Krabi - Cultural Flare at the Night Market

Date of Exploration : 11 Jan 2014

Parking on the sand all day to roast every melanin cell for that golden tan was how I planned to spend my Krabi islandic escapade. Never mind about skin cancer or that uncomfortable raspy feeling of sand rubbing between the toes. But there is only so much sun the body can take before turning into human jerky.

So we decided to venture out of our nest at Ao Nang Beach and paid a visit to Krabi Town. Located 20km from Ao Nang, it is not exactly near but definitely worth a day's trip to experience the real Krabi away from the hyper-touristic waterfront.

Child dancers livened up a night market that takes place every weekend in Krabi Town with impressions of Chatri, a traditional dance of Southern Thailand.

Small Town, Big Frowns

As we rolled into the provincial capital of the island, a sign welcomed us with the slogan "Krabi - Lively Town, Lovely People". It's a promise that warms the heart. Except, it wasn't quite entirely true.

We visited Krabi Town on two occasions - once on a Thursday night and another for a Saturday day trip; and except for a weekend night market that revived the area, the township seemed rather comatose and the folks weren't big on smiles. We were even chased off a songthaew while trying to make our way back. But I'll leave that incident to the end of the post.

Nevertheless, the township that's home to about 25,000 Thai southerners packs some rather nifty finds especially during the night market on weekends.

A 30-minute songthaew ride into Krabi Town from Ao Nang Beach costs about 40 - 60bht. This is the main street, Maharat Road (Thanon Maharat) and to the left corner is the entrance to Wat Kaewkorawaram. The quaint all-white temple is definitely shutter time and you can find out more about it here.

A hard to miss landmark at Krabi Town is the caveman junction with 4 huge statues holding traffic lights. Archaeological finds suggest that Krabi dates as far back as the Paleolithic Era (age of the cavemen).

Although there were quite a few cafes and eateries around, an 'authentic' Thai diner was hard to find so we settled for lunch at a streetside zichar stall. Ordered Pad Thai, tom yum gai and stir-fried dishes for about S$8.00. Cheap but the meal wasn't big on taste and the teenage cook wore a bittergourd on her face.

Shopping centers are scant in town. Except for Vogue Mall that retails typical branded stuff and a 4-storeyed souvenir shop (pictured here with the giant Kitty face), there're not many places to spend.

Main highlight in town is the Krabi Night Market that happens every weekend (Fri - Sun, 5 - 10 pm) at a carpark and street behind Vogue Mall. The zone is closed to traffic during the night bazaar to create a Walking Street brimming with food, sundries and handicraft stalls.

Cocktails in a bamboo tumbler? How's that for a natural high?!

Health in a cup for 40bht.

Juicy BBQ-ed squid... my carcinogenic weakness!

Street food galore!

Fragrant fried quail eggs... my cholesterol weakness!

With savouries and desserts side-by-side, you'll need a huge appetite to come out of the market alive!

The creams may be melting, but these confections were still irresistibly tempting even to a sugar-phobe. Strangely, none of the purchases brought on a smile from the hawkers.

The biggest frown at the night market goes to this girl selling loop choop (also spelt luk chup) who had a sour face despite selling something so sweet. Bought a pack of the dessert from her and even that didn't elicit a smile.

Made of mung beans coated with gelatine, the adorable loop choop was once the exclusive snack of the royal family until the recipe leaked onto the streets. It's kinda like mini ang ku kueh.

Adjourning the food section is a street lined with street performers and stalls for exercising your purse / wallet.

A pop-up children's orchestra lifted the atmosphere with classical Thai chords.

The girl striking the khong wong lek (gong circle) reminded me of a spaceship console being activated!

Can you guess what this intricate etchings are made on? Cow hide. They are really beautiful.

Barbies given a Thai ladyboy makeover. One-of-a-kind for Mattel doll fans!

Street painting activity to nurture the creative minds of Krabi kids.

Hand-painted pouches with customisable names. Great as thoughtful gifts after selecting the caricature that most resemble your family or friends. Finding a match was all the fun!

As the sky grew darker, the crowd grew thicker. The Krabi Night Market is compact but surprisingly fun and filled with a casual air of Thai culture. Although stallholders weren't too friendly, I had a great time sampling the food and enjoying an introduction into the performing arts.

Not far from the Krabi Walking Street Night Market is a fruits and food market that is open nightly. Tried the mango here but it was sour.

We came here on Thursday night and were initially confused that this is the Krabi Night Market but it is not. So the best time to visit Krabi Town is on a weekend to coincide with the actual night bazaar.

Linking Krabi Town and Ao Nang Beach are white songthaews like this one. The songthaew depot is just a small white sign in front of a 7-Eleven shop on Maharat Road near Vogue Mall. This is the drop-off and pick-up point to and fro the town and Ao Nang.

And now to the episode that got us booted off the songthaew. Our fare from Ao Nang to Krabi Town was 40bht but the return price asked by the station conductor was 60bht. We didn't see the listed price on the sign initially and thought he was trying to rip us off. Then we were told that the vehicle will depart at 8:00pm. But by 8:20pm, it still hasn't barged because there weren't enough passengers. Hungry and tired, the firecracker in our entourage flared and got into a heated exchange with the conductor and we were asked to get off.

So we went off and tried to get another songthaew back but there was none. Without a choice, we circled the block and had dinner before coming back to the station again, hoping that the conductor was no longer around, to board another songthaew back. Well, that guy was still around but he didn't pursue it further and we swallowed our pride and took a 9:00pm ride back.

Moral of the story : Be slow to anger and adopt the sabai-sabai spirit as systems may not always work the same way as back home. And don't piss a local off in a foreign land. You don't know where you might end up!

The night may not have ended on a happy note and the town didn't feel too cordial, but the overall experience of exploring Wat Kaewkorawaram and the Walking Street Night Market more than made up for it.

Krabi Town may be small and not architecturally sophisticated with few tourism attractions but it is a nice break from the constant whiff of suntan lotion by the beach.

Related Post :

The Immaculate Wat Kaewkorawaram

Krabi - The Immaculate Wat Kaewkorawaram

Date of Exploration : 11 Jan 2014

When I came to Krabi, I thought that most of my 6D5N would be spent by the beach toasting the sunshine with ice cold wine. But instead, I devoted more time touring the inland sights and discovered that this Thai destination is pretty full of surprises... and one of them is the immaculate Wat Kaewkorawaram (known as Wat Kaew in short).

Zen is in the air. Wat Kaew is all white except for dark roofing tiles which bestow the temple with a modernist streak in traditional Thai monastic architecture.

Built around 2007, Wat Kaew is a relatively new addition to Krabi Town. In a small township dominated by low-rise shophouses and dwarf complexes, Wat Kaew's position on higher ground makes it easily visible. We didn't know about this temple until we caught sight of it upon our arrival in Krabi Town and decided to drop by for a look around.

Getting to Wat Kaewkorawaram

If you are staying in Krabi Town, Wat Kaew is a short walk from the junction with 4 cavemen traffic lights along Maharat Road (Thanon Maharat) in the direction of Vogue Department Store. The temple is near the mall.

Entrance to Wat Kaew from Maharat Road. Sitting on a 'white' hill made, the white temple with blue roofs seem to be floating when viewed from afar.

If you are coming from Ao Nang Beach, hop on a songthaew that goes to Krabi Town (there are lots of them). The ride takes approximately 20 minutes and should cost 30 - 40 baht (some drivers will ask for more during peak tourist season). Krabi Town is the end stop and all passengers are required to get off. Wat Kaew is a short walk from the drop-off point.

There are 2 entrances to Wat Kaew... from Maharat Road and another along an arterial road which I don't know the name off.

Visual Relaxation

The best way to visit Wat Kaew is to get in from the Maharat Road entrance and ascend a flight of stairs elegantly rimmed with 2 rows of golden nagas. Due to all that white and open spaces, it was instant visual relaxation as I stepped onto temple ground. Its xanax for the eyes!

A half-heartedly landscaped garden with an untended pond and ragtag collection of dioramas to the left were a disturbance to this masterpiece in white.

A heavenly sight to behold! Except for the sentry of golden nagas, Wat Kaew's pale visage and clean form is a refreshing departure from the vigour of colours and patterns that Thai Buddhist temples usually come dressed in.

Instead of looking tacky or scary, I thought the nagas slinking along Wat Kaew's stairway like a graceful bracelet added a touch of glam to the exquisite temple.

View of Maharat Road and the street of the songthaew drop-off stop.

It felt really peaceful here and a great place to just sit under one of its pavilions (called sala in Thai) and meditate.

Sala roofing support with a naga carving.

I was lucky that a lotus was in bloom in one of the few giant earthen urns dotting the temple's perimeter for a shot that brought together two different kinds of beauty.

The interior of Wat Kaew returns back to the Thai tradition of temple decorations.

When visiting the temple, dress decently. That is, no singlets, bikinis, shorts and revealing clothes.

A statue of Shakyamuni soon to be covered in gold 'leaves' offered by devotees.

The spirit is bigger than the person.

Om...

Wat Kaew offers a sanctuary for the senses... and a break from sunburning the skin.

Wat Kaew is definitely worth dropping by for some shots and a mind massage!

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Shrine in the Sky : Krabi's Tiger Cave Temple

Wat Sai Thai

Krabi - Wat Sai Thai

Date of Exploration : 12 Jan 2014

Blink, and we almost missed it. Wat Sai Thai wasn't on our Krabi itinerary but having passed it a couple of times on our way to Krabi Town from Ao Nang Beach, we decided to check it out since we had a free day. I was so glad I dropped by.

Sitting at the foot of a limestone boulder, Wat Sai Thai is more of a huge shrine than a proper temple. It plays a central role during Buddhist festivals and weddings where locals would gather.

A 15m tall reclining Buddha is the obvious draw for Wat Sai Thai. But to me, the main attraction were something else. Read on to find out what they are.

Digging for information about Wat Sai Thai would put Sherlock Holmes out of business because it doesn't have much of an online presence. The temple is almost as invisible on the net as it is in guidebooks.

View of the temple grounds in front of the reclining Buddha. Apart from a shelter housing the Buddha, Wat Sai Thai is pretty naked. No ornate decorations typical of Thai temples here, but in my opinion, I think less is definitely more in adding a raw flavour to this religious site. It's a refreshing break from the majority of flambouyant wats in Thailand.

Nature overruns Wat Sai Thai.

A modest ubosot (prayer hall) and presumably future ho rakang (bell tower) at Wat Sai Thai. A shell museum of sorts was also under construction to recognise the site's archaeological significance to Krabi's formation and natural history.

I was wandering around taking photos of the temple when an elderly monk approached me. I had no idea what he was saying most of the time but through some miracle of my broken Thai and body gesturing, the kindly old man led us to discover more of Wat Sai Thai.

I had no idea what this crevice is but I assume it is a resting place for religious idols because I found these lining the shallow cave...

From figurines of the king (?) to headless religious statues, the idol 'grave' intrigued and unsettled me.

Moving past the hole in the limestone stump, I was led to a courtyard of impressive trees. The most impressive of all was this stunning giant...

I'm not sure I got it right, but according to the monk, this tree is more than a century old! This colossal tree is an attraction all unto itself at Wat Sai Thai.

As the temple was not developed as a tourist attraction, we could climb up and get upclose with the majestic tree. Watch your step while climbing though as there isn't a paved way leading up and the hardened earth the roots held on to are ready to drink blood.

The encounter with the forest giant was phenomenal. The old monk left us and we continued to explore Wat Sai Thai on our own. If you are facing the huge reclining Buddha, a pathway to the left leads to the massive tree while a path on the right leads to the monks' quarters. As we approached, a couple of dogs barked incessantly. They seemed hostile.

But a monk emerged from his lodge and spoke to the brown-coated dog. I think he told it to show us around. Because what followed next really blew my mind away!

The brown dog showed us around! It would walk ahead of us and look back often to see if we are following. It brought us to a rubber plantation at the temple's backyard. I found this spirit house at the entrance to the plantation peculiar for 2 reasons... first, it is made of stone (they are usually made of wood) and secondly, it is on the ground. Spirit houses traditionally sit on a pedestal.

Our four-legged guide pointed us to his playground.

My new furry friend. This dog made my visit to Wat Sai Thai that much more magical! He is definitely an attraction at the temple. I saw online that there were other visitors who had the privilege of this yellow dog's company. Wished I had some yum-yums to thank him with. If you visit the temple, bring along some doggy treats!

Our canine guide hard at work showing us the way up the side of Wat Sai Thai to some hillside pavilions, tombs and chedis.

Mid-way up Wat Sai Thai. At this point, our yellow friend went further up and deeper into the hill's foliage but we didn't follow as we weren't dressed for serious trekking.

On our way down from the hill, we spotted this peculiar coiled shell.It looked really, really old!

Was tempted to bag this highly unusual shell that looks like a curled up worm home but decided to just bring home photos. Take nothing from nature except images. A monk also gave May, our gungho explorer, three blessed stones, one for each of us but we returned them to the land from whence they came.

Unexpectedly, I spent almost 2 hours at Wat Sai Thai, much to the chagrin of my companions. I was captivated by the 'natureness' and unexpected discoveries of this rare Thai temple and its furry guide. Here we are waiting for a songtheaw back to our hotel along Ao Nang Beach.

Getting to Wat Sai Thai isn't difficult as the locals know this temple. You can either get a cab here and have it wait for you (approximately 400 baht) or take a songtheaw (20 - 30 baht one way per person).

We took the songtheaw option and while there were many prowling Ao Nang Beach where we boarded from, none can be seen along the highway where Wat Sai Thai sits. We were a little worried about not getting transport back but after a 15-minutes wait opposite the temple, a songtheaw came along and ferried us back to Ao Nang Beach.

Wat Sai Thai is one of those temples that doesn't seem like much on the surface but when you get under its skin, you get the kind of pictures that belong in the heart and not in the camera.

Related Posts :

Shrine in the Sky : Krabi's Tiger Cave Temple

The Immaculate Wat Kaewkorawaram