I first met Krabi 4 years ago on a very short trip that was sponsored by FHM Magazine. It was an off-peak season when we visited, everything was "sleeping" except for some souvenir shops still open with hope to sell to some rare tourists like us. Raining all day long made Krabi even gloomier and quieter than usual. There wasn't any entertainment to excite us, so we decided to shorten our stay in Krabi from 3 days 2 nights to 2 days 1 night, and spent a day in Phuket instead. Krabi didn't leave me with much impression, and I thought I would never come back again.
Nevertheless.
I agreed to visit Krabi again after listening to my boyfriend's suggestion, and I thought: "Perhaps, Krabi has changed. It's worth to check it out after 4 years." Two days before the departure, we booked the flight, had our hotel sorted and packed our luggage for a short getaway vacation. Knowing what Krabi looked like, I tried to keep my expectations as low as possible, but the thought of going for a first trip with my boyfriend undeniably made me so excited.
After approximately 2 hour flight, 20 minute car drive and a 15 minute boat ride, we arrived at our home for the weekend- Centara Grand Beach Resort and Villas with its own private bay. What greeted us was much better than I expected: a floating entrance to the hotel with many rooms carved into the lush National Park of Pai Plong. It created an opulent vista that looked exactly like some type of paradise in my dream. In that dream, I had my private bathtub, and private beach with blue sky and turquoise water. There, I had it all.
First day, we had a Thai buffet dinner and hung around our hotel as it was quite late when we checked in. On the second day, we took a boat ride to visit Ao Nang and went for shopping. It surprised me that Ao Nang streets haven't changed a bit compared to 4 years ago. Still the same colorful souvenir shops, beach-themed restaurants lined up nicely along the beachfront road. Even on the weekend of the holiday period, Ao Nang was still so relaxed, calm and peaceful. People looked happy here as if the word "Stress" didn't exist in this small town. Obviously, how could we feel stress when we look at the perfect beach, listening to the soothing sound of waves coming from the ocean every day like that?
Then, I realized Krabi hasn't changed a bit, I was the one that has changed. Four years ago, when I had my footsteps in this little beach town, I was looking for something fun to entertain me like big shopping malls or nightclubs with a lot of people. I left Krabi for Phuket because I couldn't find any excitement there. Today, the same old town where I was standing, I found myself entertained just by looking at the small little details in every corner of this street. From the whimsical curtain, the vibrantly embroidered handbag, to the jungle themed restaurant, the big-sized female dancer statues, and the kaleidoscopic paintings, everything was so beautiful in its own way. I just had to take a closer look to appreciate it more.
That's when I knew I missed a lot of things in my first trip here, and I decided to do some activities that I didn't do before, on my two days in Krabi.
Guess what the activities were? Find out in the next blog post. ;)
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy part 1 of my Krabi adventure.
