9 Days Solo Backpacking to Malaysia & Thailand (Part II)

click here to read '9 Days Solo Backpacking to Malaysia & Thailand (Part I)'

Arrived at Hatyai around 4 pm and i just took airport taxi (THB 300) to get to my hostel, The Hive Hostel Hatyai which took about 35 minutes driving. The hostel is located in city center, i choose female dorm and paid THB 504 for 2 nights there. That’s what i like about dorm, i could meet another travelers from another countries and 15 minutes after i got to my hostel they offered me to join Floating Market tour for THB 150 round trip. 

Hatyai Hive Hostel

It took like 30 minutes driving to the floating market from the hostel by Tuk-tuk and there were like 6 of us, all girls.  The driver gave us 2 hours to enjoy floating market and i used my time to walk around alone and took some pictures and bought some food, it was just like some chickens and soups. The soup tasted so weird tho,,,for me. I bought some key chains for my co-workers there and a purse for myself

When we got back to our hostel, i hang out a lil bit with my dorm-mates from Malaysia, they just got back from Krabi so they told me a lot about the place. We shared stories and talked about our countries and cultures, and while im writing this i feel myself missing them so much. They were so nice to me. 

The next day i didn’t really know what to do, so i just walked around and stopped Tuk-tuk and asked the driver to take me to some Temples. 1st i went to Wat Hat Yai Nai to see the Sleeping Buddha statue. It was only like 15 minutes driving from the hostel. So i just got into Tuk-tuk without asking the price 1st but then he offered to take me to Municipality Park to see another Buddha statue on the hill for THB 800 and i said okay then found out that it was actually pretty expensive. My malaysian dorm-mates told me that it’s normally just like THB 400. That’s my another problem besides food, i can’t bargain, but that was fine tho, i got my private tour and the driver was kind.

After Wat Hat Yai Nai, we drove like 40 minutes to Municipality Park, he took me to see Buddha statue, Kwan Im statue, and the cable car. From the top of the hill, Hatyai city view was amazing. I spent like 1,5 hours there visiting all statues and flower park. When he took me back to hostel i asked him to drop me at  the Mall where i accidentally met my Malaysian dorm-mates who helped me to get a van for my trip to Krabi for the next day.

So the next day i took van from Hatyai to Ao Nang, Krabi. It took like 5 hours, i paid THB 350 for that and they dropped me to my hostel in Ao Nang, Ao Nang Backpacker hostel. I chose that hostel cause i like the front look. I like a place that has many chairs and the staff was nice with clean room and good location. I paid THB 700 for 2 nights there. It’s so close to the beach, i could walk but the beach was not as good as i expected tho so i didn’t spend much time at the beach and went to find halal food which were a lot in Krabi since many muslims there. 

I bought one day trip to Phi Phi Island for my 2nd day in Krabi, it was THB 1,000. They pick me up at the hostel around 8 am and brought us to the Pier and from there we took speed boat and went to like 8 places. We went to Bamboo island, Maya Bay, Viking Cave, Phi Phi Don, Monkey Island, etc. The tour includes lunch, soft drinks, fruits, snorkel gear and hotel pick up. We also gotta pay for the national park entrance at the Pier for THB 400.

I didn’t go snorkeling tho, i was 1 of those people who just stayed on the boat taking pictures. Even tho we had our life jacket, i would still feel unsafe to go snorkeling since i can’t swim but my main reason was just to lazy to change my clothes and bring back wet clothes after -,-. All those places we visited  were amazing tho. The beach was nice but too many people. And the wave was pretty big but i enjoyed the tour a lot. The guide was a funny guy and met another Indonesian travelers too. We finished the tour around 4 pm and they took me back to hostel. When i got back to my dorm room, there were new people in the room, 1 American and 4 Vietnamese, all girls, all pretty, like seriously,,so pretty!

The next morning i joined another tour to Hot Spring and Emerald Pool that i bought for THB 800 and i also moved to another hostel in Krabi Town which was closer to the airport. So the van picked me up at the hostel around 8.30 am and we drove like 1 hour to the Hot Spring. I didn’t do much at the hot spring, i just took some pictures and started to feel unwell. We only had like 45 minutes there which was pretty annoying cause we gotta walked like 10 minutes to get to the hot spring and another 10 minutes walking back, so we only had like 15 minutes at the hot spring.

Then we drove for another 20 minutes to get to Emerald Pool. I searched about places to visit in Krabi and i was so interested in Emerald Pool, like,,i had been waiting to go there. From the entrance i gotta walk for like 800 meters to get to the Pool and when i got there i felt more and more sick. And again, too many people there and tooo many romantic couples around so i decided that i was really sick and need to go back to the van asap! -,- 

Outside the entrance many people sell food, ice creams, fruits and cakes so i bought some ice cream and juices just to try to make myself feeling better but i felt so much worse till the tour guide gave me some medicines. While waiting for another people, i decided to get traditional massage. It was for food massage but i asked the lady to just gimme head massage, she did it for like 30 minutes and i paid THB 350. The tour i took was half day tour to hot spring and Emerald Pool with no lunch. So around 1 pm they took us back to our hotels. 

In Krabi Town i stayed at Hogwart Hostel, i chose it because it’s closer to the airport since i would have early flight to go back to KL the next day, also cause it says ‘HOGWART’! In front of the hostel, they had Harry Potter, Hermione Grange and Ron Weasley cartoon pictures. The hostel was clean and the dorm room was nice. I paid THB 360 for 1 night there. I also booked hotel transport to take me to the airport the next morning at 5.30 am which was only like 20 minutes driving. I forgot how much i paid for hotel transport tho.

The next day at 8 am i flew back to KL and stayed for a night in YuniQ Hotel which was not so far from KLIA 2, around 15 minutes driving. He picked me up after i booked the airport shuffle, it was like Myr. 10 round trip. After staying at the dorm during my trip, special for that night in KL which was also new year eve i chose to stay in a private room that i paid Myr 107/night.It was good that i took private room even tho they have dorm too, my cough got so much worse at the time so i better sleep alone. It’s very quiet around the hotel but i found a small restaurant near the hotel and had lunch there. Nothing to do there so i just stayed in my room till around 8 pm i got an appointment with a Couchsurfing friend, we hang out at the restaurant i went to earlier. He was really nice, we talked about traveling and i hope soon we will meet again since he plans to come to Sumbawa. But after meeting him, i had nothing else to do, just stay in my room on new year eve,,feeling sick,,sucks,,

The next morning i had another appointment with another Couchsurfing friend. We had breakfast together and he offered to take me to the airport but i already book hotel airport shuffle. I flew back to Indonesia in the afternoon and arrived safely in Lombok around 7 pm.

During my 9 days trip to Malaysia & Thailand for the 1st time, i met many nice people, experienced new culture and enjoyed new places. By doing it alone, i found peace inside and i learned a lot more about myself. I would love to do it again soon when i have time...and money -,-

For this trip includes 6 flight tickets, transport, accommodations, meal, tours and blabla,,i spent like $500. Those trips motivate me so much more to save money and experience the world. Indonesia is amazing but the world is big. Must be great to experience it all \\(^o^)//