Sorry for the delay in publishing posts. I'll explain my tardiness below.
Mike and I have been traveling free-form, making decisions on a day-to-day basis as to when and where we will go next. I think in many ways this is the best way to travel. Sometimes it is good to take a one way trip somewhere knowing that you will have to figure out how to get back, or that you will figure out how to get to the next place you want to go, once you are there.
When we got to Koh Phangan, though, we knew we should stay for as long as we could. So we did. Eventually we had to make our way back to Bangkok so we could get to Chiang Mai, the launching point for a 4 day trek through the northern hills. Sadly, we left our beach by wading through the water, shorts rolled up to avoid the waves, to a boat that delivered us back to Koh Samui, where we caught a plane to Bangkok.
To put it simply, Bangkok is in all ways too much after spending a good deal of time in the tropical island atmosphere in the Gulf of Thailand. We did visit allegedly the largest outdoor market in the world, the weekend market, where you can buy anything from dried meats and fruit, to furniture, to an unbelievable array of animals, to clothing of any kind, to who knows what. There was some stuff there that I didn't even know about.
Now we are back at the beach on the west coast of southern Thailand. To be precise, we are staying on West Railey Beach, near Krabi, which is on coast of Thailand facing the Andeman Sea, the opposite coast from the other islands we have visited, which are in the Gulf of Thailand. We are here because we literally shifted our plans at the drop of the hat, on a whim. Ultimate traveling flexibility can be empowering.
We changed our plans because of weather. When we got to Bangkok, Mike read in the papers that there was a tropical depression near Chiang Mai that flooded the area we were to trek. Hmmm, perhaps we should reconsider our plan. Mike adjudicated the situation, and decreed that we should come up with an alternative. He exerted extra-judicial jurisdiction over the country of Thailand and began a sequence of logistical planning maneuvers that put my own to shame. Judge it. Next thing I know the entire court has moved back to the beach. Kudos to Mike.
Railey beach is a pretty crazy place. It's attached to the mainland, but it is on a peninsula that is accessible only by boat taxi, creating an island atmosphere. We took a plane down to Krabi, then a 45 minute taxicab to the shore, waded out into the water with all our stuff, got in a longboat that took us the 15 minutes down the shore to the docking point for the resort, jumped back out into the water, and waded back out of the ocean, onto the beach, and into a resort where we had no reservation. We did all this in the rain, so that was nice.
It would have been excellent to ride an elephant and learn about the northern hilltribes, but I have to admit that finishing my trip at the beach is perfect for me. The sun, the food, the mentality of all that is here is perfectly laid-back. Last night there was a beachside celebration for the workers at the dozen or so resorts here in Railey. They had food for everyone, including any tourists who wanted to partake. It was the most authentic, and the most spicy, Thai food I have ever eaten. Afterwards, we partied in a treehouse bar situated next to a huge limestone mountain in the middle of the "island."
We have a ton of new international friends here, as well, as the seclusion and exclusivity of access creates a friendly vibe similar to that on Koh Phangan. The laid-back mentality, however, does not add much incentive to fix a broken internet connection that impacts every internet cafe in the area. This was a source of much frustration for me, because of my narcotic-style addiction to the internet.
This place is beautiful, though. It has pristine, uncrowded beaches with dramatic limestone cliffs climbing directly out of the water. It is, by some accounts, the most beautiful beach in the world. Right now, I cannot help but agree.
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1 comment:
Thanks for the posts. Looking back, I thought Railey was an island. I'm not sure if I knew at the time that it was attached to the mainland or not. While at Railey go check out the hidden lagoon. You have to hike up and down these hills using VERY questionable ropes that have been left there by previous trekkers. The hike itself is gorgeous through the jungle. Then you come to this hidden lagoon that, when you're there, feels like it is a a giant crater. In fact, it may be an old volcanic crater. Again, you don't ask too many questions. It's totally landlocked and the water goes in and out and rises and falls with the tide. It is one of the more beautiful places I saw in Thailand. That's saying a lot. You feel like you've discovered something new when you find it. Don't sleep!
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