After our trip to Khao Sok we headed towards the west coast of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Our first stop here was Railay Beach (or Rai Leh). Railay is a peninsula near Krabi that is accessed only by longtail boat, as it is blocked by a layer of impenetrable cliffs. It has two beaches, Railay East and Railay West. Railay East is a shallow muddy beach which is lined with mangroves that isn’t really suitable for swimming. It is rumoured to have great views of the sun rising, but to us, it will remain an unconfirmed rumour (we are on our holidays afterall!). The other beach, Railay West, is described as one of the best places to watch the sun go down. This we can confirm! The beach is definitely one of the nicest we have encountered on our trip so far. The sand was soft and golden and the the water was perfect for swimming, even at low tide. It was here that we set up camp for 3 nights. We stayed at Railay Beach Club, which is a resort of private holiday homes owned by foreigners (mainly Australians). Some of the homes were really beautiful, each one being built in an orignal Thai style. Our home, or rather room, was small but tastefully decorated, and only for the fact that we discovered mice in our bathroom one evening, it was quite perfect!
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| Railay Beach |
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| Railay at night |
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| Good times |
As well as admiring the beach scenery, we decided that we would try our hands at some rock climbing. Railay is known among seasoned climbers as one of the best places for rock climbing in the world and thus was the perfect way for two novices like us to spend an afternoon. Athletic Rob took to it very easily and was soon attempting and succeeding in doing the more difficult climbs. As most of Claire’s friends know, she bruises like a peach. So imagine what a peach looks like after it has been knocked and bashed around for an afternoon…it wasn’t a pretty sight!
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| Rob's journey to the top |
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| Climb every mountain! |
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| Higher and higher... |
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| Great success! |
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| Congratulations Mr. Robert |
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| Claire reaches the top |
Our final stop on our first visit to Thailand was Koh Phi Phi. The journey to get to Phi Phi was as eventful as other journeys we had previously been on. It started with approximately 100 western tourists wading out in waist-deep water to longtail boats, all the while carrying our backpacks. While this was happening the heavens decided to open and promptly drenching us even further. I’m only sorry that we have no photographs to evidence this as being like a scene from television of evacuating refugees! It was unbelievable. As the rain poured down, we battled some high waves in our longtail boat and made our way to a larger passenger ferry which would take us to Phi Phi. All this for €10 – what a bargain!
Phi Phi island was devastated by the tsunami of 2004 but there is literally no evidence of this fact to be seen, save for a memorial garden and signposts directing to tsunami evacuation points on high ground. Phi Phi really is a beautiful island. We discovered this by doing the strenuous climb to the viewpoint. This was reached by a 1,000ft vertical climb that included hundreds of steep steps and narrow twisting paths. We decided to do this (in flip-flops) after indulging in a massive pizza and pasta lunch; probably not the cleverest decision we have ever made, but it got the blood pumping and the sweat pouring! The views from the top were amazing and definitely worth the puffing and panting. The view stretched for miles and the sea was shimmering blues, green, aqua, turquoise and jade. We also did a 10km beach walk and encountered small deserted beaches that were postcard perfect. The main beach on Phi Phi island (Tonsai) is also a feast for the eyes, and is long stretch of sand with warm, blue sea to enjoy. While on Phi Phi, Claire also decided to indulge in an infamous Thai massage. A bargain at a mere €6 for an hours worth of poking, prodding and pummelling by an extremely petite Thai lady. Where she got her strength from, I just don’t know.
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| Kho Phi Phi Viewpoint |
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| Kho Phi Phi Viewpoint |
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| Kho Phi Phi Viewpoint |
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| A welcome break |
Alas, you can’t stay in tropical paradise forever so we made our way back to Bangkok through Krabi to continue on to the next leg of our journey. Surprisingly we found the best coffee shop in Thailand on the way – we’re already looking forward to coming back here in November!
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| Thoughts on the journey ahead |
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