The Thai Islands
One of the reasons we wanted to teach internationally was because of the school year calendar. Our first big break was a week in October between the first and second quarters. We felt we just had to go to a few of the islands in Thailand. That's all I Googled before coming here. Now, due to rainy season, I was unsure of which islands out of the thousands to choose from. One of my hobbies is researching future trips - I read every travel blog and hotel review out there trying to be prepared. My research pointed me Koh Lanta for 4 nights, Koh Phi Phi for the day, and Railay Beach for 3 nights. All of these islands are part of the Krabi Province and were easy to get to. We decided not to go to Phuket because we had a lot of people tell us it's gone down hill with the amount of tourists and it being dirty. However, we had some teachers go there specifically for diving and had a great time.
We flew from Chiang Mai to Krabi airport early Saturday morning (easy 2 hour flight). Since it was low season, we had to take a van (instead of a ferry) to Koh Lanta an hour and a half away. The drive was really pretty and relaxing and we arrived at our resort by 10 am! We stayed at the Twin Lotus Resort and LOVED it. In Thailand, they are known to have extremely hard, plank like, beds/mattress. So when you read a review about how awesome and soft the bed is, you know you're in luxury! The hotel was located at the north end of the island where most restaurants and bars are located, and the best beaches. We had a lot of fun walking the beach and going to different bars and restaurants.
One of the days in Koh Lanta, we booked a "4 Islands Tour" on a speedboat. Luckily we had perfect weather! There were about 20 people on the speed boat and the first island was a 30 minute stop to swim and explore the island. The next stop was a snorkeling stop, but when we arrived there were 4 other boats and what seemed like a sea of orange life preservers. We were told a lot of Asians do not know how to swim, but if they have a life preserve they will go anyway. The guides would have a large ring that they all would hold onto and get pulled along.
Our next island stop was a pretty beach where we swam to shore and snorkeled. The fish were ok, but nothing out of ordinary. Our next stop was another island where we ate lunch. The food was great and we enjoyed exploring the island and swimming. The last stop was the island I've been waiting for - The Emerald Cave! When I researched this, the pictures were beautiful and there were so many great reviews, BUT..... I never knew how you got to the Emerald Cave. At this point in the afternoon, the water was getting rough and we were in high tide. So when the boat stopped and anchored, I couldn't believe how hard the waves were crashing against the cliffs, and I was confused as to what we were looking at (just a massive limestone cliff area). Our guide strongly advised us to use life vests and flippers, we had to swim to this small opening of the cliff, swam in darkness for about 1 minute, and then we would arrive at the cave. The go pro footage does not do a good job of showing how rough the water was. You cannot see the opening of the cave from the boat. All you can see are massive waves smashing up against the place your supposed to swim through?! I watched these people hang on to this rope so you don't get swept with the current, and then bob into this small opening and disappear. Some people opted not to go, but we trusted our guide, and went for it. When you get to the entrance of the cave, the ocean is no longer pushing you, and your able to bob through the darkness...hoping to not hit your head on a stalactite. As we made our way through the darkness, you start to see this green light glowing and realize its the opening to the cave so you start to swim faster to get out of the dark cave. The end result is beautiful! We swam around for about 20 minutes and relaxed on the private beach in the middle of the limestone cliffs and then it was time to swim back. We had a little more confidence swimming back and everyone made it safe and sound back to the boat. The ride back to Koh Lanta was rough but overall the day was great and recommend the 4 Islands Tour for anyone going to Koh Lanta. (The water is not that rough from Dec-Feb.)
The next day we rented a scooter and rode around the whole island - visiting the very south where there is a National Park, and rode up the east side to Old City. This whole trip took round trip (with a few stops for lunch and smoothies) about 6 hours. The island is beautiful and offers many different views. The southern part reminded us of the Oregon coast with the high cliffs overlooking the ocean. There were a lot of funky bars and restaurants and Old City offered some unique views of the Gulf of Thailand.
I'm going to preface this next paragraph and say, as I've gotten older, I have lost my sense of "invincibility" while traveling. When I did a month long adventure tour in Croatia and Slovenia in college, we did some pretty scary adventure tours such as kayaking off waterfalls, rappelling down cliffs with zero training, caving rappelling with no ropes, but I remember thinking nothing of it because you're with a bunch of friends and we were very trusting (maybe naive). Since I've come to Thailand, I have a new perspective and think about the possible danger in some of our situations (or maybe I'm just a wimp). We saw many over packed boats full of people who couldn't swim and wore their life vest even on land, but trusted the life jacket. My life vest wouldn't buckle all the way, and our boat didn't have enough for everyone. We learned when we got back from the islands that there are tons of Thai boats that sink or get lost at sea all the time for driving in poor conditions or the "captain" isn't really a captain. In most cases, Thia's would rather risk it, then refunding money or losing face with a customer. Oh, and you can't sue anyone anyway.
On Wednesday we took an hour boat ride to Koh Phi Phi. We have mixed reviews of Phi Phi mainly because the boat ride there was terrifying...And Ill go ahead and say the boat ride from Phi Phi to Railay was even worse (and we were on a bigger boat). Again, we went in off season. The weather was fine, prices were cheaper, but we did not know the water conditions would be the worst. It probably didn't help that there was a typhoon near Vietnam. Ben has been around boats his whole life and assured me we were fine, until we got to land and said "Maybe that wasn't the best idea". But there was no other way to get to our destination since both islands don't have land transportation. Arriving in Phi Phi was beautiful (and a relief!) Phi Phi is known for its diving and there were plenty of shops to choose from. We only had the day, so we hiked to the view point first, got lunch and a massage. It could of just been the time of year, that day we were there, or the rain, but the streets of Phi Phi smelled. The smell that most tiny islands have, some streets in Chiang Mai have, and the smell that Venice, Italy has - sewage. Phi Phi had narrow streets with lots of little shops, restaurants and bars, and a lot of the buildings seemed stacked on top of each other. The hike to the view point was pretty - but touristy (you had to pay to do the hike). We walked around both beaches which were covered with long tail boats and you had to pay to use the beach.
Later that afternoon we took another terrifying boat ride to Railay Beach. This time, we were on a bigger boat, but the water was in worse conditions. On the last boat ride, Ben told me, "as long as there aren't any white caps, we are ok". Well - there were massive white caps. Whether we were lucky, or I'm over reacting, we made it to Krabi pier to catch the last long tail boat of the day to Railay Beach.
It was dark at this point and the long tail boat ride into Railay was like we were in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie with the massive limestone cliffs on either side of you. Surprisingly, the sea was calm, but that didn't stop the water from spraying into our faces. We stayed at the Railay Princess Resort and enjoyed the location, food, and the pool. Everything in Railay is walking distance and you can explore the whole island in a day. There are 3 sections of Railay offering beautiful perspectives of the island, each part feeling like your on a separate islands. One of the beaches had a really pretty walk with caves you could enter, view point you could hike to, and lots of monkeys eating the trash. We almost booked a rock climbing excursion, but decided to relax by the pool and lay on the beaches instead. The BEST dinners we had all week were on Railay at an Indian restaurant called Kohinoor Indian Restaurant and Pizza. So good we ate there twice! We had never had Indian food before, and we were blown away. The owner was super nice and we enjoyed learning about his story.
We were sad to leave the islands but really happy to return to Chiang Mai and its much cheaper prices! It was nice having a week off - the kids and staff came back refreshed and energized. We are no longer in rainy season and the humidity has lifted. The nights are cooler, and we were told it will get colder late December through January. We've enjoyed seeing everyone's Halloween and fall pictures - the leaves look beautiful! The first weekend in December we have a three day weekend and Ben and I are headed to Hong Kong! Hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving and all the teachers are counting down to Christmas break (7 more weekends!) Be sure to check out the go pro footage on our YouTube channel at the top of our page.
We flew from Chiang Mai to Krabi airport early Saturday morning (easy 2 hour flight). Since it was low season, we had to take a van (instead of a ferry) to Koh Lanta an hour and a half away. The drive was really pretty and relaxing and we arrived at our resort by 10 am! We stayed at the Twin Lotus Resort and LOVED it. In Thailand, they are known to have extremely hard, plank like, beds/mattress. So when you read a review about how awesome and soft the bed is, you know you're in luxury! The hotel was located at the north end of the island where most restaurants and bars are located, and the best beaches. We had a lot of fun walking the beach and going to different bars and restaurants.
One of the days in Koh Lanta, we booked a "4 Islands Tour" on a speedboat. Luckily we had perfect weather! There were about 20 people on the speed boat and the first island was a 30 minute stop to swim and explore the island. The next stop was a snorkeling stop, but when we arrived there were 4 other boats and what seemed like a sea of orange life preservers. We were told a lot of Asians do not know how to swim, but if they have a life preserve they will go anyway. The guides would have a large ring that they all would hold onto and get pulled along.
Our next island stop was a pretty beach where we swam to shore and snorkeled. The fish were ok, but nothing out of ordinary. Our next stop was another island where we ate lunch. The food was great and we enjoyed exploring the island and swimming. The last stop was the island I've been waiting for - The Emerald Cave! When I researched this, the pictures were beautiful and there were so many great reviews, BUT..... I never knew how you got to the Emerald Cave. At this point in the afternoon, the water was getting rough and we were in high tide. So when the boat stopped and anchored, I couldn't believe how hard the waves were crashing against the cliffs, and I was confused as to what we were looking at (just a massive limestone cliff area). Our guide strongly advised us to use life vests and flippers, we had to swim to this small opening of the cliff, swam in darkness for about 1 minute, and then we would arrive at the cave. The go pro footage does not do a good job of showing how rough the water was. You cannot see the opening of the cave from the boat. All you can see are massive waves smashing up against the place your supposed to swim through?! I watched these people hang on to this rope so you don't get swept with the current, and then bob into this small opening and disappear. Some people opted not to go, but we trusted our guide, and went for it. When you get to the entrance of the cave, the ocean is no longer pushing you, and your able to bob through the darkness...hoping to not hit your head on a stalactite. As we made our way through the darkness, you start to see this green light glowing and realize its the opening to the cave so you start to swim faster to get out of the dark cave. The end result is beautiful! We swam around for about 20 minutes and relaxed on the private beach in the middle of the limestone cliffs and then it was time to swim back. We had a little more confidence swimming back and everyone made it safe and sound back to the boat. The ride back to Koh Lanta was rough but overall the day was great and recommend the 4 Islands Tour for anyone going to Koh Lanta. (The water is not that rough from Dec-Feb.)
The next day we rented a scooter and rode around the whole island - visiting the very south where there is a National Park, and rode up the east side to Old City. This whole trip took round trip (with a few stops for lunch and smoothies) about 6 hours. The island is beautiful and offers many different views. The southern part reminded us of the Oregon coast with the high cliffs overlooking the ocean. There were a lot of funky bars and restaurants and Old City offered some unique views of the Gulf of Thailand.
I'm going to preface this next paragraph and say, as I've gotten older, I have lost my sense of "invincibility" while traveling. When I did a month long adventure tour in Croatia and Slovenia in college, we did some pretty scary adventure tours such as kayaking off waterfalls, rappelling down cliffs with zero training, caving rappelling with no ropes, but I remember thinking nothing of it because you're with a bunch of friends and we were very trusting (maybe naive). Since I've come to Thailand, I have a new perspective and think about the possible danger in some of our situations (or maybe I'm just a wimp). We saw many over packed boats full of people who couldn't swim and wore their life vest even on land, but trusted the life jacket. My life vest wouldn't buckle all the way, and our boat didn't have enough for everyone. We learned when we got back from the islands that there are tons of Thai boats that sink or get lost at sea all the time for driving in poor conditions or the "captain" isn't really a captain. In most cases, Thia's would rather risk it, then refunding money or losing face with a customer. Oh, and you can't sue anyone anyway.
On Wednesday we took an hour boat ride to Koh Phi Phi. We have mixed reviews of Phi Phi mainly because the boat ride there was terrifying...And Ill go ahead and say the boat ride from Phi Phi to Railay was even worse (and we were on a bigger boat). Again, we went in off season. The weather was fine, prices were cheaper, but we did not know the water conditions would be the worst. It probably didn't help that there was a typhoon near Vietnam. Ben has been around boats his whole life and assured me we were fine, until we got to land and said "Maybe that wasn't the best idea". But there was no other way to get to our destination since both islands don't have land transportation. Arriving in Phi Phi was beautiful (and a relief!) Phi Phi is known for its diving and there were plenty of shops to choose from. We only had the day, so we hiked to the view point first, got lunch and a massage. It could of just been the time of year, that day we were there, or the rain, but the streets of Phi Phi smelled. The smell that most tiny islands have, some streets in Chiang Mai have, and the smell that Venice, Italy has - sewage. Phi Phi had narrow streets with lots of little shops, restaurants and bars, and a lot of the buildings seemed stacked on top of each other. The hike to the view point was pretty - but touristy (you had to pay to do the hike). We walked around both beaches which were covered with long tail boats and you had to pay to use the beach.
Later that afternoon we took another terrifying boat ride to Railay Beach. This time, we were on a bigger boat, but the water was in worse conditions. On the last boat ride, Ben told me, "as long as there aren't any white caps, we are ok". Well - there were massive white caps. Whether we were lucky, or I'm over reacting, we made it to Krabi pier to catch the last long tail boat of the day to Railay Beach.
It was dark at this point and the long tail boat ride into Railay was like we were in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie with the massive limestone cliffs on either side of you. Surprisingly, the sea was calm, but that didn't stop the water from spraying into our faces. We stayed at the Railay Princess Resort and enjoyed the location, food, and the pool. Everything in Railay is walking distance and you can explore the whole island in a day. There are 3 sections of Railay offering beautiful perspectives of the island, each part feeling like your on a separate islands. One of the beaches had a really pretty walk with caves you could enter, view point you could hike to, and lots of monkeys eating the trash. We almost booked a rock climbing excursion, but decided to relax by the pool and lay on the beaches instead. The BEST dinners we had all week were on Railay at an Indian restaurant called Kohinoor Indian Restaurant and Pizza. So good we ate there twice! We had never had Indian food before, and we were blown away. The owner was super nice and we enjoyed learning about his story.
We were sad to leave the islands but really happy to return to Chiang Mai and its much cheaper prices! It was nice having a week off - the kids and staff came back refreshed and energized. We are no longer in rainy season and the humidity has lifted. The nights are cooler, and we were told it will get colder late December through January. We've enjoyed seeing everyone's Halloween and fall pictures - the leaves look beautiful! The first weekend in December we have a three day weekend and Ben and I are headed to Hong Kong! Hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving and all the teachers are counting down to Christmas break (7 more weekends!) Be sure to check out the go pro footage on our YouTube channel at the top of our page.
