Krabi 4D3N: The Tour Agent

This is basically a short post to share with y'all the agent that served us. Mr Peter, a Thailandaise Chinese, who speaks fluent English, Mandarine, and a little Hokkien, is a very friendly and helpful person. We passed by his store when we were on our way hunting for food on the first night in Krabi.

He was the one who explained the difference of half-day tour and whole-day tour to us. Actually, we had mentally marked down few agents that we had enquired before him for price comparison sake, but when we stumbled upon his service, he made us see what does SERVICE  really mean. He gave us his contact number and assured that he would be there to help us out should we encountered any problem, and he did. 

Though we felt more at ease trusting him than other agents (I'm not saying that they are not trustworthy, I'm just saying that the way he explained to us was clearer and more promising), we were still hesitating, comparing better offers from other agents. I think he could see that and thus, gave us some discounts for the 4 Islands-Hopping Tour.

The next day, we made up our mind and decided to straight look for him to book the Jungle Trekking Tour, and I'm glad we did. Not only he arranged the tour for us, he helped us with our transportation issue as well. We were bothered by the fact that we wanted to go for half-day Jungle Trekking Tour but the hotel check-out time was 12pm, then worried about how to get to Krabi town, checking-in at Krabi River Hotel, the night market and all that. But, he was kind enough to help us with all that! We are so very grateful :)

I think he rents a spot and set up a booth under the shop named "Lanna Beach"?

All in all, I'd totally recommend Mr Peter to those who wish to get one-stop quality service. Mr Peter is not like any other agents who might seem to put profit as priority. He puts himself into your shoes and provides few viable options for you to choose from. His booth located nearby Mc'D, around two minutes walking distance to the opposite shop lots.

Hope you'd have a wonderful trip too :)

Krabi 4D3N: Dinner.. Food.. Night Market..

I would say that the price of the food in Krabi are quite reasonable and affordable. I am referring to local food lar, if you want some western food there (which I think kinda weird if you really wish to), or go to some international chain stores, then it's another different story. There was this Thai Cuisine Restaurant that we went to, the food was awesome, and the price was way cheaper than in my home country! 

Day 1:

We had our dinner here the first night in Krabi.

You may choose the type of fish you want on-the-spot.. We didn't, 'cause we don't know how.. lol..

Tomyam Seafood! SUUUUUPPPER AWESOME! ❤❤
The spiciness and the sourness are in the right combination!
You would never find this in Malaysia! 

Sweet and sour fish :)

A close-up view.. Should have chosen a better angle though.. Aiks..

Sweet and sour pork XD

Pad Thai, which tastes like our Char Kuey Tiao.. Hehe..

Guess how much all these costed us? It was only THB 1200 for four persons, which was around MYR 30 per person. Not bad leh!! Super filling!!

Day 2:

Could you recognize this place? XD

Do you know the difference?
Left: Large size
Right: REGULAR! (which is equivalent to our large right?)

This was a regular set of Samurai Pork Burger, around THB 200+..
See the size of the fries and the drink? (Use my Sony Xperia Z1 as reference)

People go to Hard Rock Cafe when they travel, we went Mc'D pulak.. LOL.. What to do? We were in a rush and it seemed only right to have fast food in this situation.. Haha..

Day 3: Night Market

OMG! *Drooling*

All sorts of finger-food

I had this for dinner. The Pad Thai was around THB 40+ if not mistaken.

Orange smoothies, THB 40.
Notice their plastic "bag"? No.. No bag.. Haha..

MUST TRY! :D

I don't know what they called this though. But it tastes salty, then sweet, definitely unique! 

It looks like a drumstick, only made from flour.. lol.. Didn't manage to try it out though.. Aiks..

This ain't no bistro! Haha.. I bought almost all of my souvenirs here! 

My Xiao Poh's favourite: Ice-bar made from carbonated drink.
She bought one with Coke & 100Plus? Quite ok lar~~~

There are really a lot of some other food lar which I didn't manage to try them out, spent most of my "reserves" on souvenirs already.. lol.. But I wish I had not bought them in just one store, 'cause you could get cheaper in some other stalls if you are good in bargaining I think. The shop I went had set the price standard.. so.. yeah.. Lesson learnt! Anyway, besides food, you could find a whole lot of some other stuffs there too, eg: footwear, bags, perfume, smartphone casing, t-shirt etc etc. It's exactly like Night Market in Malaysia lar, in other words. Hehe..

Krabi 4D3N: Jungle Trekking Tour

Ok, it's not really jungle trekking lar, it's more like a semi-jungle tour. Again, it was a half day tour, which costed us THB 900 per head. I wonder why is it more costly than the 4 Islands-Hopping Tour. Hmm.. Let's see if it's worth the price?

First stop: The Hot Spring

It doesn't look like a hot spring to you right? Haha.. Didn't manage to capture the whole view, but you may click on the YouTube link at the end of this entry to know how the whole day went. Anyway, we spent only around 20 minutes there as we were advised not to soak in there for too long. The temperature was much hotter than my usual shower temperature, I couldn't get used to it at first, but after few minutes it was fine :)

Second stop: The Emerald Pool

This, on the other hand, is like a normal swimming pool, suitable to chill here. But I didn't get in because it seems quite deep for me (ikr, short people problems). Then, I remembered my cousin sister telling me that there is another more breath-taking pool nearby the Emerald Pool, and that, I must really visit the place, she said. I went to the information board which stated that, Blue Pool is located in 600m from here. I wasn't sure if the pool was that pool that my cousin sister told me about, but still, we embarked on the "expedition" under the hot blazing sun!

Introducing: The Blue Pool

SEE??!!!

It's nice, but it is prohibited to enter the pool because the bottom of it is like quagmire, something like quicksand, very dangerous. But we are encouraged to clap our hands if we'd like to observe a bigger bubble-spiral from the stem underwater lar.. Is it because they are breathing too?

Though it was quite exhausting speed-walked for that distance under scorching rays, let alone the empty path with no one ahead and behind (what if someone ambushed us and kidnapped us right), I'm glad that we made it through and rewarded with the awe-inspiring view of mother nature :D

Third Stop: Elephant Trekking

Notice the number of steps of the stairs?
You can imagine how huge the elephants are, can't you?

Basically, there is nothing much to share lar, because it's an experience, you get to know how it'd fee like sitting on top of an elephant. However, the scenery there was not bad too. Managed to get few clear shots while I'm on the back of the elephant, which I'm kinda proud of lar, it was "swinging" left and right ok? Haha..

Photo taken by the elephant instructor, not easy to get one with skills right? He is quite friendly too.
Love this shot so much :D

Enclosed below is a video version of the Jungle Trekking Tour. Sorry for the blurry parts, was trying to fast-forward but apparently overdid it. Anyway, hope you'd enjoy it :D

Krabi 4D3N: 4 Islands-Hopping Tour

First of all, there are few things you need to think about, if you'd like to save time on surveying the tour offers:

• You'd need to decide, you want a half day tour, or a whole day tour? Half day tour usually ends around 3-4 in the afternoon, but lunch not provided. Whole day tour usually comes with either lunch or dinner. The bright side of half day tour is that, you would have the rest of the day for yourself, to rest, or to do anything you like. Whole day tour seem quite heavy for us...
• There are two types of boats, Longtail boat and Speed-boat. Longtail boat is the one which looks somehow traditional, the size could range from 10 passengers to 50 passengers, operating on a somewhat outdated engine, super loud that you have to literally shout to converse with the person sits right next to you. On the other hand, you can find speed-boat in the Tub Island photo below, one that looks more modern and comfy and speedy! Oh well, Speed-boat package is more pricey, of course.
• The purpose of the tour. Just to have fun? Or have specific wish, eg: having dinner by the beach enjoying the sunset? Because there are tours specially catered for this group of people, you just need to tell the agent what you want.
• I've seen from blogs that you get to negotiate for better price if you book the tour in the afternoon. But we rather rest in the hotel and started the survey at night. Managed to get some discounts for this island-hopping tour, but not the Jungle Trekking Tour though.

There you go, 4 islands-hopping for THB 450 per head, price for the Longtail boat package. Though the pick-up from our Verandah Hotel was not punctual, the whole tour wasn't at all dull thanks to the ever energetic tour guide. Should have opted for the Speed-boat actually, I felt dizzy and wanted to vomit (but I didn't) in that Longtail boat, which I reckon was due to "volatility" and exhaust gas from the "laoya" engine.. zzzz...

It's a 50-passenger Longtail boat, which I think is better than those 10-passenger boat? Hmm..

First stop: TUB ISLAND

Wanted to capture some customary shots of the ships "anchored" along the beach, like those island photos that you'd manage to get from Google image, but it was all so crowded! Sigh.. This shot was taken from a small hunt slightly above a small hill on the island. To us, there was really nothing much to do here, except taking some photos, selfies and wefies! Haha..

Second stop: CHICKEN ISLAND

It doesn't have a beach, not that I'm aware of anyway. We were being dropped off at behind of the island. It was my first time attempting snorkelling around and it was damn embarrassing! I thought I've wore the gear properly but it dropped off when I was in the "sea" and tasted the seawater first-hand. LOL. Then I just glued myself to the "staircase" and never let go. No no, Imma not gonna let go! lmao

Image taken from the arse of the Chicken Island.. The middle part of it looks like a cub to me though :D

Third stop: PODA ISLAND

At first, I kept on thinking it was the James Bond Island, but I was wrong. James Bond Island looks more "yao yeng".. Hehe.. Anyway, this was the place where we had our lunch. How nice right, lunch at the beach? Remember I said half day tour usually doesn't come with lunch? This one did, which was not bad lar, though it was plainly some rice, cabbage and a tiny little drumstick :D 

Forth stop: Phra Nang Cave Beach 

He, the tour guide, dropped us off at a pretty far point that we had to walk appx 20 minutes to reach the cave, where there are some legends about it. I didn't really pay much attention though, as I was busying taking photos. Ya, I'm still not good at picking the right angle thus, "try-and-error" was super time-consuming! Oh, wait wait.. I've managed to get this:

Not perfect, but still not bad lar.. Hehe..

Enclosed below is a video version of the 4 Islands-Hopping Tour. This is my first time making a travel video, hope you'd enjoy :D

Krabi 4D3N: Krabi River Hotel

The reason why we booked another hotel was because it is nearer to Krabi Town Night Market (walking distance of appx. 1km) and Krabi Airport. Visiting the night market was our last agenda before we ended our Krabi 4D3N Trip.

Room for 1 night: MYR 74.52
Per head: MYR 37.26 (Ya, it's a budget hotel)

The airport transfer was charged THB 600 as well. for the appx. 15km journey. I think it's a standard rate there. Thus, THB 150/head, appx. MYR 15. The driver was super punctual, he arrived even before the time we mutually agreed. Luckily, we were not that late as well, was a mere 5 minutes.

A Quick Review for the price we paid for:

Room: 8/10

Bed/Pillow: 9/10; 8/10

Bathroom: 8/10 

Room Service: -

Location: 9/10

Food: -

Staff: 8/10 

Facilities: 6/10 (No lift, only staircase)

Checking-in at he reception counter after our Jungle Trekking Tour.

I suppose this is the dining area for breakie?

Our room at a glance.
The WIFI signals here were strong and stable.

The entrance to bathroom.

A decent looking make-up desk, completed with traditional television and mini-fridge.

At least their heater was fine.

The thing that really frustrated us was the fact that, you had only one power socket
in the entire room, which was located in the "bathroom", does it make sense?
So dangerous =.= Not to mention, the socket was quite loose as well...

Overall rating from me: 8/10 for the price we paid for. 

Of course right, it's a budget hotel, what do you expect? But my piece of advice? If you had a lot of devices awaiting to be charged, either you bring your own extension, or don't choose this hotel at all. There are plenty of other choices located nearby. I'm not sure if they are better or not though...... Just, something to look out for.. 

Krabi 4D3N: The Verandah Hotel

The hotel was booked few months before our Krabi 4D3N trip. When we were at KLIA2 waiting for boarding, we called them up again for airport pick-up confirmation. Apparently, they were well aware of it, just that, we felt more assured lar after double confirmed.

Room for 2 nights : MYR 276.80
Per head: MYR 138.40 (which was quite reasonable for the service and location)

The airport pick-up was charged THB 600 for the appx. 25km journey.

Thus, THB 150/head, appx. MYR 15 (which was not really pricey as the MPV was quite comfy, despite the fact that the driver was driving rather recklessly, which we presumed, he must be rushing to attend to his next task)

A Quick Review for the price we paid for:

Room: 9/10

Bed/Pillow: 9/10; 7/10

Bathroom: 7/10 

Room Service: -

Location: 9/10

Food: 8/10

Staff: 10/10 (Super friendly and helpful)

Facilities: 6/10

It looks like an apartment to me.

The guests are encouraged to have a swim at the pool located at the end of this alley.
It belongs to another hotel, but it's like a collaboration or rentee-renter thing...

This is the place where we had our breakfast, as well as waiting for the tour pick-up.

Checking-in, served with complimentary mango juice :)

Good lar single bed, no need to afraid I accidentally kicked my "sleeping partner" if we shared bed XD
The pillow was rather hard for me though...

A mini balcony.

Mountain view from our balcony.

Street view from our balcony.
The reason why the location is strategic: Starbucks and Mc'D in less than 3 minutes of walk,
as well as a whole lots of restaurants along the streets.

A vintage-like deco.

The hand wash sink which was located in the room, INSTEAD OF in the bathroom.

The reason for getting low rating: The heater got disrupted at times when I was having shower.

But, at least it was clean and not smelly.

Low rating on facilities due to: Poor WIFI signals, I had to literally sit near to the entrance to detect them!

My first breakfast in Verandah, the choices were quite limited.
But I like their bacon very much!

A rather heavy but nutrition-rich breakfast the next day.
I like their fried rice too :)

They provide light breakfast too, no worries.

Overall rating from me: 8/10

A pleasant stay indeed :)