SignPost: Ao Nang

Ao Nang is a happy-go-lucky town on the west seacoast of Southern Thailand. It felt like a planet of its own. Communicating with the locals reminded me of the power of a genuine smile and what it means to live without borders.

I took a four engine speedboat from Koh Lipe Island back to Pak Bara Pier. It was very windy that day, and there were big waves. The front middle of the boat rose about maybe 5 feet and it would hit the water hard after each wave that passes by. Me and 4 others got extremely seasick (no throwing up Thank God). I moved myself all the way to the back near the engines. The driver slowed down so we don't get too seasick. The crew were incredibly helpful people.

There were many travel agent shops at Pak Bara Pier. I went to the same travel agent that provided me the speedboat ride and bought a one way ticket to Ao Nang which was located about 4-5 hours north of Pak Bara Pier. In Thailand, it is much convenient to travel on vans if the travel time is a day or less. It is slightly expensive than the bus because the van actually drops you at the exact address, the problem is that the van has to go and drop everyone, so if I'm the last person to be dropped, I would have to wait on everyone else. So the point I'm trying to make, is that instead of taking 4-5 hours depending on traffic, it took almost 7 hours, of course we stopped couple of times to eat or rest so that adds to the time. Good thing the vans have AC and the view outside was always nice.

Speedboat ride to Pak Bara Pier.

I got to the hostel around 6 pm. The owner of the hostel was a very kind lady in her 30s. She and her husband turned their big home to a hostel. I think they just recently got married. They were one of the friendliest hostel owners I have ever met. The lady always had a genuine smile that forces you to smile. Since I stepped into Thailand, all I have been seen are the beautiful smiles of people. Thailand really is the land of smiles. I'm very good at spotting fake smiles, and these people had genuine smile, a smile of curiosity and wonder.

As soon as I checked-in at the hostel, I introduced myself to other travelers and went out to have dinner and explore the area a bit. They had Muay Thai competitions in the next town (Krabi Town). They would advertise by going around the main streets in Ao Nang.

Muay Thai Advertisement Vehicle.

I meet a girl from Florida and a guy from Canada. So open minded and great people. We got together and went to a night street market. We ate something I never thought I would eat, but before that, let me share with you their story in a few sentences.

Canadian Guy
Awesome guy who has been traveling for couple of months and Ao Nang was his second before last destination before going back to Canada. He told me about his traveling experience to the Thai Islands including Koh Phi Phi Island. One of the things he told me about Koh Phi Phi that I cannot forget is this: "I was suppose to stay in Koh Phi Phi for only 3 days, I woke up on the 7th day and I said I HAVE TO GET MYSELF OUT OF HERE, otherwise I might stay here for a month", this really made me laugh hard. I noticed that he would sometimes use the filler word "ay" after or before a sentence. I later realized that it was normal for Canadians to use that filler word. He also told me that he makes a note of the name of the people he meet and where they are from. So Im pretty sure my name is on there, maybe we will meet again someday.

The Girl from Florida
Very smart girl who took a big step in her life. I respect people who take risk for something that will improve their lives and follow their unique path without the need to stick to a "system". This girl was working at a retail store, like target. She told me she did not have much money, but she had many problems going on with her family. She was working hard to not go homeless. She was fearless and took the opportunity to travel to the unknown with much planning as she told me. She wanted to relax a bit from the stressful life. She sold her old car and saved as much as she needed to and took a plane ticket to Bangkok Thailand. She will take one year off and travel southeast Asia, and East Asia. I'm pretty sure this travel will give her a peace of mind and provide new paths for her in this life.

Back to the initial story. We came to a stand with so many kinds of insects. They had grasshoppers the size of an index finger, thick juicy maggots, skinny long maggots (I initially thought they were worms until I did a Google search...tasty), and other insects. All these insects were fried. We opted for the skinny maggots as they were not as creepy as the grasshoppers and not as juicy as the fat maggots.

Bon appetit

Maggots in a bag with soy sauce -- yummy.

Tasted like Lays chips.

The maggots were not as bad as I thought they would be. They were very crispy and dry, but the soy sauce made them a bit tasty. I couldn't finish the bag. The bag was 10 bhat or ~ $0.28, not so expensive for fried maggots.

I went to Railay beach the next day. Ohh man ohh man, what a day it was. The hostel I stayed in was across from Nopparat Thara beach. Nopparat beach is nice but that is not the beach I was looking for. I wanted to go to Railay beach, and it was only accessible by boat because it was surrounded by the high beautiful cliffs. I took a long-tail boat from Nopparat beach. They usually wait until the boat fills up (about 8-9 people) and they head out, sometimes the wait can be long (up to 30 minutes). The boat took about 10 minutes to get to Railay beach.

The beach was fantastic, the water was aquatic blue just like Koh Lipe beaches. There were many rock formations/ little Islands to explore. I rented a kayak boat and snorkeling gear for three hours and went to explore the "little islands" or the area around the high cliffs.

Railay beach as I saw it that day. The trees provided a nice shade.

Leaving Railay beach to explore the "little islands".

The area where I decided to explore and snorkel.

I kayaked for a good 15 minutes to go to the other side of the peninsula to the area where I wanted to explore. It was a good arm workout (I kayaked the same way back, see the video below). There was another smaller beach (Nang Cave Beach) around the area I wanted to explore which I was not aware of, I saw people take long-tail boat from Railay beach, but I was able to go with a kayak boat, so it was all good. If you ever go there, check out the cave on Nang Cave beach ( I was tired from snorkeling and kayaking so I decided to skip the cave).

I parked my kayaking boat at a rocky area making sure it wont drift to the sea, and I removed my life vest and wore my snorkeling gear and jumped right in the water. I kayaked back from the same way I came (see video above). My skin was so red and burned from the salty water and the hot sun. Regrets due to not putting sunscreen came after three days when my skin started to peel.

The water was warm and fun to swim in, as expected from tropical waters. There were so many beautiful fish. Check out the pictures and the video. I recommend watching the video since it is much clearer than the pictures. I used my phone, so it was not the best pictures.

Cool looking coral

Colorful fish having a dance off.

Fish with its kids

This one was posing for the picture. Im a paparazzi to her.

I enjoyed the night life in Ao Nang. There were so many tourists from Russia, America and European countries. The main street at the coast had so many souvenir shops, restaurants, stalls, and many other interesting shops. There were Tuk-tuks in every corner ready to take you anywhere around Ao Nang. Bargaining is a must in Thailand otherwise they will charge a very high fee for anything including food.

I walked the whole main street at the seacoast and went in-town, it took me around 45 minutes. I then had dinner and took a Tuk-tuk ride back to the seaside. See the video below.

With the Tuk-tuk driver

I woke up the next day and ready to head back across the border to Penang (George Town), Malaysia.

Early morning before I left Ao Nang. Free breakfast from the hostel I stayed at.

Saying good-bye to the kittens.

I missed Thailand a lot. Ao Nang was the final destination in Thailand, I headed back to Malaysia across the border in a long journey across south Thailand and North of Malaysia. I really loved Thailand and its people, always smiling and ready to help. My heart was sad when I left, but I was looking forward to the adventures waiting for me in Malaysia.