Krabi

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I'm in Krabi, a popular tourist town east of Phuket. Krabi is a fairly small town with an approximate population of 30,000. It is situated on the west bank of a river that outlets to the Andaman Sea.

There are several beach areas nearby although Krabi itself does not have any beaches. It is a travel hub that caters especially to the backpacker crowd. The town center has a ton of budget hotels, restaurants, and tourist agencies. Many of these advertise internet usage (usually $1 per hour) and have 4-8 computers available for this purpose. If there are high-end hotels in town, they are hidden from my view.

Although I didn't have a room reserved, I did a little looking around online the night before at www.travelfish.org to find hotel options. I noted a couple in my price range that met my criteria (A/C and close to town), and showed up at the nicer option, Krabi River Hotel, at 2:00 yesterday. The price was 600 baht ($15) but they did a good job of upselling me to a larger room with a balcony and view over the river ($25; actually, it was $30 but I negotiated it down to $25). It's a good spot with nice ownership, and includes breakfast.

I wandered around town yesterday evening, and tried to figure out what to do. There are so many options. I ended up with a general game plan that included a day trip to the Railay peninsula today.

Although Railay is on a peninsula, it is only reachable at this time by longtail boat. From Krabi, it's a 1/2 hour boat ride. From the popular beach Ao Nang, it is supposedly 15 minutes. Coming from Krabi, I went walking down to the old pier this morning, and was told that I'd have to wait for more customers before going over to Railay. 8:30 was supposedly too early. They try to fill up the longtail boats as much as possible to make the most money from each trip. The cost is 100 baht per person ($2.50) unless you want to grab your own longtail boat and then you may pay 200-300 baht (or if you are bargaining hard like me on the way back, 150 baht).

Railay has some beautiful scenery and is popular for rock climbers due to the rock formations. There are 4 primary areas: Railay West, Railay East, Pranang, and Ton Sai. Railay East has mangrove trees in the water and is thus, not a good swimming beach. It is the departure/arrival point for Krabi and has a fair amount of cheaper accommodation. Railay West has the most upmarket accommodation and a decent white sand beach. It is the departure/arrival point for Ao Nang. Pranang is the nicest beach with some interesting caves along the east side. The only accommodation on this beach is the ultra high-end Rayavadee resort but many people come over to the beach during the day. There are paths that connect these three beaches. Ton Sai is supposedly where many of the rock climbers go for cheaper accomodation but it is hard to reach during high tide. I didn't make it over there today.

I was trying to reconnect with my friends Michelle and Rhiann in Railay but they went rock climbing during the day, and thus, I missed them (coordination through e-mail takes a fair amount of advance planning; in this case, last night doesn't qualify as a "fair amount"). I think they are heading to Bangkok tomorrow. I'm going the other way - south to Koh Lanta. Yep, I'm moving again tomorrow. I've been wanting to check out Koh Lanta. It's supposed to be a great island. My ferry boat departs tomorrow at 10:30 (2 hour boat trip; 300 baht; $7.50).

I've got another week of exploring new territory, and then I need to get to Bangkok by March 8 to meet up with my friend Saai.

It is weird knowing that my South East Asia adventure is coming to a close. I have seen so much and met so many interesting people. Yet, there is so much more out there. Regardless of what the remainder of my trip includes, I know that this adventure has been worth it. Well worth it. What a blessing to have been able to do it.

Thanks for reading...

Look! There goes Dave!

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Photos

Railay Beach
The west side of the Railay peninsula

Krabi River Hotel
A view of my hotel along the Krabi River

Railay Map
A convenient map of the Railay peninsula.

Pranang Cave Beach
The nicest beach which sits on the south side of the peninsula.

Pranang Cave
The Pranang Cave sits on the east end of Pranang Cave Beach. As you can see, it's packed.

Railay Beach East
The mangrove tree side of the Railay peninsula. This is where you land if you are coming from Krabi (30 minutes; 100 baht). The accomodation is cheaper on this side but swimming isn't appealing.

Rayavadee Resort
An exclusive resort that is the only accomodation on Pranang Cave Beach (with entrances also on Railay East and Railay West). The room rate is over $1,000 per night. Each bungalow is 2 stories. You can see one in the background.

Railay West
Looking north along the beach.

Krabi River
Looking north along the Krabi River from Krabi town.