Taking it easy.

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I'm back! We have decided to kick back and relax this month which means that you guy's get to take it easy too, I can't be bothered to write a huge missive, so let's just all take it easy and, as my great friend Brad once said, if she's easy take her twice! Brad is from Australia so that kind of excuses his casual sexism, but doesn't justify my repeating it. Oh well.

We left Laos in Vientiane and blazed a trail all the way down Thailand to Krabi. That sounds pretty romantic but in truth it was a ten hour bus to Bangkok then a twelve hour slog to Krabi, from where we had to take a Longtail boat to Rai ley beach. Couple that with all the interminable waiting around and it made for a very long and exhausting two days. So what better way to soothe away our travelling pains than a month on Thailand's beaches? Which is exactly what we're going to do.

We arrived on Rai Ley East and waded ashore from the boat. This beach is not as scenic as it's twin but has a certain rugged charm with it's clumps of Mangroves, coarse sand and beautiful ocean view. It also has the cheapest bungalows. We got a pretty good deal on a small bamboo bungalow set in a leafy garden abutting the thick jungle. After being shown in I stepped out onto our veranda and reached for the shoulder of the chair, only to pull my hand away in horror having grabbed something that definitely was not plastic chair. I had touched my first wild snake! It was a good day for nature as on the way to our hut we saw a large monitor lizard.

We spent the rest of our days here either on one of the beaches, lazing at our bungalow, taking jungle walks or eating - all very relaxing. The beach of Rai Ley West is a real stunner with all the requisite components for a picture perfect setting. It was just a shame that the place has been over run by expensive resorts and therefore also fat, rich,package tourist's. Nothing against these guys but the atmosphere that other less developed places have was lacking here. Still, guess that's the price of beauty. The other beach of note was Ao Phrang Nang at the northern end of the peninsular. This again was all soft white sand, crystal clear water and amazing rock scenery.


The one thing that this beach did have that the others didn't was a cave full of giant cocks. As in penis's, willy's, dong's, todger's, tool's and huge wooden trouser snakes with bright red distended heads! Really. They are left as an offering to some goddess or other to ensure safety at sea and a good catch. Some people say that religion is a powerful force for good, I reckon this proves it's a phallus(y)!! On the way back from this beach is a steep scramble up some cliff's that brought us out at a viewpoint that gave us spectacular views of the Ao Phrang Nang peninsular and the isthmus. Another path lead down into the mountain, this one, after some abseiling, bought us to a lagoon in the middle of the cliff.


There was a wicked thunder storm on our last night on Rai Ley. We went down to the beach to watch it and as soon as it started to rain we were instantly drenched. Just amazing to be in torrential rain and be as warm as taking a shower. What else? We saw some monkey's on our way to the boat to leave which was nice. We are now on Ko Lanta Yai, an Island a little further south. Only been here half a day but it seems to be much more laid back and not nearly as busy. More about that though next time. Till then x x x x

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