family fun

 

 

 

 

We met up with Ron, Colleen, Whun and Why in Bangkok. If you remember, Ron and Colleen are volunteering at Mercy International and we got to know them the last time we were at Mercy. They decided to bring their sponsored child (Whun) and her sister (Why) to Bangkok for a holiday. We did heaps over the few days in Bangkok! We took them to Siam Ocean World (an aquarium in the city), Science Museum and Planetarium, Thailand National Museum, Grand Palace, a cruise down the river, and of course trips for smoothies and ice-creams.

flying budget airlines

 

 

Now, as many of you know, there has been an influx of budget airlines in recent times. One of them is Air Asia, which we took from Bangkok to Krabi and back. With budget airlines, everything is BUDGET!!! Free seating, limited check-in baggage allowance, no free meals on board the aircraft, no aerobridge for boarding and unboarding, which brings me to the purpose of this blog post. Just before we boarded our Air Asia flight from Krabi to Bangkok, it started to rain very heavily. We were given umbrellas (which they had limited numbers and had to keep ferrying them back from the aeroplane from previous passengers) to walk to the aeroplane. By the time everyone made their way to the aeroplane, we were all soaking wet. The Air Asia ground staff did not have raincoats or umbrellas and they were soaked to the skin. This is the first time we have experienced something like this. IT WAS FUN (see the smiles on our faces)!!!

sea kayaking

 

 

 

 

Went sea kayaking at Ao Thalene - about 40 mins drive from our hotel in Ao Nang. We have always enjoyed kayaking and could not resist a sea kayaking trip in Krabi. Joop Jang and Whun has never kayaked before and were a little apprehensive. We had a great time kayaking on the ocean, along the river, through the mangroves and beside rock cliff faces. Tired but satisfied...

sunset from room balcony

 

 

 

royal nakara

 

We stayed at the Royal Nakara during our stay at Krabi. Great little boutique hotel. It has about 20 rooms and most rooms have a great view of the ocean and mountains. Breakfast is a cook-to-order outdoor affair and not the usual buffet style all-you-can-eat breakfast.

view from ao nang beach

  

 

Beautiful, isn't it? Enough said...We will be back!

feeding fish

 

 

One of the things that we got to do was feeding the fish at the beach. There were so many fish!!! All we had to do was to stick a piece of bread under the water and all the fish would rush to us. And if we were not careful, we would get bitten!!! These hungry fish...

island hopping

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did some island hopping while we were at Krabi. Visited four islands and had a great time. Picture perfect setting. Sunny warm weather, fine white sand and crystal clear water (and no, the pictures have not been photoshopped). We built sand castles, snorkeled, swam and lazed around the beaches. Don't you wish you were there?

longtail boat ride

 

 

 

Had to get on a longtail boat to visit the different islands around Krabi. These boats are essentially wooden boats with big engines bolted to the back of them. They are very noisy and the engines put out a lot of black smoke (I reckon they don't get serviced very often?). The boat captains (if you can call them that) are very capable in piloting their boats - using their legs and arms to steer and maneuver the boat.