Trang, Thailand

Three years ago we met the most amazing couple at the beginning of our South East Asia trip in Vietnam, January 2020. We got along so well that we ended up meeting up multiple times throughout Vietnam and stayed in touch. Sadly due to the Covid Pamedenic, our paths did not cross again until February 2023. For three years now we have chatted through a group chat, sharing our travels, memes and sharing big life events. When we started planning our second VISA run for Vietnam, we reached out to Marc and Alanae and decided to reunite in Thailand.

We all are making our mark as couples with big life events. While also doing bucket list travel places and experiences. Doing all of that is fun, sometimes down time and catching up on a beach for a few days can be just as exciting. Marc and Alanae were in Thailand visiting her family, as we went back and forth trying to decide where to meet up we finally all agreed to meet in the not so popular city of Trang, Thailand.

This city is a bit off the beaten path, yes tourists go there but normally it is a quick layover before heading to the islands or another country. This city has a domestic airport with 3 gates and you load up or off right on the tarmac, a train station and a pier.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Marc and Alanae got to Trang before us, landing in the early afternoon. While we arrived early in time, we saw the last little bit of sunshine and took in the night market! As we unloaded from the Uber, there were happy squeals (Alanae and I), a lot of laughter and hugs. We were all so excited to be back together AND travelling. We dropped our bags in our room and the 4 of us were off to the night market and to find beers!

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Ah, the night market, one of my absolute FAVOURITE things about South East Asia. All the different food, drinks and unique items you can find. Touring around together again left like no time had passed, once everyone had picked up multiple delicious items to eat, we found a table, some beers and spent the next bit chatting and stuffing our faces.

As the night carried on we went back to our hotel and prepared for our 1 day in Trang.

There is so much to do in the Trang area, it's unreal! Countless waterfalls, beaches, hikes, landmarks and restaurants. We did not have nearly enough time to do them all but we did do a lot for one day! We started off with renting scooters and touring around Trang's streets seeing some of the main landmark sites.

Starting with the Trang Clock Tower, which was just up the road from our hotel and not far up the road from that was the Dugong roundabout, Trang is known for Dugong (manatees, we did not get the chance to see any).

Photo Credit: V.Gray

We found on TripAdvisor that there were countless caves, waterfalls, hikes and beaches in the area. As we started driving out of town we found a sign for Khao Chang Ngay Cave, so we made that our next point of interest.

Riding out through the fields and mountains we found Khao Chang Ngay Cave. We paid 10 baht ($0.39 CAD) for parking and waited 10 minutes for the cave to open. Of course we were the only people there at 10 am.

We hung around at the base of the cave Photo Credit: V.Gray

waiting for it to open. What was holding us back, a gate on wheels. So we moved it ourselves, starting climbing up to the cave thinking we would be able to walk right into the cave. It was a pretty basic climb of a few stairs to the mouth of the cave but once we reached the entrance there was a locked barred door.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

We stood there for a moment before a lady with a key and a flashlight joined us. She opened the door and led us into the cave. As we first entered it was a pretty basic cave, nothing over the top. There were however a ton of bats flying around.

It was well lit and the path was clear and easy to walk, however the deeper we got the more ducking and weaving we had to do. I think we were all honestly expecting a small walk in and walk out kind of cave. This cave went on forever! It was a lot deeper and intricate than what any of us expected.

We kept going and reached a fork in the path, we were told the stairs going down were closed and it was very cold down there. So we took the path to the right continuing on, normally caves are a bit cooler than outside, this cave was not. As we continued on, we were all sweating. It was very warm inside.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Winding through the cave, dodging the stalagmites, stalagmites and pools of water. It was a really interesting cave hike that none of us were prepared for. It’s shown as a temple cave on the map, but once you get in there it is so much more. We spent a good hour or so in this cave, it was worth the 10 baht to go.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/05f7d2_b18f2b85fd2b4cbba1040c685ea8d45e/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Video Credit: V.Gray

We read the legend of Khao Chang Ngay Cave before entering, it's a bit confusing due to translation discrepancies. It basically comes down to the building of the temple in the Southern Region and requesting donations of gold for the temple. The Buddhists who were interested in donating gold, made the journey with elephants. They stopped near a dam and the pregnant elephant gave birth near the dam. Once the calf was strong enough they carried on, reaching a second dam where the elephants rushed into the water. The calf squirted its mother with water and the dam has since been called "Nong Ta Vuay Nam", which is located near Khao Chang Nga Cave.

When they reached the foothills later on they took a break, during this time the calf got separated from its mother. They say the elephant calf wandered into this cave, where they later on found it and said to be still in the cave. When a mahout found out about the calf they went into the cave to get it. Using 3 red and white strings along with an incantation to catch the calf and take it from the cave. While walking through the rice fields farmers yell at the mahout that the calf was easily escaping and running away. The strings were torn and the calf escaped.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

As the calf ran away the mahout was only able to catch its tail, which he used a knife to slash the calf's tail to stop him from running away. However the knife accidently cut the calf's tail off, resulting in the tail becoming a piece of gold. After the tail was cut the calf ran back into the cave and no one has seen the calf since. Whatever the legend actually is, this is the translation we found.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

As we got on the scooters, we started talking about what to do next. Ryan mentioned that there had been multiple signs for waterfalls and we should go do a waterfall hike. We started our course for the main road and within seconds of being on the road we found multiple signs for waterfalls. We decided to go to Sairung Waterfall, which we later looked into and it was supposed to be one of the best in the area.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

When we arrived at the waterfalls the first thing Ryan and I thought was "shoot dry season", this is going to be rocky and unimpressive. Alanae was quick to say it was not the dry season so we took on the challenge and started hiking up.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

If there is no easy way to start this hike, and if there is, we missed it! Climbing up over boulders, slippery slopes and wading through small streams. We reached the halfway point and started seeing the magnificent waterfall. As we carried on up towards the waterfall we found a nice pool, with a slight view of the falls that was still a distance upstream, Marc and Alanae stopped for a swim while Ryan and I carried on up.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

There is no easy hike up over the boulders, however it was so much fun. Ditching our shoes made it so much easier as some spots were quite steep, slippery and others we were jumping across the water or walking through. Ryan carried on up to the base of the waterfall to see if there was a better pool of water to swim in, while I turned back to get Marc and Alanae. When we all got to the base of this 100 metre waterfall it was absolutely beautiful.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

There was a large pool to swim and of course off to the one side a rope to climb up and jump off the cliff. Ryan being Ryan had already climbed up the slippery slope and was waiting to jump when Marc and Alanae arrived. We sent Marc out below Ryan to check how deep the water was before he jumped, the pool was deep enough that Marc couldn't touch the bottom. We stayed at the base of the waterfall enjoying the view and relaxing, cooling off for a good 30 minutes before deciding to head back to the bikes and carry on down the road.

We rode on with our next stop being the Botanical Gardens for the Canopy Bridge walk, which would lead us back into Trang and close to our hotel. On a board in our hotel and on TripAdvisor, along with multiple blogs this comes up as a great excursion for an afternoon. We arrived at the Botanical Gardens an hour before they closed. We were told if we could do the 3 km walk in an hour to go ahead, if not come back tomorrow.

The Botanical Gardens cost nothing to enter, so we carried on knowing we only had an hour. This starts as an easy walk on a nice well marked path through the jungle (that's what the map told us) until you reach the first tower to climb up to the canopy bridges.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

When we started our walk we were the only ones in the garden, another couple did follow us for a bit until the end of the canopy bridges, then we lost sight of them. Starting up the canopy bridges, there was no staff or anyone else around so we really had our run of the place. Climbing the towers up, the tower at the start takes you to the first leave, then every tower after takes you to the next height. Half way through the towers switch up and start making you work your way back down.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Honestly if we had taken our time more and read more of the signs instead of goofing off and talking we probably would have seen a lot more of the flora fauna. Alsa that is not who we are as a group, we were bouncing on the bridges (four people one suspension bridge it was guaranteed to bounce), cracking jokes and just enjoying our time together.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

As you climb down from the canopy bridges, you come to what looks like a dead end path. There is actually a small dirt path that leads onto the next section of the gardens, the swamp/marsh area.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

The swamp/marsh area is a raised concrete path so it's easy to follow and your feet do not get wet or muddy. You will find that instead of cutting down trees or moving rocks that the path simply made around them.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

The garden ends by a small pond leading out to the main entrance. It took us about 45 minutes to an hour to walk the trail. However as we were leaving the gardens at 4:30 pm, we did see another tourist couple walking in. So it does not appear that they are very strict on the closing time. This was worth the visit and a fun end to our day before we returned back to our hotel. Then we would go looking for the night market, which of course moves around the city nightly.

Trang is a quaint little city, with lots to offer. There is enough to do to keep you busy for a day or two if you are not carrying onto the islands or Krabi right away. There are lots of sights to see and dining options, a great starting point for a Thai holiday.

Cheers!

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram vikki.gray **