Day 4 - Krabi Town

Arrival at Krabi Town. Luckily, I was able to get my bearings relatively quickly from the Lonely Planet guide book map. This would be my first adventure as a backpacker with no accommodation booked in advance. Monica was used to this. I was a little anxious to find a place quickly.

The game is a little like Allá Tú (Deal or No Deal in the UK). You check out the first place you find and demand to see a room. You haggle over the price and then decide whether to take the room or chance your luck finding a better deal elsewhere. The hotel receptionist plays the role of the banker with comments like "high season, room gone soon". I was ready to cave in at this but Monica is made of sterner stuff and we moved on.

The second place was the same price but was awful. No chance of me staying there. The next place was the one we had earmarked from the guide book. Before even asking to see a room the lady sang "sorry full". Alarm bells rang loud in my head or was it just the remnants of the headache. We quickly marched back to the first hotel, quickening our pace as we saw a group of backpackers up the street bearing down on the same target. We got to the entrance before the others and checked in. The German backpackers that arrived a split second later got the dreaded "Sorry full".

View of the limestone karsts.

Having dumped our stuff it was time for a stroll around town before the sun went down. Krabi Town is normally a passing through place for tourists. This is mainly due to the fact it is set on the river rather than by the sea. The views along the river are spectacular, two limestone karsts dominate the view to the North, the other side of the river are the expansive mangrove forests. We decided to take a stroll down the promenade past the outdoor market, heading south to see if we could see the beginning of the sea.

Monica on the Promenade.


Traditional fishing village on stilts on opposite bank.

We soon reached a pier where several Thai boatmen were sat enjoying a smoke break. One of them approached us, the friendly Mr Doy. He wanted to take us to Railey beach on his long-tail boat in the morning. We hadn’t finalised our plans yet but a trip to Railey would depend on good weather. Not a problem Mr Doy told us, "Tomorrow no rain". We promised to see Mr Doy at the pier the following day, weather permitting.

Parking the boat Thai style.

The promenade attracts all the keep fit fanatics of Krabi. Several joggers ran by taking advantage of the cooling conditions. A number of locals were busy constructing bamboo huts at the side of the road. Probably gearing up towards the national festival "Loy Krathong". The joggers increased in numbers as we approached a large sports complex at the end of the promenade. Here a pathway was turned into a jogging track with outside gym stations placed at regular intervals. We passed tennis courts, football pitches and badminton courts, all being fully utilised. The lighting became poor and with it all ready being dark we turned back to get ready for the evenings entertainment in Krabi Town.