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Published: June 19th 2009
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Although Paul's home on Phuket is very near the island Koh Phi Phi where the movie was filmed, 'The Beach' there has long been changed forever by rampant development...the glow of it's streetlights now visible from the mainland every night. We know we don't have time to venture far, so nearby Krabi province with the secluded beaches of Rai Leh and Ton Sai seem our best bet. Accessible only by boat from Krabi port and sharing similar dramatic scenery as Phi Phi, you get the illusion of being on an island. We choose Ton Sai which, as our boat rounds the headland, takes my breath away. Majestic mountains, dense jungle, turquoise water and beach huts...I think we've found the place, that was easy 😊
As we jump from the boat and my feet hit the sand, I realise that we haven't been on a beach since Otres in Cambodia. The sun has already set and the light is fading fast, so we must make a quick decision on digs for the night. The hut is ultra basic, but the welcome is so warm that we decide it'll do for tonight and join Max, the dreadlocked manager, at the Reggae Bar.
It's true that people really do make the place, and in Max we find a kindred spirit. Ton Sai and Rai Leh boast some of the best rock climbing in the world, and Max and his crew are all card carrying climbing instructors. They're a rock'n'roll mix of Buddhist rastas (!) and tattooed bikers, but you couldn't hope to fall in with a warmer, more welcoming crowd (though you probably wouldn't want to fall out with them!) Together we keep the bar open til 4am, firm friendships forged and not forgotten...bad boys for life!
We move to smarter digs the next morning (ie. one with a bed!) but keep Max's place as our local. It's so hot, even in the water, that we can only handle an hour on the beach at a time, but it's wonderful to swim in the sea again. Ton Sai attracts rock climbers from all over the world, and Ritch decides he wants to play like Spiderman too, so signs up to a half day climb for the next morning. They'll be scaling the sheer cliffs of neighbouring Rai Leh, so I tag along in their boat with the plan of exploring the beaches
there. But first I take the role of Ritch's official photographer...I was expecting to have to wait some time before getting any really dramatic shots, but after a brief safety talk, they let him loose and within minutes Ritch is over 20 mtrs high. When he manages a tricky overhang on his second attempt, the instructor declares him a natural and they move straight onto a 30 mtr climb. With a suitably impressive set of shots in the can, I leave them to it and head off exploring.
I was expecting the trail I was on to take me to Rai Leh beach, where the boat had dropped us earlier. But as I emerge from some caves onto an even more lovely beach, I realise that I'm on the other side of the peninsula at Phra Nang. It's a happy mistake...if I ever had an image of a Thai beach paradise then this would be it. With caster sugar sand and crystal water, together with a good book and cold beer and I'm a very happy beach bunny. I lose track of time a little, and when I make it back to the climb site they've already finished. I
find Ritch on Rai Leh beach (also absolutely gorgeous, with discreet 'posh' beach huts and spa resorts hidden in the palms) and take him back to Phra Nang where we lunch on bbq chilli chicken before taking a long walk over the headland, back to Ton Sai.
We only had a couple of days at our beach utopia and could easily have stayed for weeks. But I have a feeling we will come back to Ton Sai and Rai Leh, and with Paul just down the road we could end up frequent fliers.
In this, my last Thai blog entry, I must just say that the food here in Thailand is consistently incredible...for me, the best in South East Asia. There's so much variety and the freshness and subtlety of Thai cuisine is unbeatable. We did not have one bad, or even average meal, and it's the only country we've visited where neither of us have experienced any tummy troubles.
Thailand has been an absolute pleasure to travel round; some hardened travellers snootily dismiss it as 'over...gone to the package tours', but this sobbery is one of the worst things about the backpacker scene. If we have
been able to land in such peaceful gems as Pai and Ton Sai with so little effort and relatively limited time, then surely there's more that's yet to succumb to the developers' dollar. We're all tourists and Thailand has something to suit every holidaymakers' budget and taste, wether you've got two weeks or two months to enjoy it.
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