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By road and
ferry
from
Phuket
to Krabi
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The
distance is almost exactly 200km
by road and it is a drive along
one of the
most scenic and attractive
costal region in Asia with
great panoramas of limestone
hills
densely
covered with jungle and all kind
of creepers along limestone
boulder.
At the beaches north of Ao Nang are plenty of
hotels, big and small, luxury
and cheap accommodations,
cottages and apartment every
possibility is available. About 70% of the
drive is over a excellent 4 lane
highway which makes it
a daytrip distance. The trip can
be made car,
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bus or ferry via Phi Phi
Islands. There is no air travel
although Krabi has an
international airport which is
used by flights from Bangkok,
Singapore and charter flights,
very recently also
coming in from
Russia.
For a road trip rent
a car or take the bus,
a alternative could
be a scooter or motorbike but
road travel is very dangerous
its better to have
some metal for
protection around
you. The islands,
coast, beaches and
the hilly inland is
a ideal destination
for a great day trip
through a lush
tropical countryside
with all with all
the ingredients
Thailand is famous
for.
Start is at the new
Phuket bus terminal which is at the
road to
the airport. When
using the bus you
can always tell the
driver to stop, get
off have a
look
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around come back to the main
road and just wait a while,
there are continuously buses big
and small plus van's moving back
and forward, if you see one just
raise the arm, they will stop,
read more.
The
country is ideally suitable for
road trips because the
infrastructure is there and
buses are remarkable good, new
and
comfortable.
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Welcome to Phuket
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Railay Beach
is together
with Phi Phi
and Ko Lanta
the top
destination
in the
province.
Scenery is
real
stunning,
beaches are
exotic and
if you like
go climbing |
Ao Nang
Beach
is one of
the top
spots in
the province
with the
incredible Railay Beach
a bit
further
south.
The coast is
very rugged
means that
is is often
difficult to
get from one
place to
another
unless
taking a
boat or ship
and by.
But however
it is
approached
the reward
is a
stunning
scenery.
Here are the
starts to
Phi Phi by
boat and to
several
secluded
beaches
around such
as Railay
and Fossil
Shell.
Phuket by
Speed Boat
(Nov-Mar) is
a 2 - 3 hour
ride, cost
around Baht
1000,- and
departs from Rassada Pier
in town,
arrival is
at
Nopparattara
Pier. There
are 2 daily
run each
way. Start
is at 8:30am
and 1:30pm,
book tickets
at the pier,
travel
agencies or
try Pure Car
Rental down
town, why?
They have
this service
and are
reliable,
wont cheat
and maybe
bring you to
the pier
since the
jetty is
quite a
distance off
it might be
a good
reason to do
this,
read more. |
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From Phuket
to Bangkok
by bus,
aircraft or
train and
bus
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.jpg)
New Phuket Bus Terminal |
The journey is
through Phang Nga
Province which is
between Phuket and
Krabi.
Travel in southern
Thailand opens up
views and panoramas
you never saw
before. Very popular
are day trips to
"James Bond"
island,
you wont
be alone there.
This
trip
always
leads over the
Sarasin Bridge
and around Ao Luk
the surrealistic
limestone
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A day trip often starts at the bus station. |
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world starts with beaches and mangrove forests. All this
became very
developed during
the last 10 years it's a popular travel and "green" destination.
A feast for the eyes, places to
relax, beaches, jungle, rock climbing, excellent food, good and very good hotels for
all sizes of wallets, spa's, friendly people but the prices are higher
compared to Phuket.
There are 2 possibilities to travel
one is road travel via Phang Nga and
Ao Luk, the
other is to use the ferry to Phi Phi Island stay there for a day or
more and take the Krabi ferry, probably a speedboat to Ao Nang.
There is no direct ferry between Krabi and Phuket, on the water it
only goes through
Ko
Phi Phi Don, usually this is available throughout the
year but there are always some exceptions. |
Phuket day trip
to Phang Nga Bay and
Krabi
Phang Nga Bay
kayaking exploring a hong |
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Very interesting is
a kayaking trip
around the islands,
there is plenty to
see when paddling in
slow motion. Several
companies offer day
trips out of Phuket.
They carry the
people to the pier,
a bigger boat is
used for the trip
and when the
destination is
reached the boats
are offloaded you
sit down and paddle.
Since this is all in
slow motion there is
much more to see as
with a bigger
vessel,
read more.
Phi Phi day
trip and Andaman
sea beaches.
Ferry from Phuket
by air and
over the
water.
Mini
Bus or
van take around two
and half
hours.
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From Krabi to
Phi
Phi Don
boat service leaves daily at around 8am
and 1pm. This can change and there are several big ferries and
speedboats on the same route for different prices and different
times. The best is take a motor bike taxi
to Rasada pier and ask, its to far for a walk.
There is no much
choice because there is no public transport, the notorious Tuk Tuk
Mafia do everything to sabotage creating public transport
on the island.
As an alternative try
Pure car rental in
down town at
Rasada Road they maybe help when you buy the Phi Phi ferry ticket there, they also might supply
transportation to the pier and they have all ferries in the program.
The positive is they don't cheat and
know what they are doing. They also have all the usual tour and travel programs on
display, plus hotels, and low price
villa
and houses in Phuket down town, all new. etc.
Phuket to
Krabi Bus travel
will take about 3 hours, buses and vans leaves from the new Phuket bus terminal
2 on the main road to the
airport. almost every two hour.
There are no scheduled flight between
the two |
Phuket
day trip to
Phi Phi
Islands
.jpg)
Phi Phi to
Krabi by
speed boat
is quick.
Phuket
Bus
station,
it takes around
three hours. |
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Phuket
to
Krabi
road
travel
is
no
problem
anymore
since
the
roads
have
been
upgraded
and extended.
This
is what
to
see,
the
dedication
to
Buddhism. |
provinces.
Leaving Phuket for Krabi
needs a
drive over the Sarasin Bridge. The
Sarasin bridge connects the island to
mainland Thailand, in this case to Phang Nga
Province, the
bridge has been renewed.
Fish trawler have their base around
and the bridge itself is
a popular spot for angler.
They are
around day and night to bath their
worms. Actually big game fishing is also a great day trip.
The waterway under the bridge is
used by boats and ships for the
marinas on the east coast,
such as the
Yacht Haven Marina
which
can be seen on the misty horizon.
The whole distance brings great
views of
tropical forest, lush vegetation and the famous
limestone hills of southern Thailand. |
Below
Sarasin
Bridge
are
small
fishing
vessels.
.jpg)
What
to
see
on a
Phuket trip
along
the
road,
Thai
people
working.
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Passing Phang Nga Bay
actually that should be the next stop, a success story by itself, emerging to the
limelight via the James Bond Movie "The Man with the Golden Colt"
and a run afterwards to secure the benefits, the main left over is
"James Bond Island" this is a incredible piece of water
world and unbelievable limestone formations including underwater
caves. The hongs or limestone atolls of the bay
and similar at the Krabi Archipelago and Trang Islands are legend, a
absolute highlight of any southern Thailand vacation. The bay
is accessible via the visitor center after the intersection behind
the Phunga Hotel before approaching the city. |
Phang Nga Bay Beach by ferry from Phuket |
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Here is a beautiful secluded
Thailand beach. |
Ko
Panyi
at
Phang
Nga
Bay
with
a
fishing
village.
Ao
Luk
with
plenty
of
greenery
and
caves. |
A few kilometers after passing Phang Nga
Town the cruise is right through dense jungle.
Behind Ao Luk starts
a great limestone scenery, creeping up those limestone formations around at this area is
a carpet of dense greenery function as a habitat for many insects,
small animals (the bigger ones are already gone), birds, flowers and
plants.
The area is still very nature oriented since it is really
difficult to penetrate the thickets around the road.
In the last couple of years the people in southern Thailand got more
conscious about their environment and don't exploit them for quick
money anymore, it paid off somehow.
Along the excellent road tall
jungle
trees stand out from the thick |
Phang
Nga
Bay
&
Phuket
Sailing
is
exciting.
Krabi
Pagoda
along
the
road
there
are
many. |
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Krabi Travel behind Ao Luk
at the road from
Phuket to Krabi. |
undergrowth. The main highway is
changing between a good 2 lane and a excellent 4 lane highway prone
to very bad accidents because of the extreme bends.
The highway is currently
upgraded.
This will
add a lot of safety for the traveler
since as usual no one cares about traffic rules and terrible
accidents are the result.
If you come from Bangkok
its the
same situation.
several roads branch off to the right
into the mangrove forests, pretty places with
several
caves around,
Thai cave tour a
video is here.
Phang Nga has nothing to do |
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with
Koh Phangan, the first is a
Thai province between the gulf
of
Thailand and the Andaman Sea and second is a island off Koh
Samui.
Ao Nang's Railay Beach
is
a spectacular setting of limestone formations and a great beach in
front.
Along the waterfront east and west are plenty of
beach hotels, bay resort and plenty of bungalows and cottages. Ao Nang can be found by not taking the left turn to Trang when
entering the Krabi area, but just keep on driving
straight, the right turn to Ao Nang comes after the sign to the Kings Palace. |
Here are Ao Nang Beach and Railay Beach Photos |
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The limestone formations are somehow
bizarre and surrealistic, Salvatore Dali could have formed them and
unique, this area has a reputation for great Thailand
vacation. You also could do
rock climbing in
Krabi province, a
wide variety of rock climbing "garden" are around.
Most of the climbs in this
area are of the pre-bolted route variety, there
are literally hundreds of
climbs with difficulty levels from beginner
to the expert, there are pretty straight
climbs and other with overhangs etc.
This is a feast for the eyes and real unique,
you wont find anything like this again, not in China and not in
Vietnam.
All major Krabi Hotels,
Bungalows, Villas, Beach Resorts
are around that area, weather is very similar to Phuket, sunshine from November to May and some rain in between.
But even if there
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Sheraton Krabi Hotels beach fun on
an elephant |
is rain it's hardly more than 2 days of not having the sun, that means its still better as in most places
in the Mediterranean area, in particular when you
consider the cost it's still a fraction what
you would spend on a vacation in Europe. I am always puzzled when I hear that France and
Italy are still a prime vacation destination, with
this level of money pulling, I would never go there
again, just look at this great scenery here.
It is one of the positive sides that the country is still very affordable because almost everything is low priced.
Just imagine you buy a ham sandwich somewhere at the
Cote Azur in France or further south in Italy. They
ask for 5 -10 Euro for it, in Thailand you get a
complete excellent dinner including some beer for
this and so on. |
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Phuket travel
on the Andaman Sea at
Phi Phi. |
A
day trip
to Phi Phi
should be made when
in Phuket, consider
to stay at least one
night there, because
the ferry come in
around mid day and
the last boat back
starts around 3
hours later, means
not much time. Plenty of
other islands could
be visited, this can
be done with the
speedboat or take a longtail boat
and have your
individual tour. The
boatmen know all the
scenic spots and
make sure you have a
pleasant afternoon.
Continuing by
ferry to Krabi,
the landing will
be
at
Ao Nang, there are
several resorts around and
beach cottages plus
bungalows can be
rented. |
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Koh Lanta is
around 40km beyond the airport
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one of the top
destination in the province. The island is very easy
to reach, the highway from town and the
airport leads straight
to the Lanta pier with one right turn in between and
there the ship to the island is already waiting.
This place doesn't have a
hype image, everything is
rather basic and minimal developed including the
road, some parts are
real bad.
Small motorbikes
are for
hire as everywhere in the country. The
beach resorts, restaurants and practically
everything around is somehow amateurish. There are
only a few resorts which can match the well
developed ones elsewhere. This
is nothing negative, actually many
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Ferry
to
Koh Lanta,
actually there are 2 parts, first to noi and after
to Yai. |
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tourists just like it
that way. It is necessary to
know (flight schedule etc.) that there are 2 ferry
trips, one from the mainland to
Lanta Noi
and another from there to
Lanta Yai, where all hotels etc. are. At
high season
naturally this ferry has only limited capacity which
means to start more early from the hotel to the airport. A alternative is take a
speedboat to Ao Nang
or another placeto reach the highway more quick,
some hotels on the island offer this boat
ride.
Since the island is
very close to Trang province day trips are
available with the speedboat to visit the famous
destinations in
Trang Thailand such
as Morakot Cave or Emerald Cave and islands such as
Ko Mook.
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