A Driving Trip from Bangkok to Krabi [2]

The next morning we woke up early. He went to a cliff to take photos from above. After that we headed to the next province, Suratthani. Next to Suratthani is Krabi, our destination. There was a very long road from Suratthani to Krabi which no gas station or any places you can stop.

Before I write more about my trip, I would like to give you a little information about Krabi. I think Krabi is a very good place for a visit. Many interesting places for you to see, bunch of islands and mountains. Too bad that we had only 2 days to spend there so we couldnt visit them all. We missed all the island because it had been raining most of the time. Beside from the islands and mountains, there are also many caves, waterfalls and hotsprings. The best way to get a good map of Krabi is asking for it at a local place like at the hotel you stay. Its much better than what you would get from a store or the internet.

Krabi is a province located on the west coast of southern Thailand. It is believed that Krabi has been home to homo sapiens since the period 25,000 - 35,000 B.C. from some stone tools, ancient colored pictures, beads, pottery and skeletal remains found in the province's many cliffs and caves. The famouse sites for tourist are places like Phi Phi island, Lanta islands, groups of small islands, Big Headed Ghost cave, etc. Lanta is a big island composes of two islands, Lanta Lek and Lanta Yai, which you can take a car on the furry to that island with you. One of the groups of small islands has Maya beach which was on "The Beach" movie starred by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Once we arrived Krabi, we could see the environment was different from what we had seen along the way. Lots of high mountains which were like they just raise up from the surface and there were mountains everywhere you go. We drove to Ao Nang beach and once we saw the ocean there, we was surprised by the turquoise water. It was very pretty.

There was shopping area like in Samui but was quiet. I was not sure if it was because we went there during the week so we didnt see many tourists or it was normally quiet like that. I guessed there would be more tourists during the weekend. We stopped at Ao Nang beach to take some photos and look for a place we would stay then we drove to Noppharat Thara National Park which was next to the Ao Nang beach. The beach there was nice too.

After that we drove to another two different beaches and then back to Ao Nang and checked in at Sala Talay resort. It was a nice hotel with a pool access from the balcony of the rooms on the first floor.

The weather was nice that day and we bought a tour to Phi Phi and other small islands for the next day. After that we rested in our room and I had a long nap again so when I woke up it was dark already. We walked out to eat at the shopping area. Too bad that it rained when we were at the restaurant. We walked back to the hotel in the rain and it rained all night long. The next morning we woke up ealry to take the tour but it was still raining and we canceled the tour.

I had a place I wanted to go in mind so we decided to change to go there instead of taking the tour we bought.

When we spent a night in Chumphon I read from the books about a cave with prehistoric painting in Krabi and it was not too far from Ao Nang, like 50 kilometers. But before we went to that cave we stopped to see shell fossils on the way. The cave, Phi Hua To or Big Skull or Big-headed Ghost Cave, where the prehistoric painting are is in Ao Luek district. We drove for an hour and got there. There was no walking path to the cave. Only one way to get to the cave is by boat. There are kayaks for rent or you can hire a longtail boat if you dont want to do the kayaking.

We rented a kayak and had a guide with us, 400 baht each for us. My boyfriend and the guide did the pedal. He was in the front, I was in the middle and didnt do the pedal and the guide was in the back. It took us 10 minutes to get to the first cave then to the lake and the last place was the cave with prehistoric painting, Phi Hau To.

The guide said there were like 200 pictures in the cave and the name "big skull" was from some big skulls found in the cave. It is thought that the skeletons had been there for over 3,000 years ago. The cave are surrounded by mangrove forest and only 3.5 meters above sea level. After visiting the cave we went back to where we rented the kayak. He was in the back and the guide was in the front. I was still in the middle and in front of my boyfriend and he splashed some water in my shorts. Man my shorts were all wait. After that we sat at a restaurant by the river close to the place we rented the kayak and then drove back to the hotel.

The next morning we woke up early and drove all the way back to Bangkok.

It was a very good trip. I like it a lot. There are still many places I want to go for a visit and we will come back there again.

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• A Driving Trip from Bangkok to Krabi [1]