thailand's southern islands

Jamshed and I have been travelling North through Thailand for the past two weeks, and wow! We’ve done so much in such a short time that it feels more like two months, haha.

We started our trip in Krabi on November 1st after a 17 hour journey. I couldn’t have asked for more from our first accommodation- a luscious farm stay with cats and chickens running around, and a wonderfully welcoming host who drove us anywhere we wanted to go.

Whilst staying in Krabi, we went on a well known four-island tour by long tail boat. It was a mixed day due to the torrential rainfall we experienced which meant that we couldn’t visit chicken island (this was okay though because we luckily got to sail past it on the ferry to our next stop Koh Phi Phi).

But aside from that we got to see some beautiful scenery, swim in the warm water, and go snorkelling for the first time! I was really impressed with myself because I’m afraid of the ocean, so to go snorkelling in the deep water and not panick was BIG.

Here is my diary entry from two weeks ago:

Sunday 3rd November

I feel like every time I’m writing here is when we’re on our way to somewhere, haha. I guess that’s just because that’s when we’re sitting still. I have to update you (I don’t know who ‘you’ are, but ‘you’ know what I mean) about our time in Krabi.

Krabi, Southern Thailand, was a beautiful place to start our trip, even though we couldn’t locate our Airbnb to begin with. Oh my god we were sweating walking in that morning sun! But when we finally got there it was gorgeous. It was a farm stay. Chickens and cats running around trying to steal our breakfast. And green everywhere. Plus the host was incredible.

Sureepan drove us anywhere we wanted; dinner by the river in Krabi Town (just 60 baht for a seafood pad Thai!!); and Ao Nang beach strip, where we sat on swings hanging from trees above the sand. And he made us breakfast every morning. He also arranged a four island long tail boat tour for us, which was wild. We swam in the warm water for the first time, ate some amazing food, and went snorkelling (the fish gravitated towards me haha).

Unfortunately it rained a little bit and everything we had got soaked, including my ‘dry’ clothes. But our tour guide’s warmth more than made up for it. She even got me a vegetarian meal which was more than I could’ve hoped for- spicy pumpkin and potato curry and Chinese style vegetable soup. And a nearby vendor gave us a warming corn on the cob for free because we accidentally left our cash on the boat.

We spent our last evening on the strip in Ao Nang again, and got our second smoothie and second massage. Those masseuses were magical, talented women. So kind as well.

Now we are on a ferry to Phi Phi Island. We’ll be staying for two nights, which I think we’ll take a little easier, considering I’m still sore from yesterday’s adventure, and then on to Phuket.

On November 3rd we took the ferry to Koh Phi Phi, which we found to be the party destination of the South, and home to our favourite beaches so far. The town was full of restaurants and bars and the beach was brimming with activities- kayaking and boating in the day and fire shows at night.

Of course we went kayaking to monkey beach. The funny thing is I never really expected to see any monkeys. I thought maybe the monkeys decided when they wanted to be seen, but might have stayed in the trees beyond the sand and out of sight. But no. They were right there when we came ashore. They even climbed on us to be fed (check out my Instagram below for the videos @bambinakatarina) AND stole some mentos and soda from another tourist! Definitely one of my highlights so far.

Quick sidenote: I lost my sunglasses in the water when we were kayaking! My first casualty of the trip. Now I’m rocking a pair of fake raybans.

If you’re ever in Koh Phi Phi, you have to go to the view point at sunset. It is absolutely breathtaking (and slightly easier to climb later in the day).

Our last stop in Southern Thailand was Phuket. We stayed in Karon, right next to Kata beach. Phuket feels a lot bigger than our other two locations so, for us, renting a moped was a necessity and made getting around an adventure in itself.

(WARNING: do not rent a moped unless you are a confident driver in your own country, as the roads can be dangerous and fast paced and we saw less experienced drivers almost fall off their bikes. Be careful.)

We managed to go to the Karon Lookout, Chalong Temple, the Big Buddha, Karon and Kata Noi beach, and Phuket town. All in the space of two days, without it feeling like too much.

The Southern islands have served as the perfect location to commence our trip through Southeast Asia. It’s peaceful and calming environment and friendly people have settled us in well to Thai culture and the backpacking lifestyle. Plus the food was incredible.