{thai ed.03} krabi, till we meet again.

1:02 AM sians 0 Comments

finally,
the third and final instalment of my krabi series. 


exhausted from the island hopping tours the day before, we were hoping and desiring a relaxing day -- just simply savor krabi. in our effort to plan our itinerary on the third day, we came across a couple of inland tours - but we were very selective with the activities. most were full day tours but all we wanted was the hot springs and emerald pool so we could spend the rest of the evening along the beach of aonang.

sceptically, we tried our luck by approaching one of the tours to see if we could only manage a half day tour that covers only those two places but much to our surprise, the tour agent was quick to agree to our requests and promised to send us back in the afternoon after dipping in the emerald pool. 

....that is what we though. we knew it was too good to be true...but more about that later in the entry. 

the day began with early morning pick up after our breakfast at the hotel and off we started our mini inland tour, exploring the town lifestyle as we picked up the other tourists. it was an absolutely bright and sunny day, where the sun rays were searing our skins as we applied as much sun block as we could as countermeasure.

first stop: hot stream/hot springs.


it was probably not the best of times to go for hot springs.

-- hot springs, hot weather, i figured would equal to a very hot me.



it was a perilous barefoot walk to the side of the 'pool' -- the stones were a lot pointy that i felt i was about to get a foot reflexology (didn't think it was the intention) with every step as i danced to an empty spot while trying not to fall in the pool. it was like walking on egg shells. i dipped my tippy toes into the stream, it felt really hot but it eventually grew into a comforting warmth. while no one wanted to dip the whole body into the hot tub of a stream (did i mention it was a ton of people there?), {sah} was the first to take up the challenge and my other friends followed suit very shortly after. a word of caution, the stones in the pool are a little slippery.

the allocated 45 minutes at the hot springs was so short that we didn't even bother searching for waterfall and not before long, we rushed back to our designated driver whom we found out was actually malaysian from one of the northern states and he spoke fluent thai.

next destination: the famed emerald pool and if you are keen on walking a little extra, the blue pool.


if you thought that the entrance of the park is where the pool is, you will be greeted by a 2 km hike through the woods walk along the beaten pathway of greeneries and we knew we were approaching the green aquamarine pool as the route becomes more scenic and the melodic sounds of the splashing from shallow waterfalls became background to the chirping of birds and then subsequently the of the gleeful squeals of excited pool go-ers, swimming in the cool water.



we gasped slightly at the sight of the emerald pool -- the color of the pool certainly lived up to its name -- and the number of people who were there enjoying the cool dip in the scorchingly hot weather. we forgot it was a sunday which meant this was also a focal spot for the locals as well.


to say the pool was really clear - it wasn't. perhaps it was the rain from the previous days. but getting in and out the water was another perilous adventure for a non-swimmer like myself (dammit, NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SWIM!) since rocks underwater were really slippery and thank goodness the water just reached below my chin despite my petite height.

we figured since we were already up at the emerald pool, it would be a shame to not continue the journey to the blue pool. now, this was a hike into the rainforest halfway after stretch of wooden platforms. we dried off pretty quickly from the brutal waves of heat from the bright sun.


the blue pool was a beautiful sight to behold - strictly no swimming cos it's really deep and hidden quick sands. the strikingly crystal clear bright blue was amazing but slightly eerie. quite worth the trip to find this hidden gem in the rainforest.

our two hour time slot was nearing the end as we raced to the main entrance and before we could make it to the van, we were enticed by the street food stalls on either sides of the road.




an interesting old school equipment, i was wondering what these were and quickly found out that they were flavored ice pops! { sah } tried one (they were really cheap) and thought it was a good heat and thirst quencher.

{ ah } and { smd } said they had to try these skewered eggs which they concluded tasted very similar to herbal eggs.

and myself? i was craving to cool off with something satisfyingly ice cold -- coconut milk ice cream! it was homemade, creamy with all that coconut milk richness but cloyingly sweet. too sweet. oh and avoid getting those bottled coconut water drinks cos they are heavily sweetened as well, much to my dismay.



so we were looking forward to our journey back to the hotel except.. (now this is where i will rant.. remember, i said "it was too good to be true")

... they made us wait at shack at the elephant trekking location for over an hour. bear in mind, this was a really warm day (and yes, i have already mentioned the weather more than twice). it didn't help alleviate our crankiness. we were very unhappy campers but were stuck at where we were since we couldn't really hail for a cab to get us back. we ended up returning to our hotel at 3-4pm, which ruined our plans....and we were also forced to skip lunch... moral of the story, it is worth to spend a little more to hire a private taxi to your selected spots as long as you are not on a shoestring budget.

we quickly put the unpleasantness behind us to actually enjoy what was left of our vacation. showers all around and we headed out once more in search for an early dinner.



our hunt was for a good restaurant for non-fusion local dishes and found the aonang seafood restaurant, where the view was breathtaking.


we were given front seats to a beautiful show called sunset by the sea as the breeze combs through our hair. the opening act - early evening sun shinning in all its glory as the sun moves lower down the horizon. it was lovely.


the price tags for the food and beverage were steep at this restaurant but not surprising with its ideal location and magnificent view.




my friends seemed to enjoy their choices of dishes while i ordered my usual -- pad thai with shrimp and fresh young coconut to wrap up my thai food excursions with a little bow.


the fresh young coconut was such a pleasant departure to erase the bottled ones i got earlier. the serving size of the pad thai noodles were a tad small. the squeeze of the lime was a much needed addition to mellow the sweetness of the sauce. the shrimp were fresh but slightly overcooked and under seasoned while the noodles was borderline overcooked. however, the general flavor profile seemed to befriended well with my taste buds.


my food adventure in krabi in a nutshell: slightly disappointing as i was looking forward to my old favorites and relishing the nuances of spices thai dishes are famous for. i have to admit it was partially my fault for not doing my own research on krabi restaurants and planned for a restaurant itinerary like i did in tokyo.

after our early dinner, the sunset at the beach was about to begin.





with  only a couple more hours in hand before having to head back to pack our luggages for our early flight the next morning, it was a must to get our coveted massages after completing our souvenir shopping where i pampered myself with 1.5 hours of back, shoulder, foot massage and a food scrub. on top of that, i couldn't resist a session of manicure as well which all the lovely wonderfulness totalled to less than rm 100. blisssss!


our trip to krabi was a nice break and a change of pace to recharge and spend some time just on me. met a couple of great friends and experienced a couple of firsts on this little vacation. one thing though...the very obvious tan lines even though i slathered an insane amount of sunscreen all over my body and i still grew a couple of shades darker. of course the vacation isn't complete if i didn't gain a couple of pounds.


that's exactly the testament to a great beach vacation, right?

the sisterhood of travelling longchamp was going back to reality as we boarded our plane back to kl.


{ลาก่อน สวัสดี -- แล้วพบกันใหม่}

i will miss your beaches and your banana chocolate pancakes.
farewell, krabi, till we meet again. :)

disclaimer this is written based on personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may wary for others. 

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