I Heart Railay Beach/ Phi Phi Islands

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Well, we took a busride into the heart of Khao Sok National Park, only to find the whole place flooded and a landslide blocking the passage to where we were supposed to be staying. So we set out for an early arrival to Railay Beach. The sea was pretty stormy as we boarded a none-too-stable looking longtail boat. And I must say, if it hadn't been for years of catching ferries in choppy weather I might have been looking as nervous as most of the others. We were rocked and rolled about, while the bags, unceremoniously piled at the front of the boat, were subjected to both the rain coming down and the sea water rushing up. Needless to say, I was very pleased to find my rain cover had actually done it's job against all the odds.

So we arrived, and with a day off, I intended to spend the night on the Internet catching up on my blog and loading photos etc etc. Not at 90 baht for 30 minutes I wasn't. That's like $7 an hour for the Internet. That's ridiculous by any standards.

Anyway, with a day off, it was a lovely oppurtunity just to bum around the beach. I checked out both beaches nearby. Went for a swim. Got some lunch. Got caught singing to my ipod because I didn't hear my roommate coming. In a rather embarrassed fashion, grabbed my notebook, novel and ipod and headed down to the beach. There I spent the afternoon writing philosophical nonsense in my notebook, just chilling with some songs, and during an uncharacteristic burst of energy, took a run along the beach. And when that failed, a walk along the beach. To the beat of Seven Nation Army, not a bad way to spend an afternoon. I only left when a security guard came out of the hotel and started looking at me like I was doing something wrong, leaning against the hotel wall. Plus I was hungry, and dinnertime was approaching.

The next day I did a tour of Phi Phi Islands. I'm going to mention that it was 1000 baht, but only because I'm proud that I got that price, when the tour guide was saying that you had to pay 1500 to get anything decent. Wrong. And I don't want to hear that I was ripped off paying 1000 baht. $35 for lunch, 3 snorkelling destinations, and other such fun is well and truly worth it in my books.

Anyway, first stop was Maya Bay, where they shot a lot of the movie, 'The Beach'. Wow, the water there was stunning. The most beautiful colour of blue I have ever seen. I went for a swim, and despite being a little worried about stonefish following a truly chilling conversation from the night before about their existence in Thailand (stonefish being the sea animal I'm probably most afraid of), the water was lovely.

Then we went snorkelling. The fish in Thailand are beautiful. The only ones I can name are parrot fish and angel fish. But everything was so colourful and plentiful. I was highly impressed. Unfortunately, a total of one and a half hours of snorkelling without wearing a T-shirt (I forgot that sunscreen might not work so well once it had washed off in the sea), I came out of that day with the worst burn I have had in a good long while.

Our tour included a few other stops, including monkey island- so named because of the monkeys that inhabit it. Basically it was a relaxing day of swimming, snorkelling and laying around on the beach or a boat. I was certainly not complaining about a landslide- the extra time to take things in was very welcome after the constant rushing and travelling.

There was also the most divine pancake stand nearby. It was run by an Indian man who had been living in Thailand for 4 years. The second time I went there he was having a sort of playful argument with a Thai woman, who threw a tomato at him and ran off. Thoroughly amusing. And the mango pancakes there... yum.

But then by the third day it was already time to board another unstable looking longtail boat back to base, and then on to new adventures...

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Photos

Maya Bay
Hardly the haven away from tourists that it was in The Beach, but a beautiful place nonetheless

View from the boat
Maya Bay again. It's so gorgeous, especially without all the ugly tourists clogging up the shot.

Me doing a 'Manu Pose'
Ahh Manu, a photo for every moment. And the art of taking photos of yourself...

OMNEG, there's a monkey on that beach
There were heaps of them, and they'd come right up to you if you offered them food. No thanks, I don't want another close brush with rabies...

Comments

[Dad]

Your great grandfather
FYI. Nanny's Dad fought the Japanese on the Kokoda Trail. Not exactly Hell Fire pass but pretty daunting none-the-less.