Krabi: Railay & Phi Phi Part 1
Rest time: 05/25/2012-06/06/12
This trip to Tai was the second. For the first time in 2006, my husband and I traveled along the Bangkok-Pataya route. After this trip, in addition to all other "foreign countries", they visited Sri Lanka (Ceylon). But I was always drawn to Thailand, and I wanted to see the beauties of island life, but in colors, “as in the photo”, I. e. emerald sea, white clean beach, fabulous mountain scenery, a lot of fish and wild monkeys. This table shows the favorable periods for visiting Thailand
Somehow I was looking on the Internet - where to go on vacation and came across photos of Krabi...
Krabi is a province of Thailand that is still poorly settled by tourists, especially from Russia. It is populated mostly by Malaysian Muslims. Washed by the Andaman Sea. The territory is rocky limestone mountains and jungle.
And preparations began. The choice was made: 6 nights on the Railay Peninsula, 5 nights on the island of Phi Phi Don, 1 night on Phuket booked at the travel agency in Ivanovo "Frog Traveler" through the tour operator "Southern Cross". The meeting party in Thailand is ILVES TOUR. The cost of the ticket includes: round-trip flight (from Moscow), insurance, all transfers, hotel accommodation, breakfasts. It cost us 111 thousand rubles. The travel agency and tour operators did not disappoint, they did everything as we wanted, without delay, without hassle, although we were ready for any surprises.
A month later, they began to pack a suitcase. In which we first put:
Medications (phthalazole, imodium, chloramphenicol, hydrocartisone, heparin ointment, panthenol, fastin, bandages, patch, analgin, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, activated charcoal),
Masks and snorkels
Swim slippers and laces for tying them
Mosquito spray
Alcohol and a shot glass
Camcorder with 6 hour battery with 22 hour memory
Underwater camera with 8000 photo memory camera function
Grocery container to protect the camera from moisture
Oh, and shorts.
On May 25 at 2 pm we went by taxi for 3700 one way from Ivanovo to Domodedovo, where we arrived three hours before departure. We flew on a charter flight TransAero
to Phuket by night flight. Our seats were booked online, although there were no seats with more legroom. Of course service is something. The stewardesses are dressed "who in what much", gloomy, elderly. Passengers are like herrings in a barrel. But not very expensive tickets. We were fed 2 times quite tolerably Well, okay - this did not upset us very much. Departure flight Domodedovo (Moscow) - Phuket at 22-30, arrival May 2.10-35 Thai time (3 hours difference from Moscow), flight time 9 hours.
Right on the plane, we were given forms of migration cards to fill out.
Landing was soft, as usual with "Hurrah!!! ". Customs went through quickly, because all the checkpoints worked. The migration card spine must be kept for customs clearance when leaving the country. Items also received quickly. On the way to the Phuket airport exit, we took a free Thai SIM card, exchanged 500 dollars for baht at a good rate, bought another sim card for 20 baht and SMOKE... SMOKE... SMOKE outside. Representatives of the meeting party were already waiting for us there in a minibus. The driver gave me his phone to talk to a guide named Alexander, who told us when, how and where we would be taken. We were given an envelope with vouchers for all transfers, 2 handy handbags around the neck, hot phones, another sim card.
We drove from Phuket to Ao Nammao (a port city near the city of Krabi) together.
The driver allowed us to smoke in the car. On the way, we stopped at a gas station at the 7/11 market (Seven / Leuven), the guy seller put two hundred baht on our SIM card and we finally informed our people that the flight was successful. (They knew this because they tracked the flight via the Internet. ) Here they bought two mangoes for 15 baht apiece, treated small Thai children with Russian candies.
The road is a fairy tale. We drove for three hours.
At the Ao Nammao pier, we were transferred to a Longtail (a long wooden boat with a motor and a long bow) and taken to Railay. This is a peninsula, which is separated from the mainland by a ridge of impenetrable rocks and can only be reached by water.
Sailed for about 10 minutes.
They brought us to the eastern Railay, where the pier is located. In general, a distinction is made between western and eastern Railay. In the west - Good sea and beaches, in the east - mangroves and muddy bottom, in general it is impossible to swim.