My trip to Hanoi Vietnam was quickly decided and out of a reaction to my experiences in China. My trip to Krabi, however I had been planning for several months. One of my college Friends was going to be taking a summer class in Krabi, part of his medical training. I planned to meet him there. I also met up with a friend from Chiang Mai and we explored Koh Phi Phi together.
Thailand is one of my favorite countries to visit. It is very easy to live there. Convenience stores on every corner with an ATM inside. Everyone in the service industry understands English if they don’t already speak it. The Thai are very friendly to tourists and foreigners. All of this, plus you get to explore unusual tasty foods, and learn about their culture.
Krabi Town
After a day in Bangkok, I flew to Krabi Town. Krabi is a providence in south Thailand with lots of beaches and islands. The capital is Krabi Town. A small city with many small malls, restaurants, hotels, and 7/11s. I spent much of my time this month in Krabi Town living in Hogwarts Hostel. I was in the Daring House (Gryffindor).
Each morning I would wake up walk two blocks to my favorite cafe and eat breakfast. I would then work on projects at the cafe until 4 or 5pm around when they would close. A lot of iced chocolates, and spring rolls were consumed while on the laptop. At this point, Anura wasn’t launched yet. Some of the things I was doing were: blogging (notice how many articles were posted in May and early June?), preparing for the launch of Anura, finding other possible products to sell, and setting up our shopify website. After I left the cafe I would watch my favorite late night comedians to stay informed what was happing in the US and to laugh about it. Around 6pm or 7pm I would get dinner either at the restaurant around the corner from my hostel or from 7/11 across the street. A lot of frozen microwaveable meals were consumed. After dinner, I would continue to work checking emails, and other small tasks. 10pm I would call Randy (Business partner) to talk about Anura and what we would have to work on next. Then go to sleep and do it all over again.
I really enjoyed it. What did I enjoy? I enjoyed getting a lot done, the cheap and delicious iced chocolates, great cafe, productive space, and routine. After working hard I took a break to go to Koh Phi Phi, an island known for its parties.
Koh Phi Phi
I got off the boat stood at the Koh Phi Phi dock. I asked someone who worked there where my hotel was. He told me to walk down the road to the other side of the island and take a right. The other side of the island? I had left my large rolling bag in Bangkok, but I still had a heavy backpack and bag of clothes. So I asked: how long would this take? He told me 7 minutes. How can you cross an island in a few minutes? I started walking to the prescribed path skeptical. A few moments after leaving the dock on one side I was on the other side of the island. I was shocked. How small is this island? Koh Phi Phi is a long island, but it is narrow in parts.
Photo by Rdfr from Wikipedia
On Koh Phi Phi cars are prohibited. Roads are for walking only. I only saw three motorbikes two were police and the other was for collecting garbage. It was great not worrying about cars and safer too.
At night time we would get a drink at the beach and watch people doing crazy things with fire.
After a drink on the beach, we would walk to another bar or nightclub not on the beach. Koh Phi Phi was a nice time to relax and take a break from daily cafe hustling life.
Packing Up
My second trip to Thailand was fun and productive. I got to relax on Koh Phi Phi and drink iced chocolates while working. Parts of it were repetitive with the cafe, 7/11, Hogwarts every day, but I felt that I worked a lot and got a lot done. Part of why I was able to do this was because I had the creative environment to allow me to do it. This is something I seek everywhere I travel to. Off to go back to Vietnam.
