Nanda & Nathan The Travellers: Trang, Thailand

December 19-21, 2014 ---- While Nathan and I were doing research in southern Thailand, we decided to take a break and have our wedding anniversary in Trang province. The van ride from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Trang took about 2-3 hours and cost only 100 Baht per person. We stayed at a hostel right in the city center, and my mom joined us there after she landed at Trang airport in the after noon .

Day 1

Trang City is pretty small comparing to Hat Yai and Surat Thani provinces. This province is well known for being the birthplace of our beloved former prime-minister of Thailand, Mr. Chuan Leakphai, and also for seafood festival and vegetarian festival.

We hired a local Tuk Tuk (a small three-wheel car that looks like a frog head) taking us around the city. At the time it cost 250 Baht per hour, so we hired the driver for a two-hour tour of the city center. He took us to many Chinese Buddhist and Taoist temples where they hold the biggest vegetarian feast every year. Then we went to a beautiful local park where a monument to Phraya Rasadanupradit situated. He was the governor of Trang provice during King Rama V period and was the first one who brought in rubber trees to plant in Thailand.

Former prime-minister Chuan Leakphai's house is located right in the city center and is open to public visitors. Our Tuk Tuk driver said the place is now used as an office for the Democratic party, and Mr. Chuan rarely visits his house.

In the evening we asked our Tuk Tuk driver to drop us off at Trang train station so that we could have dinner at the daily night market right in front of the train station. Trang is famous for seafood, traditional cake, and many Chinese delicacies. Since my mom hasn't been to the South often, she insisted on us having southern food, so we settled on a local restaurant at the market for dinner.

The evening in Trang City was very pleasant. We strolled through the night bazaar and a local fruit and vegetable market and then walked straight to our hostel to rest up and get ready for snorkeling in the sea the next day.

Day 2

We were up bright and early to be picked up for the Tour of 4 Islands. From Trang City it took about 40-45 minutes to get to the pier where we boarded a double-decker boat to the islands. I booked a 2-day-1-night trip from Talaytrang and it included all transportation, one lunch, and accommodation on one of the islands.

The first island we visited called Koh Mook. The word "Koh" in Thai means island. This island is special for its "Emerald Cave" where the sea water at the entrance of the cave sparkles with a bright green color. To get through the deep, dark cave, we all had to hold on each other's life vests and swim in like a train. On the day we went there were too many tourists and the lines were long and the water was cold due to an off-season rain storm. Once we got through the dark cave, we reached the round pool with opened sky in the middle of the island. It wasn't that impressive because it was too crowded!

The second island called Koh Kradan. It's my favorite because it has a beautiful sandy beach stretching for many kilometers on one side of the island where we can swim, and there is a part where we can go snorkeling and see a lot of beautiful coral and marine life. There are also many hotels and bungalows you can rent for vacations or holidays.

Koh Cheuak doesn't have a beach area, but it's famous for beautiful coral and colorful fish. It was our last stop for snorkeling before being dropped off overnight at Koh Ngai where we booked our accommodation. At Koh Cheuak, we swam with hundreds of tiger fish (fish with black and yellow stripes) because the tour guide threw rice in the water to feed those fish. Some of them were a little aggressive and nipped me as I swam close by.

The tour ended as the boat dropped us off at Koh Ngai. There were only two parties who decided to stay overnight on the island, and the rest just came with a single-day tour and would go back to the city in the evening. Kho Ngai is also very beautiful with a long sandy beach, lush rain forest, and beautiful clear water. We made a reservation at Koh Ngai Camping, but there was some issue as we checked in, so the tour company moved us to Koh Ngai Resort instead. We were happy to stay at the resort even though it was a little secluded from other hotels and beaches. In the evening we strolled on the resort's private beach and to the pier and we had a wonderful seafood dinner at the resort restaurant. Everything was perfect.

Day 3

The tour company arranged for a long-tail boat to pick us up in the morning and take us back to Trang City. The journey took about two hours and they dropped us off at the Bus Terminal where we took a van to Hat Yai.

Our trip to Trang was very enjoyable. Although the storm clouds were hanging above at all time, the scenery was still gorgeous. What I liked most about the trip was the snorkeling and seeing the healthy marine life under the ocean. As I always say to my friends, Thailand has the best beaches!