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Published: March 5th 2011
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Railay is an archetypal tropical paradise. Rocky outcrops spring from dense jungle full of wildlife and surrounded by white sandy beaches, lush mangroves and a still and stunning turquoise sea. As soon as our eyes beheld it from our little longtail boat on the Andaman sea we fell in love. Our first 2 nights were spent in tree house type accommodation at yaYa resort and our third night was spent atop a steep flight of stairs in the outskirts of the jungle in a little wooden bungalow at Rapala. I loved both resorts (though resort conjures up slightly more fancy images!) but would recommend Rapala over YaYa - it's cheaper, has hammocks and is actually in the jungle. YaYa is busy and quite touristy as it's so close to the boat stop on East Railay.
We spent our time at Railay swimming, sunbathing, snorkelling and exploring on foot ... walking, climbing and scurrying over sand, dirt tracks and rocks. A walkway leading from the east bay to Pharang Cave made up a lovely scenic walk, along which we met the local macaque monkeys, I haven't been as excited since I saw flamingoes!! Leading off of this walkway is a steep (almost
vertical) red clay hill, with rope and tree roots jutting from it which leads to a stunning lagoon and trails through the jungle to breathtaking viewpoints. Whilst Mike leapt up with all the confidence speed and strength of a mountain goat, I followed behind using my technique of slightly over reaching for hand and footholds, sliding on my backside when it got too steep on a downhill and struggling along with lots of flexibility but little confidence or grace .... generally resembling a geriatric gibbon rather than a mountain goat. I finished sweating, aching and covered in red mud. It was a tough climb, but well worth the effort, the views were phenomenal and once in the canopy of the jungle and the shadows of the rocks it was much cooler.
Our evenings were spent tucking into Thai delicacies and watching the bats and lizards play whilst reclining on bamboo decking overhanging the sea. It was pretty fantastic if truth be told. We even managed to catch some Muay Thai fighting in YaYa bar up on the hill in the jungle. It was a bizarre but enjoyable experience commentated upon by an admittedly stoned Rasta who repeated phrases such as
'He look Chinese but he from Thailand' 'Come on Baby, Come on baby' 'Ow, he scary! Look at him scary face!' 'Oh my Buddha, what he doing?' and crying out 'ow' 'him hurting' and 'careful baby' when the fighters got a bit vicious. It was hilarious and we wished Sky would employ the guy to do their commentary.
We loved railay and would recommend it to anyone visiting Thailand - go to the east side to avoid over pricing and tourism, make sure you rise to the challenge of the climb to the viewpoint (even though you will ache a lot and move down stairs with all the speed of an octogenarian on crutches the following day) and please pay YaYa bar and the crazy stoned rasta man a visit!
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