Beach Week, Krabi Edition!

Matt, Nate, and I departed peaceful Koh Lanta in a shared, air-conditioned van and drove about 2.5 hours north to Krabi, our final southern Thailand stop. We stayed in a family room in the Oscar Villa Resort, located about a 15-minute drive from Ao Nang Beach. The hotel complex was fully equipped with a swimming pool, on-site restaurant, and three free daily shuttles to and from the beach. Overall, it was a great stay—especially with the swimming pool—but we felt fairly isolated and distant from Krabi’s main strip and all its restaurants. Regardless, we took advantage of the complimentary shuttle to access the downtown area and ended up swimming in our pool about five times, so I think Oscar Villa was a solid hotel choice for our needs! We relaxed at the resort on Day 1 in Krabi, eating lunch at a mediocre but convenient Thai restaurant around the corner from our villa. We also swam in the pool, read books, watched movies, and ordered delivery Thai food for dinner to eat out on the front patio. 

Swimming in our pool at the Oscar Villa resort. Nate is doing a handstand in the back.

We were gearing up for Day 2: March 19^th—my 28^th birthday! We woke up early and caught the 9am shuttle to Ao Nang Beach. Ao Nang was probably the most tourist-oriented beach we would travel to in Thailand, with an extensive downtown area complete with a pedestrian walkway, countless restaurants and bars, food stalls selling fruit shakes and mango with sticky rice, clothing vendors, coffee shops, western fast food joints, and travel agent offices. Matt identified a healthy and hip café called Lion and Shark for us to enjoy a birthday breakfast, and it was marvelous! We split a smoothie bowl with granola, fruit, honey, and chia seeds as well as a yogurt bowl with muesli and fruit. Thailand’s fresh produce has been a highlight for me—especially the readily available dragon fruit that is served with many morning dishes.

Pre-beach breakfast! I had an iced Americano and a yogurt bowl with muesli and fruit.

We also split a smoothie bowl with fruit, granola, and chia seeds. You can see the black and white dragoon fruit cut into triangles.

After breakfast we applied heavy layers of sunscreen and set up our towels in the shade on Ao Nang Beach. Instead of the soft, white sand we had been pampered with at other beaches, Ao Nang’s shore is covered with broken-up shells. They aren’t super comfortable for lounging on but are interesting to play with and look at while relaxing on the shore. We swam in the warm water for a couple of hours and I read while lounging on a towel (I was working my way through the fast-paced “Divergent” book series by Veronica Roth). We wrapped up the morning with a bit of souvenir shopping and a quick stop at McDonald’s for Nate and Matt, then caught a mid-day shuttle back to Oscar Villa.

Matt models his new bathing suit on Ao Nang Beach.

Upon arrival we discovered that the water in our hotel room didn’t work, so we used the pool and I did a workout video while a plumber fixed our unit. I also had an afternoon phone interview for a potential new job; Nothing quite like a birthday interview! To officially celebrate my 28th, Matt, Nate, and I enjoyed a beautiful dinner at a fancy restaurant called Hilltop, known for its tasty seafood entrees, live music, and unbeatable view. The three of us ate prawn tempura, curried crab, glass noodles with shrimp, and tom yum soup. We sipped on fruity cocktails—mine was made of rum and juice from a “mangosteen,” another Asian fruit that I have been exposed to on this trip! We watched the sun set and listened to the cover band as we dined; it was a lovely experience! After our meal, Matt surprised me. He had called the restaurant ahead of time and ordered a special chocolate cake that said “Happy Birthday Melanie” in icing. The band played “Happy Birthday” and I blew out the candles before we split the cake, taking the leftover dessert home to enjoy for breakfast the next morning! With the Thailand festivities and all the friends and family members who reached out from the US to wish me a special day, it was truly a birthday to remember.

Beautiful views at the Hilltop!

Cheers! We both enjoyed fruity cocktails.

Sunset view.

Matt ordered this chocolate cake for me.

The next morning we packed up, checked out, left our bags at the Oscar Villa front desk, and took the free shuttle to downtown Ao Nang. We had a flight scheduled for later that evening, but still had a few hours to spend in Krabi. Question: How do you fill downtime in Thailand? Answer: Cheap Thai massages! Matt and I had indulged in a traditional Burmese massage in Myanmar, but this would be our first Thai massage of the trip. Nate had never had a massage in his life! This was a big opportunity. An hour-long massage cost 200 Thai baht per person, or about USD $6.31. Thai massages are very different from any I had experienced previously. For one, we remained fully clothed during the process and the three of us laid side-by-side on thin mattresses atop a raised platform. The massage featured intense “acupressure” as the masseuse used her elbows, feed, and palms to press deep into the muscles. Matt’s masseuse stood completely upright on top of Matt’s back, holding onto an overhead bar as she balanced! Sometimes the masseuse arranged my body into yoga-like positions, pressing firmly to deepen the stretches. At the end, I was guided through a series of motions that led to intense back-cracking. I sure hoped the woman knew was she was doing! Many parts of the Thai massage process weren’t very comfortable, but afterwards Matt and I felt great—so limber! Nate wasn’t as big a fan of the Thai massage, unfortunately, but it was an important cultural experience for us all to undertake.

We finished up in Krabi eating mangos with sticky rice, browsing the clothing shops, and eating Thai food at the resort restaurant before taking a private van to the Krabi airport. While our memorable and relaxing beach week was over, we were super excited about the upcoming portion of our trip in northern Thailand. Next stop: Chiang Mai!

Nate ate a Corn Pie at McDonald's in Krabi. Every country's McDonald's has a different menu!

Walking near the Ao Nang Beach.