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Published: July 24th 2007
After taking a flight to Bangkok, we took a connecting flight to Krabi, Thailand. We took a taxi which took us to a boat which ultimately took us to our destination: Rai lei Beach (aka Railey beach). We stayed on the cheaper (yet hipper) side of the beach, East Rai Lei...which is a short 10 minute walk to the more beautiful west Rai Lei beach. East Rai Lei has lots of cool, cheap bars, restaurants and bungalows. We stayed at Rapala Bungalows (as recommended by Lonely Planet). The place was nice....we got YET ANOTHER bungalow complete with fan and mosquito net. Despite the good reviews for the restaurant at Rapala, we didn't eat there much because we found Mom's Kitchen. This restaurant was just a short walk from Rapala's and had thee most amazing food, by far, the best we had in Thailand. To even go above and beyond amazing food, they catered to your every need. So, if you are traveling to Rai Lei beach... seek out Mom's Kitchen!
Our days on Rai Lei consisted of soaking up the sun and enjoying the warm emerald green water on west Rai Lei. West Rai Lei consists of upscale resorts
which were out of our league. But the beach is still free!!!
Rai Lei is probably most famous, however, for being one of the best places in the world to go rock climbing. Although Donna and I have had some experience doing this, we decided to hold off and just watch it from afar as we aren't in rock climbing shape (if you climb, you understand this). The entire area has these huge limestone cliffs rising from the sea with great surfaces to hold onto. The place is a climbing mecca to many people.
One day at low tide we took a little hike to the cove just north of Rai Lei called Hat Tonsai....one of the premier climbing spots. Hat Tonsai has more of a bohemian vibe to it than Rai Lei and was a good place to chill. Donna and I sipped some beers and relaxed while we watched people scale the huge cliffs before us. It was pretty amazing! Hopefully we can get into rock climbing shape and make it back there one day to scale the cliffs....
(On a side note, if you are traveling between the areas of Rai Lei and Hat
Tonsai, it is better to do so before the sun sets, as it amazingly gets dark! DUH! We left after sunset and didn't realize the tide was slowly rising, which left us to slowly travel over sharp rocks (which were now under water secondary to the rising tide) in the dark with one weak flash light. We made it safely, but leaving any later may have created a different outcome.)
The next day, we signed up for a 1 day speedboat excursion to the islands of Ko Phi Phi. Ko Phi Phi, to those unfamiliar, is one of the most famous islands in the world due to it's beauty and spectacular diving. For those who have seen the movie, The Beach, you have seen Ko Phi Phi Leh. We did some great snorkling all around the islands, saw some monkeys on "monkey beach", and ate some good food. The islands truly were beautiful and we had a great time checking them out.
The next day, Donna and I took a bus to Surat Thani where we boarded a ferry which took us to Ko Phangan where we were to spend the next few days....
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Jon Vogel
non-member comment
son of a beach
Hey Lorin and Donna. The beach life looks pretty good to me. I envy you two youths....had to get that in....just saw My Cousin Vinney again last night and am still laughing......this looks like an amazing way to cap off the trip. We are all looking forward to seeing you when you finally return to the good 'ol U S or A. In the meantime.......go with the flow.