the harbour and dropped back into town at the bus station. The bus to Krabi pulled in minutes after we arrived back so we jumped aboard. It was an express AC bus which only took us ¾ hour to reach Krabi. The bus station in Krabi is about 4km out of town and we were swamped with touts as soon as we got off the bus. We managed to avoid them and picked up a songthaew for 10bt each to town. We found the Vieng Thong Hotel travel desk and booked our flights to Chiangmai for the next day. We then looked for some accommodation. The tour desk had suggested the Grand Tower Hotel, 5 minutes up the road so we lugged our packs up the hill to the hotel. I had a look at the room, yuk, wouldn't let my dog sleep in it. We stopped in at the Chok Dee Café for fried rice and a banana shake then headed back to the Vieng Thong Hotel. We decided to stay there, 400bt fan room. The room wasn't much better than the Grand Tower, moldy walls, cold shower and musty smelling but what the hell it was only for one night.

Krabi is a lot more touristy, we wandered the streets and found a good internet café to send some emails. Found some interesting markets and tried out some of the food vendors. Tried a some yummy little crispy pancakes filled with meringue and topped with shredded fruit (1bt each).

Friday 8th November
Chiangmai here we come...

Yuk, what a night, thank god we were leaving today. We arose at 6am and went for a walk along the river. It was relatively quiet, Krabi town was slowly awakening. We watched the longtail boats coming down the river and people doing their early morning aerobic class. We stopped for breakfast at a local Italian restaurant "Azura". The outside tables were almost right on the street. Unfortunately when we ordered our food the traffic was very light but it steadily increased to a major traffic jam and we were inundated with dust and fumes. At least the food was delicious.

Last night we had used a Mobile Phone street vendor to call the Lai Thai Guesthouse in Chiangmai to book some accommodation. These phone street vendors are everywhere in Krabi and cheap to use (2bt/min overseas call). After breakfast we headed out to the Krabi airport for our flight to Chiangmai. When we had booked our flight with Phuket Air they only had business class available so we checked in at the Royal Executive Class desk, not with the economy rabble. It was nice to be spoilt and we had comfy seats.

When we arrived in Chiangmai we were met by the Lai Thai driver. Our room was OK but located on the 3rd floor with no lifts.