Khao Lak, Ao Nang & Rai Leh

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Khao Lak and Ao Nang

After our visa run to Burma, we spent the night in Ranong, the nearest town to the crossing. The room was comfortable enough, but bloody hot as it had been shut up all day and, with no real outside window it resembled a furnace! Regardless, we had a decent enough night's sleep and conveniently the bus to our next destination of Khao Lak left from directly outside the guest house which saved us the usual walk/ride to the station.

The journey took about 2 and a half hours through some lovely lush scenery and past a few spectacular beaches and deposited us at the town around 2hours later. The area along this coastline was badly hit by the tsunami in December 2004 and evidence of this was visible in the very new looking building that made up not only this community, but many of those that we had passed (and were to pass over the next week or so). Evacuation signs shone blue and white in the bright sunlight and reminded us that even in such a perfect resort one had to be prepared - unlike the residents 6 years ago. It was reassuring to see though that the area seemed to have completely recovered, with tourism once again creating a chilled atmosphere and profit to the many locals no using it as income.

The high street of Khao Lak is about 450m from the beach, running parallel with it for its whole 2km length or so. The wide street house many restaurants, shops, accommodation and dive shops, with many a cut-through to the beach and more expensive resorts. Our chosen place to stay was just off this main road, set in a garden area behind the attached restaurant. There were several large-ish bungalows, all concrete and mock thatch with attached bathroom and a pleasant verandah for chilling on. The place was very comfortable (despite being 450 baht - the most we had paid for a room in Thailand) and ideally placed for walking to the shops (good old 7/11!) and only 10mins from the beach. The only negatives were: a) the big-ass wasp like creatures who flew regularly near our verandah who were not aggressive but insisted on hovering and, as I learned later, nesting, in the wood of the posts and b) the solo HUMONGOUS cockroach who made occasional appearances on the ceiling outside the room: I was very calm, choosing only to shift positions so that it was not right above my head!

The majority of our 3 days were spent lounging on the white, palm strewn beach in the shade (with intermittent sessions in the sun - too hot for long) and reading or playing on the internet back at the bungalow. We explored the area in the evenings when it was cooler, watching the sun set and being brazen enough one evening after a stroll on the beach to cut back trough a posh looking resort and walk right past a security guard - apparently you can do anything if you are western and look confident enough! Ice coffees from 7/11 developed into a morning treat and we became friendly with the locals who an the stall from which we seemed to get all our dinners! It was just what we needed: restful and peaceful. Even the multitude of German tourists on package tours did not detract from our enjoyment of the place (although some of the very large women in bikinis were a little much at times!)

During our time there Warren wanted to go diving, so after a lot of research he decided that a dive to a nearby wreck sounded fun.


So, our next stop was Ao Nang, further south on the same coast. We negotiated the slightly complicated bus ride (getting one to a small town and then finding another that took us to Krabi - the nearest big town to our destination) and managed to catch a sawngthaew just as it was leaving for Ao Nang, narrowly avoiding touts who wanted to take us to one side and book accommodation for us.

In the guide book it warns that the town has been overtaken by package tourists recently, but the place itself sounded very pretty and had a nearby beach that was heralded as one of the prettiest in the area. When we arrived it was clear to see that the place was very different from Khao Lak: a bigger, U shaped high street PACKED with shops, a beach that, although beautifully overlooking limestone karst islands, was heaving with tourists, and very little budget accommodation. We disembarked our transport a short walk from a cluster of the budget hotels and soon discovered that prices had risen substantially (a place quoted as being 350-1500 baht only had rooms from 1000 upwards). Thankfully 'Bernie's Place', having no en-suite for any of its 6 large, airy rooms and therefore no illusions of grandeur, had a vacancy so we snatched it up - a bargain at 400 baht.

Our afternoon was spent exploring the town. Despite being very busy, it has a nice atmosphere and we enjoyed walking along the beach promenade past large hotels, cafes and a line of numbered huts offering massages watching the tourists paying exorbitant prices for small luxuries (as well as rooms - over £200 a night!). The end of the walkway, and indeed the beach, is towered over by a karst cliff - one of many in the area and reminiscent of Vietnam - and shelters from view the next inlet along. This bay is accessible by a rather rickety looking wooden pathway that winds around the side of the cliff, out over the sea, and descends again onto the beach in front of an exclusive resort. The place was very picturesque (of course we ventured over there!) but one had to wonder how they would fare in a tsunami situation since the entire cove is surrounded by tall cliffs..... Nevertheless, we spent some time sitting in the peace of the almost deserted beach and admiring the flotilla walkway leading out to the private landing for boats servicing the resort as well as the amphibious truck which we saw in action later that day when it landed on the beach alongside the main tourist area.

Our first day was again spent in wonderful idleness, with a lazy morning and then time on the beach. We managed to find a spot with shade amongst the hoards which we stayed in most of the day before retiring to the coolness of our fan room. A beer on the beach watching the sun set was a positive start to the evening, but it was a little down hill from there. The night market that had served us such cheap and wholesome fare the previous night seemed not to materialise (must have taken up residence on the other main street a 10min walk away) so we decided to try a local cafe offering reasonably priced meals. We entered the bustling place at about 8pm, eventually ordered at sat chatting while we waited for our Pad Thai - a quick and easy dish to make.

After half an hour I began to wonder when we would actually eat, then noticing that the people who were sitting around us who had ordered prior to our arriving still seemed to be waiting for food. Another 10mins and still we waited, thining that now it would have to come soon and it really was not worth walking somewhere else only to repeat the procedure and end up waiting even longer on increasingly hungry stomachs. We felt like we should warn other people who chose to come in and order food, wanting to shout “Don't do it! You will not leave until morning!” At 9:15pm, over an hour after ordering, our food came. It really was not worth the wait, being small in size and lacking in taste. Finishing quickly we left an still feeling the need for sustenance stopped at a small (3 tabled) cafe that was just closing and had some tasty (and quickly produced) noodles that were a whole lot nicer! Ironically, this was the cafe we wanted to patronise earlier - our first choice - but was busy. We should have waited....

The next morning we ventured along to the long-tail boat office in order to buy passage to Railey, an idyllic beach a few coves away, accessible only by boat. Once enough people had arrived to fill the boat we headed off along the beach, following the 'captain' and climbing aboard. The journey was uneventful, but it was nice to pass such stunning scenery: coves, caves and islands! We moored a few feet from the shoreline and all scampered off the boat, heading in different directions to claim our own piece of sand.

What is special about this beach is that it is encircled by cliffs and lush greenery, but has not been spoilt (too much - yet) by tourism and the mammoth building operations that seem to accompany any pretty area. A small line of accommodation could be seen nestling behind a fringe of palms, and the 'main' street consisted of only a few shops and restaurants. Railey itself is split into 2 by a cliff and again can only be reached by boat or by following the path overland between the two beaches. The crescent of white sand stretched around in an arc, finishing in the shade of trees and another chunk of rock: it was here we chose to sit, reading and admiring the view.

A few times we were 'surprised' by the tide-line which kept unexpectedly infringing on our space by coming within centimetres of our possessions - once even catching the shawl we were lying on! At least we moved in time - a couple near us had gone for a swim and were not aware of the impending doom of their items until it was too late and they nearly got washed away!

Warren and I took it in turns to cool off in the sea, and Warren even went for a swim around the edge of the cliff (braver than me!). Later in the day we ventured to the opposite end of the beach and did a spot of sunbathing before finding a boat that would take us back to our own beach. Again, the journey was nice and calm, but disembarkation was amusing. The groups that shared our boat consisted of a 'large' middle aged couple and two couples and dear me, what an embarrassment! When we moored we were only feet off shore in a foot of water, but you would have though the others had been asked to get into metres! They stood around for ages looking completely confused and swapping possessions trying not to get anything wet, then made a complete hash of using the metal stairs to reach the water, much to the amusement of the Thai boatmen. Did they not get the boat there and just spent the day swimming in the sea?! The 'larger' couple were just as bad, but making the boat tip in an unnatural way and letting water in. By this point we were tired of waiting so, trying to reclaim some dignity for westerners from the smirking locals we smartly jumped off the side of the boat into the shallow water, creating hardly a splash. Honestly - some people! That night we found the night market had returned to our side of town and after chowing down on curry and fruit shakes we bought our ferry ticket to Ko Lanta for the next morning.

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Comments

[David blewitt]

Looks inviting.
Looks a bit like the scenery in the man with the golden gun. Envious as usual. Remember to quote the exchange rate occasionally, I had to look it up to see what prices were in real money! Take care.