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Published: July 29th 2006
Speeding out to Railey
On a giant wooden canoe with a car engine strapped to the back.Hello again. A few days ago I left the town of Krabi on a long tail boat and went to the Railey Beach area. It's not an island, but it's only accessible by boat due to the cliffs that surround the area. The best I can describe the area is a double bay on a peninsula surrounded by thousand foot high cliffs. I stayed on the eastern side (the cheap side) which has lots of accommodation and restaurant options, and just a great atmosphere full of friendly people. The Eastern side doesn't have much of a beach (mangroves at high tide, mudflats at low) but it's only a 5 minute walk to the western side, which has an amazing, long beach. The water is clear and the perfect temperature. Also, at the end of the peninsula there is another beach; the best one in my opinion. My words can't do it justice, but maybe the pictures will. This has been the best spot of my trip so far. I stayed two nights and then caught a boat out to Phi Phi island.
There are actually two Phi Phi islands, but only one has accommodation. It's generally regarded as one of the
more beautiful locations in the world. There is also a double bay between to bigger pieces of land here, and all of the accommodation is on the low land bridge. The boat ride in was amazing. There were thousands of jellyfish a couple km out from the island that we plowed right through. We pulled up to the port, which was teeming with thousands and thousands of fish in perfectly clear water. I got off the boat and wandered around for about an hour looking for a good place to stay. At first I was a little let down. The surrounding mountains of the island are green and lush, but the land bridge seemed quite barren and trashy. There are half-finished structures all around and sparse palm trees. Finally I remembered the obvious- this whole area was wiped out by the tsunami. It washed completely over the land bridge. In many places you can see foundations of former buildings. I went into a restaurant, and they had pictures from before the tsunami, and it was really shocking. This whole area was dense and jungle-like. But there is a lot of construction going on all over, and all of the people
seem to be in really good spirits. Once you make it out to the beach, it's still amazingly beautiful. Low tide is just as nice as high tide, for a change. The weather has been very nice. I've met so many people in the last few days. I was supposed to meet a group this morning and take a chartered boat out to an uninhabited island to snorkel for the day, but I could not find our meeting place. After searching for awhile, I gave up and sat down for breakfast. I broke out the guide book and started reading it much more closely than usual. I found some passages near the very back that seem to hint of some perfect islands way down in the deep south. They aren't headlined like the other islands I've visited. It kind of seems like an attempt to keep it a bit of a secret. So I will be heading to Trang province in the morning.
I tried to find a ticket there from here on the island, but none of the locals have even heard of where I'm trying to go haha. So I have a boat back to Krabi town in
an hour, where I will hopefully be able to find a way down there. After Trang, I'm thinking I will head as far south as possible to Satun province. If I don't kind of doubt this first island I'm headed to will have internet, so don't worry parents if you don't hear from me for a week!
(but maybe there will be internet, who knows...)
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Ron
non-member comment
Hey Steve - I hope you're having as much fun as you seem to be. Take lots of critter photos so I can see them when you get back. I'll bet they have skates there (a type of ray) - if so, be careful. They lay on the sand underwater and many species have poisonous spines on their backs and if you step on one you can be in a world of hurt. I'm enjoying your exploits vicariously. Remember, don't do anything that you wouldn't do if your mother was watching :)