The next morning, we woke refreshed and ready to make our way off of the tourist trap we were inhabiting. Mind you, while it was technically the very beginning of 'high season', the whole island still had the 'low season' vibe going on. We packed our bags, left our "Save Phi Phi Island" cards on top of the large pile of single-use plastic we were forced into taking (mostly water bottles), and checked out of our hotel room without incident.
Our first mission? Lunch. We weren't sure what the travel plans were for the afternoon but we checked the ferry schedule and there was one departing at 1:30pm. We had a solid 2 hours to get lunch.
We headed to a delightful restaurant called PP Wang Ta Fu Restaurant. It was advertised as "the best sushi on Koh Phi Phi", and if it isn't, I don't know that I even want to experience the best. We split absolutely wonderful sushi rolls and were delighted by our plates that contained adorable pictures of kittens and roosters! They also had spectacular Wifi, so we used that time to upload all the pictures we'd taken over the past two days. (I have a measly 32gb iPhone - that storage fills up fast!)'
For a full roster of food from the trip, please check our Instagram: ThaiFoodObsession.
Well, we were definitely lied to.
Not only were they not "any time, any place", they were very specifically "Krabi City" and "3:30pm". The boy checking tickets looked at us sympathetically and said if we wanted to leave any other time for any other place, we would have to purchase new tickets.
Frustrated and a little miffed, we thanked him (obviously not this kid's fault and he was as helpful as he could be) and departed to the McDonald's to hang out for the next two hours. It turns out that this was definitely the best option for us. We got coffees, sat at the charging booth, plugged in our phones, and started doing research on our next destination: Krabi City, because like it or not, our tickets were destined to take us there.
It's the best view from any McDonalds I know of.
With our McD's receipt, we could use their bathroom for free the entire time we were there. During that 2ish hours, we looked up things to do in Krabi City, hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and discussed the two things we'd been thinking of buying: friendship bracelets and Adidas shirts (an inside joke from our months in Nong Khai where they spelled 'Adidas' as "Obibos"). The time passed quickly.
We booked The Sasi Guesthouse for one night, deciding that Krabi City wasn't the destination we wanted to stay at for a long time, but we were arriving too late to take off for anywhere else that night. Also at a mere 891B/night, it was a very nice looking hotel for an incredibly good price! (That was one queen and one twin in the same room for 891B. Split between 3 people that's less than 10USD each!)
My bullet journal says: "Genie debated on getting an Obibos shirt from the street vendors. It looks so comfy. She debated so hard that she's writing it in here. Is she still debating it while re-reading this?"
Answer?
No. My "treat yo self" mentality won out and I went off to find myself and Amanda "Obibos" shirts. I found one in maroon and one in neon orange. I did not walk the middle path with this decision and I regret nothing. Roxi had, the previous day, bought one in slate grey. This was the middle path.
They spelled Obibos wrong...
We boarded the ferry soon after and got seats right up front. We settled in quickly and I started braiding Amanda's hair.
However, the weather disagreed with our plans. Almost immediately after I finished parting her hair, the sky opened. It is rainy season after all. We quickly scampered with our packs into the hull of the boat: only to find no available seating. We were quickly realizing that we would have to split up and sit in 3 separate seats surrounded by strangers. And I was on a vessel that was going to make me violently ill. I could feel it in my semicircular canal (as opposed to my bones or my gut - as neither of these things determine motion sickness).
As we separated, I noticed a sign on a door in front of us. It read: "First Class Cabin - 100B/pax"
Inside this room it was obviously air conditioned and full of mostly empty couches. I grabbed my wallet and walked back to the ticket counter. Putting down 300B, I said "chan nung. Sam khn ka." (Class one. Three people, polite.)
Easy as that we had 3 red stickers and were ushered into first class.
Word of advice, if you can upgrade to first class for less than 10$ for 3 people, just do it. We sprawled out on three couches. I braided Amanda's hair. I took a short nap. I read part of the book on my phone. Before we knew it, we were arriving at the Krabi City port! (Roxi's and my stomachs rejoiced.)
We got off the ferry and walked through a jungle to get to the main road. It was a well-traveled and paved path, but it still twisted rather majestically through a small forest. Our small group sang sang and harmonized to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as we passed through. We also got to see the yard of the war ship museum that was right next door. There were giant and very old ships just hanging out in the yard. They were very cool and I wished the museum was open as it looked as though you could walk through them!
Alas, it wasn't. And to beat that, as soon as we got out of the pier, we were bombarded with the taxi drivers.
"MADAM TAKE YOU ANYWHERE 100 BAHT!" "WHERE YOU GO?" "ME TAKE." "COME." "FOLLOW ME." "IN CAR. ON CAR." "MY CAR. BEST CAR. ANYWHERE 150 BAHT."
Nothing makes 2 introverted Minnesotans cringe and run away faster than being screamed at by Thai men trying to "helpfully" take your bags from you.
Swatting them away, we said "no thank you" about 100x.
Then "no. thank you." another 50x.
Then "no."
Then "no!"
Then "GO AWAY."
Finally, one got a solid "F*ck off!" from a very frustrated me. We were the last people off the ferry and their last chance at a paying ride from a ferry that day (as we were also the last ferry coming from that direction). On top of that, we looked like tourists and there is nothing more lucrative for a tuk tuk driver than ripping off tourists.
Wanting nothing to do with a taxi at this point, we walked toward the museum while ignoring their cries of: "museum close. taxi with me!". I booked a Grab on my phone and we patiently waited for the driver we requested.
We jumped in his car and he asked where we were off to. We were a bit confused as Grab, like Uber or Lyft, tells the driver what the destination is supposed to be. We stated we were headed to the Sasi Guesthouse and he laughed saying "this is the wrong place. I will take you to the right place. No extra cost."
At this point, we weren't arguing. Maybe GoogleMaps was wrong?
He took us around Krabi Town. He pointed out where the markets would be in the following days, drove slowly past a couple parks that were apparently nice to walk, and pointed up a hill for "the best Pad Thai in town".
He then drove us to the "wrong place according to GoogleMaps."
We gave him a 5 star rating because GoogleMaps was most certainly wrong. He grabbed our bags from the trunk of the car and went in to talk to the front desk. He and the reception desk confirmed that we were in the right place and the map on TWO apps on my phone were incorrect. 14/5 for the lovely taxi driver from Krabi City.
The Sasi House greeted us with iced Pandan water and warm smiles! We were shown to our room where they had laid out everything 3 people could have ever needed including a teapot, kettle, and fresh jasmine tea leaves!
Every part of the Sasi House was painted with cute little designs. You can tell the owners/staff really love the place.
As much as I love defying government-issued signs, this one I followed.
This one was so much less violent... and so much easier to take a picture of!
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