Starting the eight weeks away with Krabi was a very good choice! Not really being 'sitting on a beach' kind of people, but more of 'sitting overlooking a beach with a drink' kind of people meant that Krabi pretty much did what we wanted and eased us nicely into the plus seven hour time difference to the UK. There was also enough to keep us busy too whether that be walking, taking a bus to the main town, enjoying a pleasant meal with a cool drink or even planning our January/February 2015 road trip across the USA using one of the many WiFi hotspots that are offered at nearly every bar or restaurant for no cost.

Heather has to be congratulated on finding our accommodation in Krabi. The AoNang Home Stay is not the sort of place we normally use, but all of the good reviews were certainly for a reason. The place was spotlessly clean, in a quiet part of the town (the twenty minute walk to the beaches may not be everyone's cup of tea) and the owner, Mr Chang, was a pleasant and helpful chap. There was also the number one rated restaurant on Trip Advisor next door. Some people bemoan Trip Advisor, but too be honest on both counts here it was right, both the home stay and the restaurant were fabulous and very good value.

The local taxi owners in AoNang work together as part of a cartel offering set prices to many destinations in the area. Not wanting to pay the advertised 500 THB (£10) fare each way to Krabi town meant taking the local bus, or more accurately a converted pick up truck, the 12 kilometres for just 50 THB. Do the simple math and we had saved enough money using the bus to easily pay for a meal in a restaurant back at the beach. Krabi town was an OK place to visit, it does not have much to offer the tourists (and that is why the nearby beach areas are busy) but we did take a long tail boat out on the river to visit the Khao Khanab Nam cave and call in at a so called fish farm. A bit more walking once we were on dry land also enabled us to see the impressive Kaew Grovaram Temple. It is cheaper than the beach area in the town but there is not too much to see or do either, or at least not that we found.

The long tail boat owners also work together offering set prices to many destinations that are accessible from AoNang. The trip to Railay Beach, just around the headland, cost us 200 THB each return, but was really worthy of a visit. Tickets for the boats are purchased from a ticket office on the beach and then simply handed to the driver before you have to wade out, almost up to your waist in the sea, and hop or scambled on board. The reward, after ten minutes of travel by boat, is probably one of the most impressive beaches I have ever seen and, if you want, you can stay almost on the beach in one of the resort hotels but they will set you back a little more than our budget per night.

If you can cope with the humidity, the heat, the occasional torrential shower, the slightly chaotic world of Thailand, you like tasty good value food served in nice environments (or sometimes in not so nice environments if you want to maybe save a pound or two), you can put up with a bit of touting for business (although the Indians are far more persistent than the Thai people) then Krabi, or more particularly the beach areas close to Krabi town are well worthy of a visit.

After a few days of what has been for us a fairly steady and relaxing time we now look forward to moving up a gear as we spend some time back in the Thai capital.