Krabi and the Return to Bangkok

With our 30 day passport stamps about to expire, our time in Thailand was almost over by the time we left the Phi Phi Islands. But before heading to the Cambodian border, we squeezed in two more stops. First, we spent a couple of days at Ao Nang, a popular beach destination in Krabi province, then we returned to Bangkok for a third time, this time to visit my father, who had just arrived for one of his regular vacations in the country.

We took a ferry from the Phi Phi islands back to mainland Thailand, greeted by the limestone karst pinnacles of the Krabi coastline.

Arriving at Krabi pier.

From Krabi we took a taxi to Ao Nang. Our hotel was located about a 20-minute walk from the beach, which in this extreme southern heat was no fun, so we often took tuk-tuks instead.

Ao Nang beach. We spent a little while sunbathing here but the sun was so strong we could only stand about an hour of it at a time.

On our second day in the area, we took a long boat to Railay Beach. As it's located on a peninsula surrounded by mountains and cliffs, it's only accessible by boat.

The towering Thaiwand Wall overlooks the main beach.

Despite its somewhat isolated location, the beach has quite a few bars and restaurants.

Getting the long boat back to Ao Nang.

The next day, we took a night bus from Krabi to Bangkok. The journey seemed a lot faster than the night trains we'd been taking previously, though it was a little harder to get a good night's sleep.

In Bangkok we met up with my dad near Khao San Road. He has been to Thailand over twenty times, having done lots of travelling in southeast Asia.

We had dinner and lots of drinks together.

Later we also met up with some of Angela's German friends, who we'd met on our first visit to Bangkok almost a month previously.

Getting dad to try a roasted scorpion-on-a-stick.

We stayed up until the early hours, drinking beers and chatting about our travels before saying our goodbyes. My dad was bound for Pattaya the next morning, while we had a date with Cambodia. Though our reunion was pretty short-lived, it was a really fun evening had by all, and getting to catch up with my old man was a great way to end our time in Thailand. It's been a fantastic country to travel through, with such friendly people, consistently good food, great beaches, and a generally fun-loving atmosphere everywhere we've been. It really does seem to offer many of the great qualities of Asia in one small country. We're going to miss it, though after a month we're also happy to be exploring some other countries in the region.

Coming up next: adventures in the Khmer Kingdom of Cambodia!