Krabi is awe inspiring! Arriving two days ago by long tail, I never imagined this place would hold so much beauty. That bumpy ride from Nopparat Thara Beach to Railey West was exhilarating, but being dropped off at literally the highest of high tides left us playing Robinson Crusoe, or Oregon Trail. Either way we had to ford the Andaman Sea to get to a reasonable piece of terra firma, which happened to be right by our hotel lobby. We’re staying at the Railey Bay Resort and Spa and while this place has its eccentricities (Power shortages and funny A/C) it is simply stunning. We’re surrounded on all sides by giant limestone karsts, which are tree spotted jagged mountains that you often see represented in Chinese jade pieces. Our beach here at Railey West is fine and it interestingly has the largest variation between high and low tides that I’ve ever seen. Like football field size beach variations. However, the real gem is Phranang Cave Beach, which is through slummy Railey East and a cavernous walkway. We enjoyed chicken satay and minimal long boat noise while lying on a picturesque beach on Tuesday.
Wednesday we participated in an jet boat cruise to Ko Phi Phi. PP, as it’s abbreviated, is actually pronounced something like “Go Pee Pee” and actually consists of the larger Phi Phi Don and smaller, uninhabited Phi Phi Ley. We started with a drop off at Maya Beach on PPL, which was the now infamous scene in the movie The Beach. While I could see potential if it was entirely deserted, the place was extremely crowded by the tens of speed boats ferrying less than clothed Europeans. Thankfully our stay there was brief and we headed off for some snorkeling. Bekah and I were both taken aback by how close the fish came to us. There wasn’t a large variety of fish that say the Caribbean might have, but what it lacked in variation it made up for in pure scenic beauty. Imagine crystal blue water surrounded by brown and orange cliffs dotted with rich green foliage. I wish I’d either had a water proof camera or the balls to take pictures with mine in the water. We next headed to Monkey Beach, which as it sounds is a beach almost fully inhabited by cute monkeys, though I don’t know the exact species. We all took turns throwing them these disgusting little fruits (I would know, I tried them) and they nearly climbed aboard the boat. On our way to lunch we made friends with our Thai guide who took us to a mediocre restaurant on Phi Phi Don. She told Bekah that her recently tanned skin was nice, and asked if I was allergic to the sun given my red hued face. Apparently the ridiculousness of someone allergic to the sun coming to the coast of Thailand never crossed her mind. We made our way to yet another snorkeling stop and then stopped at our last destination, Bamboo Beach. This was a place straight out of heaven, a brief respite from all the cliffs, but great sand, water, and few people.
Bekah and I have been eating reasonably well, given our general aversion to things cooked on greased out old toilet seats. Well, they might as well have been. Call me xenophobic, or just plain scared, and we did the beach food thing, but some of those vendors in Bangkok were truly terrifying. And I’m not talking about the people. Unidentified meat product swimming in urine colored broth with dark brown noodles and some sort of vegetable grown in a truck served from a rusted out trolley is not appetizing whether in Bangkok or Brussels. We’ve had minimal lunches, mostly owing to mediocre food provided on tours and our large complimentary breakfasts, which fortunately are western style. I still can’t do the rice and soup for breakfast thing. Our dinners have been great. We’ve had extraordinarily good Thai food in both Bangkok and Railey, including amazing Pad Thai, fried rice and some good curries. We had pizza one night along with Erdinger, Bekah’s favorite beer. We’ve tried a few different cocktails as well. One less-than-favorite was a Singapore Sling, about which my Bangkok guidebook says, “If not here, than where?” I’ll go with Singapore. I bet they say the same thing about a Long Island Ice Tea in their Omaha series. The pineapple colada’s and strawberry daiquiris are very fruity, but delicious after a hard day’s work of swimming and reading on the beach. I feel truly blessed to be able to see such a place in my lifetime.
I don’t know when I’ll be able to post my pictures as I seem to have lost my cord that connects my camera ot my computer. Luckily it’s a Sony and if I can’t find a replacement in HK then I don’t know if a replacement exists.
