Blogs from Railay, South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

Railay Beach, what a mission to get to.....but totally worth it! We took a flight from Bangkok to Phuket, then took a 2hr car shuttle from Phuket airport to Ao Nang beach. Along the way we saw some unusual passengers in the truck next to us....two elephants, not something you see every day! From Ao Nang beach we climbed in a long tail boat on the beach with all our suitcases (where I fell over when I got in because the ladder flipped over when it went over a wave) and made our way in a tiny boat to Railay. Unfortunately it started raining just as we got to the beach, but we got into our room just before the downpour! We could have done the commute easier if we had a flight to Krabi-but flights ... read more

Nous avons pris un bus puis un ferry jusqu'à Ao Nang puis un long-tail boat jusqu'à Tonsai. Une fois arrivés à Tonsai, nous avons découvert notre chambre d'hôtel: une cabane en bois au milieu de la jungle, avec une salle de bains pas très propre et des toilettes sans chasse d'eau (encore!). Il n'y a pas grand chose à faire à Tonsai (surtout qu'il n'y a pas d'électricité dans la journée !) mais les hôtels à Railay sont très chers. Nous avons posé nos affaires et sommes partis pour aller sur Railay. Il y a trois itinéraires possibles de Tonsai à Railay: à marée basse, on peut traverser par les rochers en suivant la côte, sinon il y a un chemin qui traverse la jungle (c'est plutôt de l'escalade que de la marche mais ça prend ... read more

The glossy brochure for paradise probably resembles Railay. Stranded on the nub of a peninsula and cut off by impenetrable mountainous jungle, no roads lead in or out. Wooden long-tail boats ferry visitors along the Andaman coast, around the towering limestone headlands, and into the placid bay where the cobalt waters lap gently at the postcard crescent of powdered sugar sand. Black-faced spectacled langur and thieving macaque monkeys forage in the small strip of trees between the beach and the sheer cliffs towering over the beach. Seeping minerals have streaked the white cliffs red and black, forming stalagmites, like the wax drippings from a candle in a wine bottle, at the cliffs’ base. Wind, water, and time have rounded the tree-topped crags at the edge of the sea into knobs and towers, reminiscent of Chinese scrolls ... read more

March 20, 21, 22, 2015 We are on the last leg of the 12 day journey with the group. We headed off today, back to Krabi where we will spend our final 3 days with the group, then I will head to Kathmandu, Nepal. We traveled there by van and once we arrived we did some tourist shopping in the town by the shore. There are so many stores and the deals are very inexpensive. I got really cute clothes for $4-$6 each. Just remember in Krabi you can bargain with them and usually get them down to half price. When we got on board the boats the tide was way out because it was later in the day. That means walking out to the boat carrying your luggage and getting onboard. We traveled about 30 ... read more

After an early morning run on the beach we got picked up by a tour agent that brought us to a long tail boat for a full day 4 island snorkeling trip ($15). Long tail boats are large slender wooden boats designed for shallow water and are used as a common mode of transportation here. Our first stop was Chicken Island, about 45 minutes off shore, aptly named for a large prominent rock formation with a resemblance to a chicken head. Chicken Island and Top Island are connected by a sandbar in low tide. We snorkeled in between the two islands observing many small reef fish in the beautifully clear and warm turquoise water. We also stopped at Koh Poda and Koh Kai, having lunch on a beautiful white stretch of beach surrounded by limestone caves. ... read more