THE THAILAND SERIES, DAY 9&10
RAILAY BEACH – AO NANG
Railay viewpoint, Tiger Temple and the best Tum Yum in Thailand. Longtail boats come and go all the time in Thailand so I was flexible in having a few extra hours to kill this morning and I know from experience there isn’t much to do in Ao Nang.
THIS TOM YUM WILL STING TWICE…
The Railay Beach viewpoint is officially only accessible during the drier months as the walk up (and down) can be difficult even when not raining. Getting caught at the top during a storm can raise all sorts of problems.
WHERE IS TIGER TEMPLE?
Tiger Temple
RAILAY BEACH VIEWPOINT
Howeverto make it proper change I decided to rock up in my flips and backpack. There were various people who stood at the start of the trek looking at the sign, “Route Closed” and wondered how far a guy in Haviannas would get. I wondered the same.
It reminded me of the good old trek back in 2015 in Chiang Mai, hot and humid but without the fella wanting to shake my hand after scratching his arse. Click here.
The viewpoint was stunning, an incredible view looking to the north. If you were really up for it, you could then trek to the Lagoon but it’s a fair bit longer and more difficult. I counted my chickens and beelined to my room ready to check out.
Railay viewpoint, Tiger Temple and the best Tom Yum in Thailand
DAY 9 DAILY INFO….
- HOTEL – Panan Resort 8/10
- RESTOS – Night market
- FOOD – Tom Yum, Thai ice cream
- ATTRACTIONS – Railay Viewpoint
- STEPS – 16,200
DAY 10 DAILY INFO….
- HOTEL – Panan Resort 8/10
- RESTOS – Night market
- FOOD – Tom Yum
- ATTRACTIONS – Railay Viewpoint
- STEPS – 16,200
OFF SEASON
As is often the case in Thailand you often need to wait for boat and buses to fill up before setting off. However rarely do you need to wait long and like us you will get the option of paying for the empty seats to get the boat going sooner. This was another sign that things just aren’t back to their best for Thailand.
PANAN RESORT
From all the places I have stayed on this trip, Panan has to be right up there. The room was incredible, with its own plunge pool, breakfast, great pools (rooftop and ground floor), swim up bar and for once a fairly new hotel for just $120. My chill out time here will be well enjoyed.
Railay viewpoint, Tiger Temple and the best Tom Yum in Thailand
AO NANG NIGHT MARKET
Getting back to Ao Nang you were back in tourist central as a lot of people staying here use this as a base to hit up some day trips. However why you would stay here before any island is beyond me. There isn’t much to see do or eat so if you plan to visit, keep it limited.
If you don’t plan on heading to Krabi town where a little more happens, then one thing to do is visit the night market in Ao Nang for a selection of great food and deserts. It’s a 2 minute scooter drive but serves some of the best Tom Yum I have ever had, actually the best! Just keep your eye out for a toilet on the next morning….
RELATED READ: PETRA, AN INCREDIBLE WONDER
TIGER TEMPLE
Apologies for referring to my trip to Thailand again but here we go… 6 years ago when in Thailand I was encouraged by Carlos to climb up to Tiger Temple, a “mountain” just beside Krabi. Why he persuaded me to climb it when he had already done it is beyond me.
It’s 1300 of the biggest steps you’ll ever see in the most humid conditions, expect major sweats and chafage but it’s worth every step as the view from the top is pretty special.
How they built this I don’t know, even the stairs are an engineering feat on their own but the temple was founded by a monk who made the hike and found tiger prints within the cave. There were rumours that a tiger was seen here, not entirely out of the question in this part of the world.
TIGER TEMPLE FACTS:
- The Tiger Cave Temple is a Buddhist temple north-northeast of Krabi, Thailand.
- It is well known for the tiger paw prints within the cave and the large buddhist statue at the summit.
THE 7/11 TASTE CHALLENGE
Getting back to Ao Nang it was one of those rare times to chill and what a hotel to do it in. Or that was the plan. You see I’m not a huge fan of lying idle for too long when I could be doing something different. So then I thought, let’s do a 7/11 challenge.
Let’s buy as many weird and wonderful things from 7/11 and put them through a taste test. For those that know 7/11, you will know exactly what can be bought there.
I’m not sure of the number but I got everything from a crab rice burger to dried squid, one of the worst things I have had the pleasure of putting in my gub.
Railay viewpoint, Tiger Temple and the best Tom Yum in Thailand
WALK AND NIGHT MARKET
After a walk around the town and enjoying one of the best hotels of my trip I of course headed back to the night market for some more Tom Yum.
Back at the hotel I took a trip to a small side street (sounds absolute dodge) but it was lively and took the time to have a few beers. However one of the women working there actually arranged my bus trip to the airport in the morning, where else do you get it?! A taxi would normally cost around 6/700 Bhat but the door to door bus was only 150, saving me £10. I was honestly expecting this to be some sort of scam. Thai people are 🙌🏻.
TODAY’S YOUTUBE VIDEOS
If you want to see today from a different perspective, and catch a few different stories from the front row, then check out today’s YouTube videos below.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ao Nang wouldn’t be at the top of anyone’s list when in Thailand but it serves its purpose. For me I wanted to climb tiger temple and needing two nights it gave me a fair amount of chill time not to mention finding the best Tom Yum on the land.
NEXT UP
Getting every beauty therapy known to man on Pattaya Beach!! Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
152/229
This post was part of The Thailand Series. To view the full YouTube series from the trip click here or for my Instagram highlights you can go here.
If you would rather read the rest of the series from the blog just click here.
