Railay

After our visa run and quick stopover in Krabi, our next destination was Railay (Rai Leh), an area on the mainland north of Krabi. The high point of Railay is that it is made up of 3 main beaches (Railay East, Railay West and Ton Sai) nestled in between mountainous jungle and can only be accessed by longtail boat. There are a limited amount of people and accommodations, which is nice for a change. It is also full of cliff faces perfect for rock climbing.


To get there, we went to the pier in Krabi and negotiated a price with a longtail boat driver. The catch with this is that they will only take you once their longtail is full or you agree to pay for the entire boat. We were the only two there and Krabi was looking pretty dead. We decided to just lay low and see if the driver could find other people interested in going to Railay. He found another couple from Germany within 20 minutes and then nothing. He tried to get us to pay more for the boat, but all four of us stuck together and said we would only take the boat if it was the original price. We even took it a step further and said we would go to a different village and take a different longtail boat if we couldn't find enough people in Krabi. The driver hummed and hahhed and continued looking, but after an hour he realized we were his only potential customers for the day and he agreed to take us for the originally quoted price. So we had a very comfortable 40 minute boat ride from Krabi to Railay!


We were dropped off at Railay East and scoped out the accommodation situation before choosing an A/C bungalow by the pool at the Diamond Cave Resort in Railay East. Railay West was all upscale resorts and Ton Sai, although reputably cheaper, was very hard to get to so we decided to make the trek over there without bags, and move over if we found a better deal. The Diamond Cave Resort is nestled right below a large cliff face (which makes for awesome views!) and the jungle trek through the Highlands into Ton Sai.



After dropping off our bags (and having a quick dip in the pool), we decided to make the trek to Ton Sai. Again, true to Thai fashion, the quoted 15-20 minute trek was actually over 30 minutes and it was a STEEP jungle trek! Fortunately, we had the foresight to apply bug spray before the trek!



Eventually we made it to Tonsai. It is a small, remote area with most accommodation in the jungle. It was definitely cheaper, but largely occupied by rock climbers and people interested in the"special pancakes" and it was REALLY difficult to access. Since Beau was planning on spending most of his time rock climbing, I wanted to be located somewhere a little more central to things. Still, Tonsai was beautiful, with a quiet beach and awesome cliff faces.



As we were exploring the beach, we ran into my dive buddy from Ko Tao, Erik. Small world! An avid climber, he offered to show Beau the ropes (no pun intended) and therefore help him avoid paying for courses. They immediately hit it off and decided to go climbing right away - BOYS! They rented their equipment and found chose a spot on the cliff right off the beach. Since I wasn't about to go trekking through the jungle by myself, I found a comfy boulder to rest against and read my book...and snuck a few pictures of their progress :)

The climbing stopped close to sunset and we were shown a faster way to get to Railay West Beach that could only be trekked during low tide - which it was right then. We made our way across and took the pathway back over to Railay East for dinner. We found a restaurant with yummy Thai food, including a local specialty - BBQ'd barracuda skewer!

The following day, Beau went off to meet Erik for more climbing and I had time to myself to do girlie vacation stuff. I walked around the shops, I read my book by the pool, and I booked a spa appointment :)



I timed my spa treatment so that I would end a little before sunset so that I could find a good vantage point on Railay West Beach to snap photos. Beau met me just as the sun was going down - and what a sunset it was! The sun went behind mountains just before the shoreline, so it was partially obscured, but it was still stunning. What was really amazing was an interesting cloud formation farther up in the sky that weaved along in a horizontal line. Once the sun was down, it turned the most incredible colours! We snapped our pictures and then went for a quick dip before returning to Railay East for the evening.



For dinner, we went to the Last Bar/Lucky Restaurant, which had handed out posters for a Half Moon Party. Since the bar really was the last structure along the northern end of the beach, it was surrounded by trees and sand. There was an outdoor area with cushions, low tables and candlelight. We enjoyed yummy Thai dishes while looking up at the stars, listening to a very good live musician, and watching fire shows. Before we went to bed, we also booked a tour for the following day to Phang Nga National Park - the main attraction being the island filmed in the James Bond movie, "The Man With the Golden Gun". Should be fun!