Bokator (Muay Thai) in Siem Reap

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After having an awesome day training in Ao Nang (near Krabi, Thailand) I decided to do some training in Siem Reap, Muay Thai was the Thai interpretation of the original Khmer fighting styles, but became famous due to the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot banning any forms of entertainment and killing many of the fighters.

I found a Bokator gym and got a Tuk Tuk there and back $4 and he waited for the 90minutes or so, and $5 for the training, the Tuk Tuk could have been cheaper but I think $4 is a fair price.

The training was vastly different to Muay Thai and definitely more deadly, some of the guys training here were doing backflips kicks from the walls, incredible to watch.

Thailand to Cambodia

Fly.

Simple, for the sake of saving $30 and taking the overland route, you will have to deal with 30+ hour bus and train rides, on poor roads in possibly cramped conditions.

Book a week ahead and you can fly and enjoy an extra day. You might have to fly through KL but this is still better than wasting a full day and being uncomfortable, when looking for flights you will have to do individual searches on Air Asia, as they don't do combination flights.

Krabi Beach (Ao Nang)

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Krabi doesn't really have a beach, unless you are into mangroves, but for a 50THB on the public tuk tuk (white with Ao Nang - Krabi - Etc - Etc) written on the side you can head to Ao Nang.

This would have once been an amazing beach but the constant stream of long tail boas kind of ruins the serenity (I am picky when it comes to beaches), it is also a 200THB round trip to Railay beach and jumping off point for a multitude of rock climbing adventures.

The far end of the beach (away from the longtail boats) also has some monkeys that you can feed, always be careful around wild animals.

While the other end is a bit noisier and crowded.

We had 5 people in a hotel room for 400THB each, some cheap street food can be found, and there is a small collection of bar's in a plaza that is opposite the beach, no where near as wild as Koh Phanang, or Ko Phi Phi (see my other posts) it is enough for a night out and a few drinks.

Koh Phi Phi

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So your looking for a picture perfect beach to relax on with cool water. Unfortunately Koh Phi Phi Don is no longer the greatest spot for this, there are some nice beaches at Long Beach (15 min walk from the main area) but the main beach is shallow, filled with rubbish and sewerage.

We did find a nice secluded beach just before long beach that had clear water, and plenty of corals that were still alive.

If you do an island hopping trip then you will find some amazing beaches, snorkel with sharks (small harmless reef sharks), see coral, caves, and incredible sunsets.

Incredible fish and sharks can be found at some of the islands.

As can incredible beaches:

If you came for the party's then you are definitely in the right spot, this place has everything, fancy fighting a friend or random drunk person in the Reggae bar for a free bucket of booze, Phi Phi has that.

Maybe dancing drinking and smoking all night at one of many beach bars, or relaxing with a smoke at Banana Bar's rooftop lounge area (great by day and night).

We stayed at Flower Hostel in the dorm room for 300THB per night, the crowd in this hostel was incredible with cheap beers at the hostel we made some great friends here and partied all night.
Thailand also has easy access to prescription drugs which have been known to be used to increase your energy for those who really want to take partying to the next level, of course drugs are dangerous so I do not recommend you take them.

Buckets start at around 200THB, up to 400 depending on what and where you buy them. Beers are 40 for a small Chang and 65 for a large. Tiger and Singa are about 20THB more.

Ao Nang to Koh Phi Phi

A 2 hour ferry can easily be organised from Krabi at any of the travel agents for 300THB, if leaving from Ao Nang a public Tuk Tuk (will likely beep if your with your bags and has Ao Nang - Krabi written on the side) should set you back 50THB but drops you away from the pier so either organise in advance to pay extra or negotiate a taxi for 100THB.

If you get there early enough I would recommend getting on the roof and relaxing, like this:

Rock climbing Krabi

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One of the world's best rock climbing destinations, free climbing (no rope) is an incredible experience falling into the ocean when your body is too fatigued or jumping from the top of a climb 20m into the water below is an exhilarating experience.

We paid 1000thb each for a yacht to take us out to two climbing spots, lunch, water and a few smokes included, others we spoke to paid the same for a long tail boat (see boat in pic above) which is way crowded and nowhere near as pleasant as sailing.

We booked through Ao Nang Climber, run my a German woman sorted is out with our boat and legendary captain Luang who I would definitely recommend, for the same price you get a yacht with music, water, food, and an incredible captain or you can find him in the afternoon at Railay beach, as he lives on the yacht (pictured above).

 A stop was also made for a little bit of snorkeling and exploring a cave on a secluded beach. This was easily one of the most memorable days of my trip and an incredible workout with most muscles aching today, we had 2 experienced climbers but the rest of us were novices but still had fun and made a few fun climbs.

Muay Thai training at Ao Nang Stadium, Krabi

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A 15 min walk or cheap tuk tuk from Ao Nang beach is the Ao Nang Stadium with Ao Nang gym on the right hand side (pictured)

400Thb for an hour long lesson (ended up being 90 minutes), this is one of those things that most people will be scared of doing but is well worth it, they also had group classes every morning and afternoon.

Beginners get a good work out and learn some basic punching drills, I had done some training previously in Australia (only 2 months) and the trainer here was so much better than any I had in Australia and incredibly friendly also.

Me practicing my kicks.

Warming up before some technique work: