Ao Nang and the beaches of Railay

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Be warned, this is a bit of a moany blog! Myself and Vinny left Phi Phi on the evening ferry to Krabi, where we got a taxi to Ao Nang, a beachside resort town nearby. The main reason we were here was to visit the beaches of Railay so the next morning, we got a longtail boat to Railay Beach West, the closest of them. We were surprised by how expensive it was, over $12 for the two of us, as the beach was only minutes away (and there was a load of us on the boat). The scenery on the boat was great though and the water was so clear, I couldn’t wait to go snorkelling! When we got to the beach, it was fairly busy. We found a spot and spent the day there, swimming, reading and playing beach paddle ball. It was a very relaxing chilled out day, although to be honest we were a little disappointed because the beaches had been described as secluded, only accessible by long tail but it was packed and not very secluded at all! However, we still enjoyed the day and planned on going to a different one the next day.

That evening, being New Years Eve, we went to an Irish Bar nearby that was serving roast dinners and showing the football. After a nice dinner and watching the Arsenal match with a few people we met in the bar, we all went outside to ring in 2012 watching an amazing fireworks display over the sea! It was fab! There were also lots of people on the beach letting off lanterns, so at midnight the sky was dotted with the lights from the lanterns as they floating up into the sky. Unfortunately for us, we were both suffering from really painful ear aches and so the next morning, we had to go find a doctor who told us we had infections due to overexposure to water, as we had spent the previous week snorkelling and scuba diving. We were given a ton of medication and spent the day lazing around dosed up.

Our last day in Ao Nang, feeling a little better we spent the day chilling out on the beach in the town. Accordingly, there is not much to report in this blog! Our experience in Ao Nang was marred by the ear infections and so we were happy to be moving on to the next destination, but first, as it was Vinnys big 30th birthday on January 3rd, I had arranged a nights accommodation in a really fancy resort in Klong Muang Beach as a surprise! We checked in that morning and were brought to the most amazing hotel room we have ever stayed in! It was so luxurious and opened out onto the pool. Spent the day on sun loungers loving every minute of it! After a lovely day, things started to go wrong! We tried to book a ferry the following afternoon to Koh Lanta but apparently, they weren’t running. We then tried to arrange a van, but we would be collected at the crack of dawn and we didn’t want that. Eventually, we settled on getting a private car to take us there the following afternoon. We went to the local shop for beer, champagne and wine and had a nice evening, chilling out drinking beer. We ordered a nice dinner from the restaurant to be brought to our room and when it arrived, everything was freezing cold. We had to cancel the order and get a lift into the nearest town for dinner. We found an Indian place that was still serving (it was around 11pm) and had curries. We then spent ages trying to get back to the hotel because there was only one taxi and the driver was trying to rip us off. Long story boring, we made it back to the hotel eventually and cracked into the champagne but the indian food made me sick, so I was no fun. Vinny stayed up till 5am on his own watching the Liverpool match (and they lost) so it wasn’t the greatest end to the celebrations!

We decided that we had had enough of Thailand and after the few days we had planned in Koh Lanta, we would move on and go to Malaysia. Saying that, when we arrived in Koh Lanta, things took a turn for the better!

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