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Published: March 9th 2008
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Phi Phi Part Two & Railay
Decided to stay on Phi Phi for another two nights so moved to cheaper accomodation - it was called Tara Inn so we figured it would be ok ! It turned out fine just slightly more basic - who knew a flush on a toilet would be considered a luxury item ! Explored more of Phi Phi and totally fell in love with the place it really is magical. The weather started to improve so we decided to do a sunset tour around Phi Phi island. The rain unfortunately had started by the time we got on to the boat so we didnt see much of a sunset but did more snorkling and exloring on Maya Bay. Still no sign of Leo or the French bird !
It was a local election in Phi Phi - we swear they are following us around Thailand so no where was serving booze again. But fear not - typical Irish we managed to find a bar and restaurant serving. Ended up sitting with the owner for ages hearing all about Phi Phi and the tsunami so it was really interesting.
The next day we made
our plans to leave Phi Phi - decided just to make a short hop to Railay which is actually on the Thailand mainland but it is only accessible by long tail boat. So to get there we got a ferry that literally stops about 500 m off the shore of Railay and a long tail boat comes out to collect you and your bags and then dumps you on to a beach - it was one of the only times we were thankful for rucksacks because pulling a wheelie case through the waves didnt look like fun!
Railay is tiny and is made up of three beaches, Railay west, east and phranagn beach. Railay east is basically mud and mangroves so there is no beach or swimming there so this is where all the cheap accomodation is and hence where we were staying!! It is a cool little place that is so chilled out - again no cars , motor bikes or even bikes !! We were only meant to stay on Railay 2 nights but ended up staying there 4 because we liked it so much - also discovered we could do tours from there !
The
first tour we did was the James Bond Island Tour - Luke was like a kid on Christmas morning he was so excited ! To get there we had to get a longtail to the mainland pier, then a bus and then another longtail to the national park where it is. We finally got to the island and i have to admit it is pretty impressive !! From here we visited a floating thai village where about 1200 people live - it was amazing to see it and walk around the houses seeing the locals drying out the fish, working and the kids in school.
Next on the trip was the reclining budda which is in a cave overrun with monkey's. They ask you to make a donation for the upkeep of the budda and when we dropped some money into the box a budda monk asked Luke and I to kneel before him to be blessed. It was an amazing experience and we were each given special three strand bracelets by the monk - although Luke had to put mine on because the budda monks cannot touch women. Were not really sure what the bracelets mean and my
Thai isnt at the level that i could ask !! One or two of the locals in Railay have recognised them on us though so we think we should prob keep them on !! Outside the cave were millions of monkey's who nearly attack you for banana's. One of them even tried to pull my anklet bracelet off my leg thinking it was food! Luke made friends with one little monkey and he held his finger - very cute !
From here we visited the manora waterfall but it was more of a stream - after monsoon season is the best time to really see them !
We also did a snorkling trip from Railay to the Hong Islands which were really amazing ! There were millions of fishies but also lots of jelly fish - tiny little ones so that when you got out of the water you were stinging all over - not very pleasent!! Also saw Paradise Island and a sandbar island that was surrounded by Stingray's - so didnt dip our toes in there !
After four nights decided to leave Railay and Thailand and head for Malaysia ....
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Sarah
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Oh my god the photos are just amazing looking!!!! Really lookin forward to our trip now!!Can ya recommend the top 3 or 4 places you were in????