Phoebe: Hey, you guys! Phoebe here from Little Grey Box. Now, Matt and I are in beautiful
Thailand and we flew right here to Krabi. With over 150 islands off it's
150 kilometre stretch of pristine beach there are so many beautiful places to go
including right here in Ao Nang. Home of towering limestone cliffs, beautiful
white sand beaches and crystal-clear water this place is a haven! So we are going to be
showing you a little bit of this area and a few other spots as well between
here and Phuket. All right you guys we are staying at the Centara Grand Beach
Resort in Ao Nang. It is hidden in this beautiful little cove and the team there
have organised for us to do boat hopping/island hopping experience today!
I am so excited! You know me, I live for the water and Thailand... oh my gosh! Look at this! It has some beautiful beaches!
So we here at Boda Island, this place is lovely, there's this beautiful little island, not too many people around the
water is clear you can see all the way down to the bottom we've got limestone
cliffs in the background long tail boats behind me. This is just
the first stop today this is the way the to see and experience Thailand.
So this island is beautiful there's coral reef below we're about to jump in
with some snorkelling gear and explore the underwater, I'm so excited for this!
*Underwater Booty Montage*
Alright so our next stop
on our island hopping tour today is here to this string of three islands we
have Tup Island here to my right Mor Island to my left and Chicken
Island in the distance. Chicken Island has a distinct chicken head rock formation
which you cannot miss as you go past it. At high tide the water comes up
and the islands look totally disconnected but at low tide the water goes down
and there is a beautiful sand bank so you can walk between the string of all
three, lay out in the sun or jump in for a swim.
It is picture-perfect! When you think of Thailand and you think of island hopping
this is the place you imagine in your mind it is stunning.
Phoebe: So we are on Koh Klang, now this island is the closest
island to Krabi Town and it is accessible only by longtail boat. The
island is home to 915 families or thereabout so that's roughly about 4,700
people. Interestingly, 98% of the population here are Muslim and 2% are
Buddhist. We are doing a really great guided tour today just seeing how the
locals live. We've been spotting mosques we're seeing a lot of people as we go around
and seeing some of those traditional crafts that you may not see on the
mainland.
We're trying out some Batik painting and the way it works is that you have
this fabric these are imprinted on with wax and then
you take the dye and you apply it. I believe you don't have to be too
accurate it doesn't take a Picasso to figure this one out you can just put it
in there and the wax stops the color from running out and then you boil the
fabric to get the wax off and then you're left with your design. My finished work!
You guys I'm charging a million dollars for it.
PayPal me. So the great thing about what we did today you guys is that anybody
can do it it's a really accessible experience. You just come down here to the
Chao Fah Pier. From there you don't have to make any pre bookings there are loads of
guys here, loads of skippers that can take you over you should expect to pay
about 400 baht. Now I'm told that is for a group, I don't know if that's gonna
change when you get down here it could be per person but we were told by a guide
it's 400 Baht to get over to the village. Once you're there again no
reservations necessary they have people standing by on tuk-tuks and local
drivers and it's 300 baht per tuk-tuk and they will take you around to all the
places we visited today the locals have learned to speak English so don't you
worry if your Thai isn't quite up to scratch. So I'm going to show you the
room that we're staying in shortly but I just want to let you know that a couple
of years ago Matt and I came and stayed at this exact resort and we stayed in a
private villa and it had its own little plunge pool and it was just spectacular!
That kind of thing is perfect for a very special getaway or if you just want to treat
yo self! Maybe it's an anniversary or your
honeymoon, your birthday. So our room type is not that room type but we still want
to show you ours because it's fantastic for holidaymakers too. So we
start out here on this huge balcony, come through here it's lovely and cool. We've
got two big beds. I don't know why but we've been sleeping on one each anyway
because we've got so much space! Those pillows are incredibly comfy! Look out
the window you can see the Andaman Sea out there. Rainforest shower head and regular
showerhead if you don't wanna get your hair wet then we've got some beautiful
big space in this bathtub here you can soak, relax, this room is a huge size you
guys you feel like you have your own space those million-dollar views at the
front, limestone cliffs, the works. I can't think of anything better.
Phoebe: Gooooooooooooood morning you guys! Well would you look at this! It looks
like paradise out here today Matt and I have just been for a walk along the
beach after having our breakfast and it was so so beautiful the sound of the
water is just mesmerizing I just want to swim all day. But sadly we are leaving
Centara here today we are about to go visit another Island then we are going
to Cape Kudu Hotel where we''re gonna be spending the night. So today is gonna be all about
the outdoors all about the island life and experiencing a new destination! I've
never been to Cape Kudu Hotel before so I'm really excited to see what it's all
about. I have heard wonderful things from the locals.
Welcome to paradise! Look at this place! So we are at Koh Hong in Krabi and it is
absolutely spectacular here there is this beautiful Lagoon that you just
cannot see unless you knew it was here our boat driver drove us through here
we've done a bit of a loop, stunning limestone cliffs are all around us the
sun is shining people are jumping off boats swimming now it only took us about
20-30 minutes to get here by boat from Centara and that's definitely something
that you can organize quite easily from Ao Nang whether it be through your
resort, somewhere like Centara, or just on your own.
Phoebe: We have checked in here at Cape Kudu. This hotel is beautiful! The interior is incredible
it's all things white and beachy and I love the bed head, those oars, they're so
cool. Oh, yeah! Look at this look at these views you can see the islands in
the background out there we have this beautiful swing you can sit in oh you
guys you could just picture yourself just sitting here just enjoying your
holiday having a few cold cocktails I love a room with a view like this
because it always feels like you're making the most of your holiday there's
nothing worse than being stuck inside a hotel room feeling like you've got to
get out to really enjoy it you can sit here make the most of your balcony and
enjoy those views wander down to the beach if you like. Great food at the
restaurant. Cape Kudu... it's incredible!
So we're just about to do a Thai cooking class here at Cape kudu and I am so
excited because I love Thai food. I really want to learn how to prepare some of it
so I can impress my mom and Matthew at a later date. Yes, that's you! So, let's jump
in and give this cooking class a go. We have made so much delicious food we made
a really great selection of Thai dishes we made the famous papaya salad, we
deep fried some delicious fish and made the sauce for that we made a beautiful
soup made on coconut milk over here and we also made some fried rice
and the really cool thing about all of this food you guys is that if you do a
cooking class here at Cape Kudu they are totally open to dietary
requirements so vegan, vegetarian, no pork, no chicken, whatever it is you
require they can help meet it and the chef is so lovely. It was a really great
experience really fun really well paced you guys I'm starving, it's time to eat!
So the island we're on now you guys is Koh Yao Noi island and that is where
our hotel Cape Kudu is located getting here is really easy it is the same
distance just about from Krabi and Phuket. It lays right in the middle so
it's actually a really nice journey if you were going to go from Ao Nang then
out here to Koh Yao Noi and then to Phuket you could do all three
really easily. Now you don't have to make plans to get out here if you don't want
to you can just wing it but of course if you want to make plans that's cool
so you can catch a longtail boat or a speedboat here from both Phuket and
Krabi now we came here from Ao Nang and that's one way you can do it as well it
should cost you about a 100 Baht per person to get out here when you get to
the pier, don't worry, you don't need to prearrange your transfer if you don't
want to it should cost around 500 Baht to get from the pier to
your hotel. Now this place is located in the middle of the Andaman Sea and it is
just stunning it's so beautiful we've got little jagged rocky outcrops
out there beautiful sparkling water and the vibe here is very different. Where
Phuket is kind of frantic and busy and a little bit more built up this is very
low-key and chilled out so definitely I think it's a bit of an underrated
destination and perfect for anybody who really wants to relax and get away from
it all and as we've been told repeatedly since we arrived the locals here are so
so friendly if you are lost if your scooter breaks down, if you have any
kind of problem people will stop and help you out. We're about to do a guided
tour I'm really excited to dig a little deeper and see what Koh Yao Noi has to
offer. So our next stop is here at the coconut farm there is only one coconut
farm so it's not hard to find and you come here and this lovely gentleman who
runs the place he lives here and he grows everything that you see here we've
just been wandering through the garden picking things off and trying them he
doesn't charge for that but he does charge 30 baht for a coconut. I've gotten
some beautiful kaffir lime leaves and scrunched them up and put them in here
and they're absolutely delicious. He's cutting those up like an expert,
it's not even funny! He's a real ninja with that knife. I've got a lot of respect for
it. Just a really cool thing to come and see and experience and see how a local
person lives and try something you may not have tried before. So Boom has just
picked us some green mango and... you're not trying to stitch me up are you?
You really do eat the skin. Okay it looks different. Let's try this I'm gonna try.
I've never eaten green mango like this straight off
the tree. *Destroys tooth* Someone call my dentist!
GAWH! That's really sour!!
Suree: The red one would be sour a bit but the black
one is sweet, organic.
She know's what she's talking about! Now like I said we've been doing a guided tour today
thanks to Cape Kudu Hotel but guys you don't have to go that way if you don't
want to if you were to hire a scooter or motorbike and run around the
island it would only take you an hour non-stop. You can hire that scooter or
that motorbike and you can stop at different places as they catch your fancy
Duck in for lunch here, stop here and visit the coconut farm for example or
come right here to the pier at the public park to watch the sunset. One
thing that's really great about this island is that it does lend itself to
spontaneous travel so we've been seeing lots of different accommodation
providers as we've been driving around today so if you didn't want to plan your
trip out, you just want to wing it and maybe book your first night but not the rest
this is the place to do it you can come here quite easily stop it in an
accommodation provider that took your fancy spend the night and then
move on it's a great location great people and plenty to see and do.
Phoebe: Good morning, you guys! I had the best sleep last night that bed was so comfortable those are the
kind of pillows just kind of melt into and then don't wake up for like seven
hours. So this morning we are about to have some breakfast here at Cape
Kudu hotel and then we're going to go out and do a bit more island hopping
and swimming I'm really looking forward to it this is my dream holiday I love
swimming I love Thai food I love this kind of weather I'm just having so much
fun. Side-note... look at that pool behind me doesn't it look absolutely beautiful you
could easily just spend all day swimming in there but hey for now I need some
coffee and I need some food!
So if you're going to come to Thailand you need to know a few local phrases because
it's a really good way to connect with the locals and the Thai language is
really really fun and easy to remember! So I've asked our lovely guide Suree
just to teach us a few basics today. How would I say hello? Suree: Hello normally we'll
say "Sawadee Ka." "Ka" for ladies and "Krup" for men.
So if you're a girl you'd be like "Sawadee Ka" and if you're a boy
"Sawadee Krup". You know what I found really interesting, I was talking
to Suree about this yesterday is they have a gender neutral pronoun, is that
right? And it's "Ha." So you would say, "Sawadee Ha" if you didn't identify as male or
female. Alright and how would you say thank you? Suree: "Khob Khun Ka"
Phoebe: Or, for boys, Khob Khun Krup.
Yesss! What else do you think are some basic phrases people need to know?
Oh, spicy! Spicy because a lot of time Thai food is quite spicy okay
so spice mean "Pet." And if you say you
you don't want spicy, "Mai Pet." Oh! Like, "My Pet!"
See, I told you it's easy to remember!
Our first stop on today's island hopping adventure is
Kudu Island and this place is an oasis so there all these limestone cliffs
towering around us and in this beautiful little swimming bay it's not all wavy
and crazy it's beautiful and still in here the water is a stunning turquoise
color the sun is out and it's just picture-perfect I cannot wait to get
into that water it is beautiful. Now we are doing our island hopping adventure
today with the guys at Cape Kudu hotel. It took us about an hour to get here to
kudu island if you weren't stay at Cape Kudu Hotel you can still do this all
you have to do is talk to the locals or your hotel reception and they can
organise this for you and it would cost you around 3,500 Baht
to go to three different islands. So getting to Krabi was really really easy
for us we flew from Bangkok to Krabi Airport on Thai Airways and the flight
was really quick it only took 1 1/2 hours.
If you didn't want to fly to Krabi to get here you could also go to Phuket
the flight time is going to be about an hour and again direct flights there are
so many during the day from Bangkok to Phuket and that flight is also around
about an hour. This spot is only accessible by boat and
we have come here to see this stunning huge, big tree it is a Fig I believe and it is
gigantic! The guides are saying it must be at least 300 years old it's over 50
meters tall and you can only see the top of it from the water and while we've
been standing here we also got to see a really beautiful little green tree snake
they are not venomous they're not gonna hurt you
it was just working its way up the big mother tree behind me and we also saw a
hornbill which this area is famous for. So our time here in Krabi and this
region has really shown us some different sides to Thailand other than
the busy streets of Bangkok now Ao Nang has that kind of little town atmosphere
with lots of bars and there's lots of shopping but you can still hide out at
Centara Grand Beach Resort so that's really good if you're after a little bit
of a party or restaurant scene but if you do want more of that really low-key
kind of destination Yao Noi Island where we are right
now that's the spot for you. The population here is predominantly Muslim so there's
only three bars on the island alcohol isn't sold widely on the street so it
doesn't have that kind of party atmosphere. That said, don't worry you can
still get drinks at the hotels like here at Cape Kudu. If I had to choose one I
really like Cape Kudu and Yao Noi Island I like that really laid-back disconnected
feel either way you cannot go wrong, Well that brings our time here to an end if
you don't already be sure to subscribe and say hello in the comments below have
a great weekend and I will see you next week love ya! Phoebe & Matt xx