For the last half of my time in Thailand with my mom, we went to the south. We were able to visit Krabi and the island of Koh Phi Phi. It was a nice change of pace from the busy city sightseeing to spending most of the time on the beach.
After a super bright and early flight from Chiang Mai to Krabi, my mom and I took a bus to Ao Nang. Ao Nang is a part of the Krabi region but not a part of Krabi town, and from there we had a 45 minute ride to our resort. Showing up to our resort, I felt way out of place. I’m used to staying in hostels and shared rooms and while the last few nights in a hotel with my mom were nice, it felt strange arriving at a nice resort that had a golf cart to take us to our room or to the infinity pool. Since we arrived in the morning our room wasn’t ready yet, so we went out for brunch and by the time we were back our room was ready. Once we checked in, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the infinity pool that overlooked the mountains and the sea. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon. That evening we decided to wander around the town and made our way to a local market for dinner and a walk on the beach. Even though we had a crazy early morning, it was a nice and relaxing day.
The next day we had another early morning start as we had a scheduled four island day tour. Our first stop of the day was to Tup Island, which was three small islands connected by a sandbar and surrounded by bright clear turquoise colored water. It was a very picturesque water and beach space. After that stop we got back on the boat and went past Chicken Island, which got its name because there is a rock formation that from the side looks like a chicken head and neck. Our second stop was snorkeling near Chicken Island. The water was super clear and we were able to see a bunch of reef and different colorful fish. Finally, we made our way to Railay Beach and Phra Nang Cave. Railay Beach is a really well known beach and gorgeous beach in the Krabi area. On the walk to the beach and cave we saw a bunch of monkeys, including little baby monkeys. My mom really enjoyed seeing the monkeys up close for the first time. Once at the beach we were able to see Phra Nang Cave, which is supposedly a fertility cave and is filled with phallic objects. After seeing the monkeys and cave we had time to swim in the water and rest on the beach. It was by far the nicest beach of the day with soft sand and amazing scenery of the soaring limestone mountain cliffs around us. Overall it was a really fun and busy day. On our final day in Krabi we got a water taxi back to Railay Beach and spent the day there relaxing on the beach and in the water. We were also able to walk down the beach and explore other areas of the island. It was a nice, casual, relaxing day. It’s hard to beat relaxing on the beach and in beautiful tropical waters.
After two and a half days in Krabi we took a morning ferry to the nearby island of Koh Phi Phi. The ferry my mom booked was by far the slowest ferry I have ever been on. While the ticket said “high speed ferry,” there was nothing fast about it. We ended up laughing a bit about how slow it was and that it was called high speed. Once we finally made it to the island we were able to check in to our hotel and walk around the town and explore. There are no cars on the island and it was a nice quiet change of pace compared to Krabi. The next day we got a water taxi and headed to Long Beach, a beach on a different area of the island, for the day. It was another relaxing beach day spent enjoying the idyllic weather and scenery. That night after getting back from the beach and changing for the evening, we found a place for dinner and then were able to see a fire show on the beach across from where we were staying.
It was a really nice day on Koh Phi Phi, unfortunately it was the only nice day I had there. That evening I ended up getting sick. The next morning I was supposed to join my mom on a day tour to a bunch of the popular areas on and around Koh Phi Phi, unfortunately, I was not feeling well enough to go, so I had my mom still go and enjoy the day while I rested in the hotel. During the day, I ended up getting worse, so that evening when my mom got back she went out to get us food which she brought back for me and we spent the rest of the night in the hotel. I was hoping to feel better by the next day, since it was our last day on Koh Phi Phi, but the next morning I was still feeling just as bad so I again spent most of the day resting in our room and my mom was able to enjoy the beach right across from our hotel. At one point I felt moderately well enough to go sit out and join her for a short while before we went back to our hotel and then we both spent some time relaxing at the hotel pool. While it was sad not being able to join on the day trip and really enjoy the island, I had to listen to my body and rest and it helped that I knew I still had more time in tropical destinations ahead.
The next morning we had a ferry and then a flight to Bangkok. Luckily, I was feeling slightly better than the days before, but I still wasn’t feeling great. Once back in Bangkok, my mom and I had one final day to spend together before she had to leave to go home. Originally, we were going to venture out further and explore somewhere outside of the city, but we changed our plans since it seemed best to not do too much since I was still recovering. On our final day together we did another canal tour of Bangkok. After the ride we were dropped off at Wat Arun, a temple, where we were able to visit before getting a tuk tuk back over the river to the Grand Palace area. Once over there we got lunch and then explored Wat Pho, a large temple complex with a massive leaning buddha. It was fun seeing these other temples that were large and very colorful. The leaning buddha at Wat Pho was absolutely massive, far bigger than I would have thought it would have been. Since we were taking things slowly, these activities took up most of the day and then that evening we got a tuk tuk back to Chinatown. Since my mom really liked Bangkok’s Chinatown, we decided to go there for one last street food dinner before going back to our hotel for her to pack since she had a crazy early morning pick up to go to the airport.
I really enjoyed being able to visit the beaches in the south of Thailand with my mom and it was a nice change of pace from the first half of her trip. Even though my time in Koh Phi Phi was ruined by getting super sick, it was nice at least having my mom there and not having to go through it alone and in a hostel. Overall it was a really awesome two plus weeks spent with my mom and showing her around Thailand. I’m glad she was also able to visit Thailand, eat some delicious meals, and visit a bunch of different markets and temples with me. It was a great time together that went by super fast and it was sad parting ways since I probably won’t see her again until I’m done with my trip.
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the
other side of the world.”
- Mary Anne Radmacher
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