Fleeting encounters in airports and a quiet town by the river. – 03.30-31.15
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This morning by the river perfectly captures this town’s quiet.
My first day on my yet to be longest solo trip overseas was practically spent in airports and in an interim town from sundown up to early morning before I go to busier Ao Nang.
An airport has always been one of the places I love being into. It’s the perfect place to watch people who are heading off to different places with varying agenda in mind. That makes me then one of the people who do not mind being one of the earliest birds.
Specific for this trip though, I was on a different kind of early. I was too early at the airport that I was at Manila’s old terminal even before they started letting people in past the security check. When finally had the chance to get in though, Air Asia had some trouble with their system that I was forced to be in line for almost an hour. I could hear several annoyed passengers while the crew remained composed. While I? I tried to keep my cool and just sat there on the floor with my backpack and thoughts whether I would have to check it in or not.
(.. and so that merits a side story : it was actually my first to be traveling for days abroad with only a backpack; and a few days before the trip, I have been battling with myself whether I shall pay for a checked-in baggage prior to the trip or gamble and just pay whatever higher priced baggage fee they charge me at the airport counter. I decided going for the latter and I am thankful that I did because yep, despite the loooong wait, it was no bother (and extra damage on the wallet) checking in my backpack.
Too early for you, huh.
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This was my scene for almost an hour. Probably the longest that I had to wait before I got checked in.
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Everything went smoothly once done with check-in and I spent my time just staring at anything while I charge my phone. First stranger encounter when this lady who I think was about to go to the restroom approached me and asked me whether i was traveling alone, to which I replied with a nod.After which she just smiled and said “oh that’s good that you get to travel alone.” I didn’t know how to make sense of that because I could tell she was traveling alone too. That was until at the Kuala Lumpur airport when I accidentally saw her talking a couple selfie with someone. Aha. So it was solo travel from Manila to KL where she was supposed to meet her boyfriend and maybe there were off somewhere (Oh the stories I make with strangers I ‘meet’).
Another mandatory photo of my stuff while waiting
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Our first trip together, buddy!
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Refreshing my mind on what’s going to happen in the next few days
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It’s again that Adam Sandler movie that I remember to be watching just a few days ago
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That plane has got an extra (and odd-one-out wing)
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What happens to our (their) luggage
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Despite starting the day early, I was surprisingly awake during the entire flight. Something that not common of late when I am almost always sleeping during flights. What made this trip memorable though, as early on its first day, is this rekindled love for traveling awake. For some strange reason, I was again appreciative of the views when up there. Below are just some of the photos but I have tons of others actually.
Seems like toys for the giants
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Those lines that separate.
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And now, see above sea
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I had some wait time at KL for about 3 hours which I initially thought would bore me to death. Tried then to fill it in with errands like getting my money changed to baht, getting a more or less decent meal. I was even tempted to grab beer at the bar near the food court but just the thought of spending an equivalent of (if I remember right) almost two hundred pesos at a can was a sufficient turn-off.
On the way to connecting flight counter
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Food enough was unreasonably priced. What more with alcoholic beverage, right?
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Resting my shoulders that are beginning to ache by then
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Taken when I was already being impatient. Gate, please open now.
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I was so impatient I was one of the firsts to fall in line. Hence, this almost empty plane.
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Flight from Malaysia to Krabi was short but most turbulent I was ever into. (I got reminded quickly of another turbulent one which was oddly a flight from Singapore to again Malaysia. Not meant to be a sexist remark but that was also first that I rode one (and only up to this point) with a female pilot.)
It was a breeze from touchdown to leaving the airport as I do not baggage to wait for (woohoo!). There was just this funny moment when I was so distrusting of this lady in uniform at the exit gate who was trying to get my airport bus ticket. It turned out she was indeed the lady in charge of collecting tickets. Good job to this trauma I had with transportation since the scam incident during my travel to Ho Chi Minh.
Bad karma happened quite instant that I ended up in a rather crowded bus the only seat left for me was at the second to last row. Other passengers just dumped their backpacks on this small are at the middle of the bus but I decided to hold on to mine.
At the bus had this interesting small polite talk with a stranger:
She: Are you a local here?
I (to self: Oh so I could pass as a Thai): No
She :Do you go to Krabi often?
I (to self: Hmm so it is not so obvious I am in a panic now because I don’t know where to go down).
And I really did not know where to go down that I kept on looking for signs on the road to be of help. It did not help though that I was not on the window seat. I was restless because I was looking at other people’s tickets that are of different color than mine and this I hypothesized to be because their destination could be Ao Nang which is farther than where I was bound to. Luckily though, I was not lost. It turned out there is indeed a stop for Krabi town and since place is small, the place I was staying in was just a walk away. Of course it is a given that I got lost anyway.
Bus from airport to the town
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Just so I remember what the ticket looks like (while the others have yellow!)
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Terminal in Krabi town
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Hostel I was booked in happened to be one of the more popular ones that all I had to do was ask for me to get there. I immediately knew it was a good find – with those interesting rooms and beds named after school subjects. My room was full and there was just this brief awkward moment with my roommates. Despite fancy for solo travel, I admit I still am the shy type and I am rarely to initiate conversation.
As in most trips, I just freshened up quickly then out I was walking.
Tennis, my space at PE room then
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From where I sit.
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From where I stand
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I wonder what bed names they have for other rooms
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Details matter.
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Staple in hostels; games as fun sprinkles
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Love your bean bag kind of afternoon
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LOVE those colors of the windows. Details matter indeed
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In some countries, these are usually government-owned tourist assistance places. In here though, these are actually private companies where you can book your tour
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Choose your light
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THINK LESS. ENJOY MORE. 🙂
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Meet, Mr Krab-i 😀
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And I felt sorry for not getting that coal advocacy
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Following this couple’s walk through history
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Hmm I wonder whether that mouse has a significance in this town’s history
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Maybe he was the town detective
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A small but has-everything souvenir shop nearby
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Less than 5 minutes via feet from my hostel is already the riverwalk which had stalls at night. I specifically wanted to check out the walk-slash-park to look for statue of Krabi which are statues of crabs literally. It was only during my last few minutes in town though when I realized that I kept on walking to the wrong side of the riverwalk. Oh well, maybe that could a reason to go back to and maybe have a fun photo with the crabs. 😀
Food and street stalls by the man-made riverwalk
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You can see tourists getting their probably cheaper version of food and beer!
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People line up for this man’s pancakes
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Their version of street food.
Nothing beats Manila’s and Bangkok’s still!
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Because I got curious what those bandages are for
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Tired from walking, decided to grab a beer in Mr Krab-i
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After a beer from Mr Krab-i, walked back to my hostel, grabbed a can of beer and while browsing through some pamphlets in the common area, made this impulsive decision to book a tour to Railay the following day. I was supposed to go do-it-yourself (plan was to ride a songthaew from hostel, ride a non-tour pumpboat to Railay and do my exploring from there) but maybe I just got lazy that I chose to just take a tour which was not so expensive and which I anticipated to be much more convenient. (My experience i shall share in another entry after this).
Slept in right after that can of beer and was awake reasonably the following morning with just the right time to really freshen up and do some walk along the river. It was a quiet morning and place was far from how crowded it was the previous night.
This is where the previous night’s ‘busy-ness’ was
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Destinations nearby
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Where to, boat
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Up close
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Pencil leaving its fiery mark
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“Achara” caught my attention as it is Filipino pickle dish
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The Air Passengers. No wonder I could not see any of them
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This view reminded me of Dumaguete
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Snob cat
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In this day of technology, this is precious
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These kittens having their early morning snack
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Beer and books
And from that free map, I learned about that crab statue. I should have spotted this the previous night
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I missed this game the previous night as I was busy snoring 😀
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😀 at tour songthaew
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That was me at the tour songthaew. Ao Nang in a few!
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OTHERS THAT MAY BE WORTH SHARING:
Cebu Pacific, a budget Philippine airline flies to Krabi via a connecting flight from Manila, Terminal 4.
To get to the towns, ride a public bus to either to Krabi Town or Ao Nang (which is a closer to Railay Beach)
Krabi town is a small one so walking is okay, especially if you are staying in an accommodation near the river. The hostel I stayed in, Pak Up Hostel is one of the bigger and new ones but rooms are mostly dorms so if you prefer to have more privacy, you may opt to stay in one of the guesthouses nearby. Most of these are attached to restaurants / bars where you can eat and chill-drink.
If you want to see the Krabi statue which I failed to, facing the pier, go to your left side instead of the right. According to the map, across it are the night market and museum and it is also near the mangrove forest walk.
I am no travel planner. 
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