Krabi Getaway!

It’s been a while! My 20’s life feels like dragging me along with time. I couldn’t complete my daily tasks without procrastinating. I am not sure why, but somehow I was afraid too. I was afraid that I will lose the passion of living life. I think I am going to be a slump at this rate, and God forbid! I want to be sharp, creative and hardworking and at least achieve something big before turning 30. As today is already the 1st of February, the trial month of year 2019 is done. I have to move forward and faster. I need to finish writing for my dissertation as soon as possible. This is going to be my last semester after all. Wish me luck! 

Last 18th of January, my family and I had a trip to Krabi, Thailand. It has been a while since we were going to a trip oversea rather than going to Singapore. Our journey started at 5 o’clock in the morning, from Kulim by renting a coaster van. Our trip was joined by few friends of my mother. From Kulim to Padang Besar it only takes about 1 hour and a half. We performed Subuh prayers before heading to Wang Kelian, Perlis. Along the way, we passed by Chuping. I don’t know why I kinda missed that place. My internship was hell, but that place is really something. I promised myself to write about my 6 months experience in Chuping but I didn’t get to, maybe next time. We reached Wang Kelian (the Malaysia-Thai border) around 9 am. The road was rather steep and uphill. The  day was very windy at the immigration post. The time in Thailand is one hour difference from Malaysia’s time. After the process of checking and stamping our passports, we were good to go. As we passed a few village, I still didn’t felt like I had left Malaysia yet. The house design is almost similar as what we see in kampong in Kedah and Perlis. When we reached Trang, I found out that if we were on package trip, we need a Thai’s tour guide. There, we met Osman our tour guide for this 3 days trip. It took about 4 hours to reach our first attraction from Satun, the Le Khaokob Cave.

At Thailand's Immigration 

Le Khaokob entrance

The cave located in Trang,Thailand. The special attraction of this cave is the Belly of the Dragon. It was said that the name was taken from the formation of the cave passage is similar to a dragon.The fee is 20 Baht per person. I was nervous at that time because I couldn’t imagine how exactly closed the cave are. At there, we had to travels by canoe.The canoe was handled manually by two staff. At the entrance of the cave, we had to lay down in the canoe because the cave’s ceiling was very low! It was a little bit uncomfortable. At certain point, we can get up and sit up straight before reaching a holding point. There is a pathway inside the cave, that we can get off from the canoe and walked a bit to see some stalactite and stalagmite. There was also a part of the formation of rocks that was worshiped by the Buddhist here. We took some pictures inside and inside of the cave was a little bit slippery. I suggest you to wear comfortable shoes because it is quite muddy. After that, we went back to our canoe and our adventure starts! Before reaching the ‘Belly of a Dragon’, we had to take out our shoes and lay down properly. The guide warned us to stay still and do not move our hands because it was dangerous to do so. He also ensures us that he will make sure that we were going to go out safely. The guide also told us that we were very lucky because some times the water level would be high so we cannot enter the cave. As we reached the Belly, cave become really narrowed. It was so narrow that it literally fits only the canoe. We can see the ‘scales’ of the Dragon and its backbone. How cool to see such rock formation entwined with human imagination. The part gets smaller and I swear whoever had claustrophobic should avoid this. I myself got really freaked out when the ceiling slightly touched my face. It was like only one inch away! I was scared that my spectacles would stuck at one the rocks and Final Destination here we go. It was the longest 10 minutes I ever felt. This was going to be my first and last. I would not risk myself again to go inside there. I never felt relief to see ray of light at the end of our path. 

We reached Krabi province around 3 pm. The driver took us to an elephant attraction. There were a few elephants that are being trained there. I don’t really support this kind of tourism. Before even going to Thailand, I told my family not to ride the elephants. The elephants were held captive and trained by painful punishments. According to World Animal Protection, “Between 2010 and 2016 in Thailand alone, 17 fatalities and 21 serious injuries to people by captive elephants were reported in the media. Unreported incidences involving local elephant keepers are likely to make this figure much higher.”-- PETA

I would not recommend you to support this kind of tourism either. 

Hello Krabi! We finally reached our hotel, Inn&Omm after we had our late lunch in a Muslim restaurant nearby. The hotel room was nice! I got to share a room with my sister. We had television in our room, but all the channels were in Thai and only one in English. After we refreshed and took a nap, we went out again to the Aonang Street Market. The distance from the hotel to Aonang Beach was about 30 minutes; from there you can either rent a motorcycle or took a grab. Maybe it is best for you to find hotel that is nearer to the beach if you don’t have your own transport since it is actually quite dangerous if you don’t have your travel insurance. There were some cases happened recently involving accidents, so it is better to take precaution. Aonang Street Market was happening and there are many Muslim food stalls along the roadside. The Muslim food stalls are near to Aonang Mosque. The mosque was very colourful with the lighting and grand design. The must-try street food here in Thailand, is the Nutella & banana pancake. At first I didn’t really think that I would enjoy it since I don’t really like banana hahahaha, but it turned out that it was so good! The banana was not mushy at all and it tasted sweet that it goes well with the Nutella spread. It was only 15 Baht. Other street food that you should try are the Kerabu Maggi (Yam Mama) and the Pulut Mangga. They are very flavorful and the portion was worthy too. 

Our hotel in Krabi!

The room

Aonang Mosque

The making of infamous pancake

Aonang Market

My favourite; Kerabu Maggi :)

Our second day in Krabi! We went for a breakfast near the Aonang before heading to the beach! We went for a snorkeling trip to the three famous island, The Tub Island, Chicken Island, The Poda Island and the Phra Nang beach. The price for the whole trip including lunch box was about 500 baht. The sea was so clear and deeply blue. At the Chicken Island, we went for a short snorkeling. It was so sparkling and there were many small fishes. Next, we went to Tub Island. The wind and the current were strong, that we had to stay for a short time only. We went to Poda Island to have our lunch. The food was nice and quite spicy for me. At our last stop, in Phra Nang beach we went for a stroll along the beach. The cave on the island is popular with the legend of a princess and the offerings for her. You can read about the cave here: Phra Nang Cave. We ended our trip at 4 o’clock in the evening. It was exhausting but we had our fun. 

Tub Island

Tub Island

Phra Nang Beach

Before heading back to our hotel, we went to the 7 Heaven located near to Krabi. The entry fee was 10 Baht. The attraction does not really show any cultural side of Thailand, but the view was wonderful. There were many statues and rides on the hills. It is known that each of the level represented the levels in Heaven. At the highest level we can see the ocean. When we reached our hotel, it was already dusk. It was our last night in Krabi. As for our last dinner, we went to PakNam Muslim Restaurant. The food was satisfactory and maybe a little bit pricey. Later, we bought some souvenirs at Krabi Night Market. It was crowded with local and tourist. There were also some Muslim food stalls. I only bought few things because I don’t really have money with me hahaha. When we reached our hotel, my siblings and I decided to walk to the 7Eleven nearby to buy some snacks. At the 7Eleven, there was a special rack for Halal food products. There was variety of products to choose for. Most of Halal products we can find here was from CP Company. The next day, at the early dawn we check out from the hotel to send Nina at the airport. Nina had to went back to Kuala Lumpur earlier for her internship. After that, we went for a breakfast and bought some fruits for my grandparents. We started our journey going back to Wang Kelian at 9 am. At 2 o’clock in the evening, we reached at the immigration border post. It took about 3 hours to reach Kulim, and I slept all along the way. 

At 7 Heaven

Our last night in Thailand

Halal section in 7Eleven

Overall, it was a great trip for family get away. It was not really hard to find Halal food because there were many Muslims vendor in Krabi and Aonang. Some of them might also understand and talk to you in Malay. The food price and souvenirs were reasonable. I would be looking forward for another trip to Thailand. Maybe for the next trip, I would go for the cultural and learn more about their heritage.