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boats, catamarans, minivans, tuk tuks, canoes, motorbikes, escalators, lifts, buses, and more of all the above.

the last of our tales:

after one more day, hiking and beaching in phi phi don (climbed a high and incredible hike to a viewpoint, where you can see both sides of the island), we took mid-sized boat to railey, which is a remote beach area on the south-western tip of thailand, only reachable by boat.

railey is just as spectacular as phi phi, only with far less people, and far less development.

there's the east side and the west side, separated by about a 3-5 minute walk. the best beaches on either side, are framed by giant limestone cliffs. of course there's the obligatory white sands and warm tourquoise water.

we caught the first of the (as the book describes them, and accurately!) "orgasmic" sunsets on the west side, got a great room at an amazing resort (for $30!!!!!). hey, it's the end of a long trip!

had great fish and curry dinners each night.

spent our one full day hiking around the peninsula (sp?), climbing steep rocks to viewpoints, going through small jungles, trudging (happily) through watery caves, and enjoying breathtaking beaches.

we also spent some time in the diamond cave (named for it's sparkly walls), where we recorded the sounds of many, many stalaglites and stalagmites. probably not the best idea for the nature, but i was really gentle! anyway, so many different notes!

hey mckay, if you happen to read this, i've got a huge, full kit for you!

spent some time in the resort pool (dorota in the shallow end).

then we chartered a small, long-tale boat back to krabi. the boat was typically late, and thanks to dorota's persistance actually came to get us (we had a flight to catch!).

anyway, caught our boat, slowly departed paradise, then caught a taxi to the krabi airport.

we had purchased tickets to bangkok to avoid the long day trips we've had so many of. however, the flight was delayed for hours (almost didn't happen), so we re-entered the hustle and bustle of bangkok at almost midnight last night.

we now have our last room, and dorota is joyously off to chatachak, the largest market in thailand (which is why i am here joyously writing to you peep's).

we depart tomorrow evening for the long trip home.

thank you to all who have had the patience to read our long and obnoxiously happy travel tales!

we'll post the remaining photos when we return, as it is difficult to do so here.

can't wait to see you!!

love always,

a/d

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