We set off for Krabi in what turns out to be another big adventure – more on that in a minute…<\/p>\n
Krabi is one of the southern provinces in Thailand on the western side that faces the Andaman Sea.\u00c2\u00a0 It is directly across a large bay from Phuket, and many people come here from Phuket via boat.\u00c2\u00a0 The coast here is a little more rugged and mountainous than any of the other spots we have been so far, and this is where a lot of rock climbers come from around the world to climb what is regarded as some of the best.\u00c2\u00a0 Krabi is also the name of the largest city in the province and historically has supported a fairly large fishing industry.\u00c2\u00a0 We will be staying in Ao Nang, which is a beach town about 20 kilometers from Krabi town.<\/p>\n
We head down to the travel agent the day before to look into our travel options.\u00c2\u00a0 After our interesting journey to Ko Samui from Phuket, we are looking for some better info about what we are getting into \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
We had at one point thought we hooked ourselves up with a private car for about 4000B ($110 USD) but that deal mysteriously falls apart (maybe the price was too low) and now the agent tells us we have 2 options – Option 1 is for a private car, the car will take us from Samui all the way to Ao Nang and to our destination hotel for 7000B (about $200 USD).\u00c2\u00a0 The other option is to take the regular tourist transfer for about 3000B ($90 USD).\u00c2\u00a0 Having been down the transfer road before we ask more questions this time……\u00c2\u00a0 The package takes us from our hotel to the ferry by van where we will transfer to an air-conditioned bus across the ferry and then to Surat Thani where we will transfer to another air-conditioned bus for the trip from Surat Thani to Krabi.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally we would take a taxi form Krabi to our hotel in Ao Nang.\u00c2\u00a0 We double check the facts, and Mrs Columbus says it’s half the price and a nice bus all the way so we should take the transfer vs the private car.\u00c2\u00a0 We did not really stop to process the fact that we were really talking about the difference between $100 and $200 to move 6 people around – but I guess this is the way we learn lessons.<\/p>\n
So 8am rolls around and we climb into the van to go to the ferry where uneventfully we transfer our baggage to the bus and board the ferry.\u00c2\u00a0 After the crossing we travel the hour or so to Surat Thani and get dropped off at a restaurant\/transfer station and are told it will be about a 20 minute wait for the bus that is going to Krabi. \u00c2\u00a0 After a short wait we are herded off to a tuk-tuk to go to where the other bus is waiting.\u00c2\u00a0 Here is where the adventure goes a bit sideways…..\u00c2\u00a0 The bus we board seems relatively new, and air-conditioned and we load our bags and settle into some seats, and then we wait, and wait, and wait.\u00c2\u00a0 All the while more and more people are getting on the bus and after about an hour and 20 minutes the bus is full and finally departs.\u00c2\u00a0 Much to our surprise though the bus stops frequently on the way out of town to pick up even more people, and soon the bus is completely full – including people standing in the aisle and anywhere there is a spot.\u00c2\u00a0 It turns out that this is a local bus that is going to Krabi, but not via an express route, and going through a bunch of samll towns along the way vs going along the freeway.\u00c2\u00a0 So instead of the short 2 hour ride were were expecting we hunker down for a much longer time – the one saving grace is that we all have seats vs the people standing.<\/p>\n
After a 10 hour journey (that is only about 5h including the ferry if you go direct) we finally arrive at our destination, and after getting our bags stowed away in our rooms we grab a bite to eat and call it a night.<\/p>\n