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Published: April 1st 2006
Hello Ton Sai
Arriving at Hat Ton SaiHey, after checking out of our guesthouse in Au Nang we decided to check out a nearby beach that you had to get a longtail boat to, Hat Ton Sai. It only took 10 minutes by boat to get there but the differences from Ao Nang were apparent as soon as we docked. The beach had a row of about 10 bars on it, all relatively quiet and the beach was dominated by huge cliffs, parts of which overhanged onto the beach (Very useful if you want to stay in the shade!) Ton Sai seems to be a haven for rock climbers and on the cliffs you could see bits of harness and peg holes where theclimbers had been.
We checked into some bungalows about 5 minutes into the mainaland from the beach and then headed straight back to the turquoise sea. Bully decided that he didn't fancy anymore beach bumming so ater a quick look at Ton Sai he decided to head back to Ao Nang where he could catch a bus to Malaysia the next morning, where he will perhaps bump into the elusive jonny!(actually he's not that elusive, he's been in touch via email so we know
Entrance to Prananganai Cave
Also me with a little bit of a caveman beard-kind of! whereabouts he is)
At Ton Sai it was so noticeable when the tide was going in and out: when the tide is in the sea looks beautiful but when it goes out all you are left with is about 50 metres of black skanky rocks and a few washedup sea creatures until you reach the sea again. One good thing about the tide going out though was the fact that you could easily access the bigger beach of Railar West. When the tide is in it takes a 30 minute trek through forst to get to Railar (As we were to find out the next day!) However when the tide is out you can simply walk around some big rocks that were earlier covered with sea water- Brucey bonus!
At night me and Wils headed to some of the bars by the beach. Apparently Ton Sai is a bit of a hippies haven, by the names of the bars and the decor it is easy to see why- Marujana leaves painted on the walls, Bob Marley pics everywhere etc. There were a few randoms on the beach literally playing with fire- swinging sticks with fire at each end,
Pranang Cave
See what i mean! and balls of fire into various patterns and shapes, "Goodness gracious great balls of fire!" The atmosphere was so laid back, i came close to dozing off in the hammock I was in on several occassions and decided to head back to the bungalow relatively early doors
31st March
Right enough is enough! As good as lying on a beach all day, reading a book and getting burnt can be we've got to get out of this habit of enjoying doing nothing. That about sums up the mentality when we set out on our days adventures today. Ok, granted, we didn't roll out of the bungalows till nearly Midday but we left the bungalow armed with nothing but a makeshift map and lashings of motivation to explore what Ton Sai and the surrounding area had to offer (I was also armed with a can of Red Fanta, which i am quickly becoming addicted to- i think i'm beyond the point of no return, on about 3 cans a day with no hint of cutting down!).
We headed for the Lagoon, which looking at the map seemed to be a hop skip and a jump away from Railar
Into the Fray!
On an easy bit of the route to the Lagoon Beach West- Easy as Pie we thought, lets just head to Ton Sai beach and follow the beaches path. No such luck! The damn tide was in, and had no intentions of letting us pass for at least another 5 hours. After a few queries at the tourist info place it seemed that a 15 minute walk around the cliffs, through the forest should get us there. We hiked our way through a building site only to discover there was a footpath right by our side which we could of used(!?!) and then headed through the forest eventually ending up at the other side, about 2 stone lighter due to the amount we sweated!
As luck would have it we stumbled upon one of the Big sites highlighted on our map, Pranangnai Cave- It was refreshing to walk into somewhere to escape the sweltering heat. The cave was quite cool to look around, a lot more clean than Dave's Cave i hasten to add, and a lot less smelly- we could even hear the bats chirping far above our heads. After the cave we proceeded to literally go around in circles, heading for Railar beach East but ending up
Me by the Lagoon
Me ruining a perfectly beautiful scene- only joking! i think i manage to make it even more easy on the eye! at West and suchlike!
Eventually we thought we were en route to the Lagoon, everyone we asked told us to follow this footpath and turn left before we reached Pranangnai Beach. Before we knew it we were at Pranangnai Beach, where was this left turn everyone was going on about!?! Not to worry, whilst at the beach we managed to see another Big gun, Pranang Cave. The cave seemed to have some shrine at its entrance and was surrounded by what i can only describe as "Wooden Cocks" (Apologies for the vulgarity, but i'm just saying what i saw!) Apparently local legend has it that a Godess resides in the cave and leaving gifts for her should bring good luck and Fertility (Ah, that might explain things!)
Still bemused as to the wherabouts of the Lagoon we headed back along the footpath, which was in the shadow of the overhanging cliffs for most of the way. It was only when we saw about 4 people clambering down the side of the cliff/ hill with ropes that the penny dropped- the Lagoon was up in the forest on the cliff. After some debate we decided we should risk the
Will signing the tree
He's got "a bit of a dab on" after the climbing rocky climb and visit this Lagoon, the fact that about 3 girls had just visited it seemed to be the clincher- our masculinity(?!?!) was at stake.
The first part of the climb was Ok, the ropes certainly helped as a guide of which direction to go as well as making the climb more safe. About 15 minutes into the climb up, down and through the forest the route got a little more tricky. The slopes which had ropes down them suddenly became more like small vertical drops with various footholds- this was to prove a little tricky, especially for Will who was armed not with a harness and rope but with sandals and shoulder bag! After some initial worries we managed to get down several tricky ledges, with some absailing in the process the Lagoon was in site(Can i just make a note that although quite hairy at times i never thought my life was at risk or I was in grave danger otherwise i wouldn't have risked it- Just to allay any fears those of you who care for my well being have!)
The Lagoon was breathtaking, well worth the trek to it. As luck would have
Shadow Mike
Me by Viewpoint it me and Will were the only tourists there at the time. The Lagoon was surrounded by cliffs on either side of it with random bits of greenery on them and the bright blue sky up above. The water was such a beautiful blue and the only negative i can think of was that it was saltwater. I went for a swim in the shallow water, no jellyfish or mosquitos in sight, and looked up through the eye of the cliffs into the skys above. The Lagoon reminded me of a smaller version of the Lagoon at the end of The Goonies, only there was no Pirate Ship full of One Eyed Willy's treasure in sight (If there was you can rest assured i wouldn't be mentioning the whereabouts of this Lagoon online no matter how difficult it is to find)
After the Lagoon we scaled the rope climbs until we were among deep forest again, signing our names on this huge tree as we passed (The tree was covered with people's names etched into it as far back as 20 years ago). We managed to find "View Point" among the forest which was basically an opening at the edge of the forest at the edge of a cliff that gave a view of the whole surrounding beach area (You could see everything, not like when you goto the Top of Blackpool Tower and they claim that you can see Ireland on a clear day but all you can see is the chippy and throngs of hen parties down below!)
After Viewpoint we scaled down through the forest and back down to the beach area, extremely pleaed with our days escapades- It really felt like we'd earned ourselves a night out for a change (The problem was we were to knackered for anything too upbeat). We had a couple of Singha beers and then went to bed. What a day! Despite the thirst quenching activities of the day I survived on a mere 3 cans of Red Fanta- I'll beat this addiction if its the last thing I do.
Ciao for now, Mike
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