hi everyone, just to add on the info about krabi here
just came back from a trip to krabi, absolutely loved it! lots of activities to do there, lots of good and CHEAP eats there as well!
<u><font color="ff0000">accomodations</font></u>
we stayed at pavillion queen's bay, which is a little off the main busy ao nang beach stretch.. it's good as it's quieter away from the touristy belt, also bad cos it is quite a distance to walk - but FH and i took it as a nice after-dinner stroll to walk back to our hotel
but i'll highly recommend pavillion queen's bay anyway becos the rooms are very spacious and clean, equipped with LARGE bathrooms and even a nice swing outside at the large balcony! only thing is, there isnt a nice scenery to look at from the balcony... hehee...
the breakfast menu is faily standard BUT the breakfast place is absolutely wonderful! the restaurant is on the top floor, and u'll be sitting outside on the terrace overlooking the entire scenenry below! very breezy, very welcoming, very pleasant dining experience!
just one more thing to add about pavillion queen's bay - the service is nothing short of wonderful! it happened to be my FH's birthday during our trip there, and the manager there 'conspired' with me to arrange for a birthday cake sent to him at midnight on his birthday! it came nicely lit up with a rose, and an entire group of staff (of about 6 or 7 of them) came to our room to wish him happy birthday! hehee
<u><font color="ff0000">food</font></u>
both FH and I are passionate about food (hee), so one of the main highlights of any trip is to check out the food places! so here are some of our recommendations
(1)
ao nang cuisine (along ao nang beach): this is reputably one of the better restaurants along ao nang beach, so we had to go there to check it out... great ambience, great food! we had the crab meat fried rice (it's very yummy, a must-try!), tom yum koong, thai style sweet and sour fish, tamarind prawns, drinks for both of us... came up to 720 baht for both of us(plus tips)
(2)
e-san restaurant (along ao nang beach, nearer la playa hotel): we had the fried fish (a must-try!), pad thai, tom yum koong, and glass noodles, drinks for both of us... came up to about 500 baht... ambience here aint as good as ao nang cuisine, but food is definitely comparable
(3)
thara seafood restaurant (along noppothara beach, need to take a taxi there from ao nong beach): we got this recommendation from an interent guide to krabi, so we decided to check it out.. and what a find! excellent seafood at low low prices! we had tom yum koong, pad thai, papaya salad (a must-try!), chilli crabs, mussels and shell-fish, sotong fried with chilli, and beer for both of us... came up to only 700 baht for both of us (incl. tips)!!!
(4)
ruen mai restaurant (in krabi town): this is listed in lonely planet (my personal definitive guide), and when i asked the locals where to go for good thai food, they all recommended this place, so i figured cant go wrong with this... it was excellent! beautiful setting set amid lush (albeit artificial) forest setting with lots of locals patronising the restaurant... we had tom yum koong, a starter which was extremely good but i cant remember the name - something like meat with plum sauce or something, glass noodles, and fried sandfish, and beer for both - came up to only 500 baht (plus tips)!
(5)
roadside stalls: if u're not finicky about roadside stalls, do try the pad thai along any roadside stalls - we tried a couple and frankly, we thought they'd beat any restuarants' pad thai flat! absolutely yummy stuff! try also some of the pancakes that are sold along ao nong beach - the mango pancake is divine! a must try!!
<u><font color="ff0000">activities</font></u>
(1)
diving: we did a full-day diving with
aqua-vision, which is listed in lonely planet as one of the better dive centres in krabi.. they were indeed very professional bunch of people and enjoyed our diving with them. dive operators in krabi usually go to one spot a day, and we could only make it on monday, which they were heading off to phi phi island for diving, ALTHOUGH the place we badly wanted to go (cos we heard sightings of mantas and whale sharks are common there) is Hin Daeng and Hin Muang, which aqua-vision was heading for on the next day (tue), and we cldnt go cos we were flying off on wed and the mandatory one day off-diving had to apply... sigh... phi phi was a tad disappointing becos visibility was poor, prob due to a spot of bad weather...
(2)
rock-climbing: krabi is apparently THE PLACE for rock-climbing and we decided we had to do it... we booked with
king climbers for a half-day climb(the other good one is called cliffsman), and they provided free transfers from hotel... there are also full-day, two-day or even three-day courses if u wish, but we figured a half-day climb wld suffice for both of us... it was quite an experience and the instructors are very professional, so i felt very safe doing my climb, although i came back with lots of bruises and cuts on my legs (note: do wear long pants and not shorts like silly me, so that u wont end up with unglam cuts all over the legs!)
<u><font color="ff0000">spa and massage</font></u>
what is thailand without the mandatory stop for spa and massage? hee... our hotel was offering thai massage for 1695 baht for 85mins, which we felt was too steep, so we asked around and found this place called
wanalee spa, which we will highly recommend (they will give free transfers to and from ur hotel)... upon reaching, they will serve u a cold towel, welcome drink, then FH and I were brought to a pavilion for just the two of us where we had our traditionl thai massage - i can safely say that it was the best thai massage i've ever had (after having done thai massages in phuket and bangkok)! after the massage we were served hot tea and fruits... all these for only 500 baht per person! of cos we also tipped them, and we were v pleased so we tipped 100 baht each (20%)
ok i shall have to stop here before i go rambling on... hope this spot of info will come in handy for anyone planning a trip to krabi! lemme know if u need more help/info yah? happy holidays everyone!