Three day weekend (in honor of the Queen's birthday and Mother's Day); after 12 consecutive work days it was time for an adventure. Left school on Friday at 3:15 to take a flight (then to a bus to a long boat). Railay is a peninsula, but it is cut off from the rest of the country by huge cliffs. So we needed to take a boat to reach our destination. Our travel from the airport to the hotel didn't appear obvious, but once we asked for the bus and then for the pier, our travel was pretty smooth thanks to some Thai hospitality.
While on the boat, I couldn't see much, but then I finally looked up far enough to see the contrast between dark sky and darker land--I was amazed!
We were dropped off in above-the-knee water. There is no pier in Railay due to the drastic distance between high tide and low tide, so it's common to wade in from a boat (or out to your boat if you are departing).
We followed a concrete boardwalk to the sign for our hotel and the steep, irregular steps to the check-in desk. After dropping our bags we went to watch a Muay Thai boxing match. Muay Thai boxing has elements of both what we consider traditional boxing in the States and martial arts. It is also a traditional Thai art that encompasses music, symbolism, dance, honor, and combat. Seeing a Muay Thai match live for the first time, what was most noticeable was the way the boxers seemed to absorb each other's blows (as opposed to avoiding them) and the explosive power of their jumping kicks. After the match ended, the winner walked around and shook every one's hand. The entertainment then continued with intense flame throwing, with at least six performers who made me fear for their safety more than once.
Then in the morning, I woke up to this:
Literally out the window of our hillside hut. Incredible!!
We had a small continental breakfast with the same awe-inspiring view. Then we descended and walked the length of Railay East towards Princess Cave. On the way we passed all the regular tourist town essentials--restaurants, resorts, convenience stores, travel offices...along with an optometrist, an "Armani" tailor, delicious Thai pancake--rotee--(similar to a crepe with a crispier texture), and a pizza restaurant that also had Thai massages (on the second floor). Many Thai businesses are dual purpose (or more), such as the mini-mart--tour office--Thai massage place that also offered haircuts.
As we walked, soaked up great views.
Then we got our first peek at Thai wildlife. High in the trees we saw saw Dusky Langur monkeys!
We made our way to Princess Cave (Tham Phra Nang), which is an often-visited shrine for local fisherman who leave offerings to please the spirit of the drowned princess and to hopefully ensure a bountiful catch. All around there were climbers scaling the cliff at impressive angles--some climbing with a guide and some climbing on their own.
The view of the cliffs and the turquoise water was phenomenal!
We walked up beach , Hat Phra Nang (hat=beach) and soon stopped to get a smoothie from the food boat that was anchored on the beach. I was thoroughly impressed by the extensive menu offered from such a small space. As we walked along the narrow strip of white sand, we reached the end of the beach (another impressive cliff blocked the way). After enjoying the beach for a while, a storm rolled in (it is, after all, rainy season from May to October). We happily packed our bags under a few mangrove trees. Soon we had the beach to ourselves! The water was warmer than the rain, so we waited out the shower in the waves. Then we took turns swimming across to a rocky outcropping on Happy Island. It was a great swim that rewarded us with a few scrapes from the rocks that were sharper than they looked and with pretty views looking back at the beach.
Once we decided to wander on, we realized why the beach had cleared out before the rain. The thin strip of beach was gone as we waded back through high tide!
Walking back the way we came, we didn't see the Dusky Langur, but we did see another monkey--the Crab-Eating Macaque. These monkeys can dive to hunt crabs and for fun. However, those that we saw seemed to live off human snacks like chips,Bugles, and roasted corn on the cob from the nearby food stand. When I bought my corn the woman kindly warned me to move quickly away from the monkeys so that they wouldn't try to snatch my snack for themselves.
By then it was past time for lunch, and we found yummy spring rolls and pa-nang curry and red curry. Next we wandered down another path across the peninsula to Diamond Cave, also called Inner Princess Cave (Tham Phra Nang Nai). Here the limestone formations reminded me of Missouri's Meramac Caverns. The reflections off the water that used to run through the cave gave it it's bejeweled name, as there have never been diamonds in the cave. The cave is also home to a sizable flock of bats.
We continued on the path to Hat Railay West where the beach opened up to a dramatic panorama view!
Walking far out through the shallow water and looking back showed the dramatic cliffs that cut off Railay from mainland Thailand and those we could see earlier from Hat Phra Nang.
We walked back to the east side and booked our longboat tour for the next day. Then we enjoyed a huge dinner where we got a free buffet when ordering a meat entree "skewer". I got a plate of grilled mussels and veggies (and plenty from the buffet) for 180 baht (about $6).
After dinner, I had my first Thai massage--and wow, my massage therapist found parts of my back I didn't know I had! We paid marked up tourist prices 300 baht (about $10) for a hour long massage--I could get used to this!
Sunday morning, we had yummy rotee, Thai pancake, for breakfast again--savory: tomato, onion, cheese and sweet: banana and nutella. Then we started for our island tour and snorkeling trip.
First stop, Tup Island. Snorkeling revealed that beneath the bright blue water were large schools of white and yellow with black stripes tiger fish. In low tide, the sandbar to the neighboring island is above water. We had to rough it and walk through a few feet of clear ocean water.
Just a small distance away was Chicken island. (Although, I think Turkey Island would be a better name. Since I don't believe that there are any turkeys in Thailand, Chicken Island makes more sense in this context.) Here we snorkeled again and saw more tiger fish plus some island wrasse which were magnificent purple, turquoise, and sea foam green. Since the island wrasse didn't travel in schools and were feeding on the bottom thy were harder to spot. Pennant fish were also fun to see since they resemble angel fish. We also got to see enormous clams (looking like they were out of a scene from the Little Mermaid), well-armored sea urchins, and what could be needle nosed gar--almost transparent fish that looked like it had a needle or small sword protruding from its snout.
We watched a storm roll in, and we were pleased to avoid it by going to Poda Island. Here we ate lunch and happily swam and gazed at the cliffs just off the shore.
Then we anchored near just off Poda Island and went snorkeling again.
Finally we returned to Hat Railay East. Our fantastic traveling friends departed to head to Krabi for their flight back, and Neil and I decided to attempt the Sa Pra Nang hike/climb to the Holy Princess Pool. Lonely Planet called it a "strenuous hike with some serious vertigo-inducing parts." While I agree that there were several instances that could give almost anyone intense vertigo, my objection is that I wouldn't classify anything with over a 60 degree incline a "hike". For completing the most challenging (and muddy and slick) climb and then descent I've ever done, we got the gift of a hidden lagoon surrounded by 100+ foot limestone cliffs textured with trees growing up from the cliff face! And we had the lagoon all to ourselves for 30 minutes.
Once another group of climbers arrived, we bid farewell to the lagoon that looked like it belonged in Jurrasic Park, and we climbed up what we had just descended. This time our reward was an incredible lookout that afforded us an arial view of both sides of the peninsula!
After exclaiming "wow" an innumerable amount of times, we returned to the sea level path by climbing down our initial ascent with the assistance of tree roots, rocks, and the occasional rope as the last fragments of sunlight dissolved. Since we had trudged through the ankle deep mud at the pool's edge and had hugged muddy cliff faces, we were covered in red-clay mud. So we wisely went back to Hat Phra Nang to let the ocean waves wash off the first few layers of mud.
After a thorough shower, our dripping clothes were hanging, and we were relatively free of mud (truth: it took a full day to get the red mud out from under my fingernails). We headed out for dinner on a picturesque second floor balcony under a tree adorned with colored lanterns. Unfortunately a few hours later we encountered our first bout of tummy troubles. However, that, and the mosquitoes, were the only "pinches" that reminded us that we weren't dreaming of Railay.
Monday we were off school in honor of the Queen's birthday. Happy Thai Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms I have the honor of knowing! The Queen's birthday is also when Thais celebrate Mother's Day. Since King Rama IX is the longest currently reigning monarch (68 years), the dates for Mother' Day and Father's Day haven't been changed for nearly seven decades. The King and Queen have also outlasted numerous prime ministers and constitutions.
Alas, I digress. On Monday, I planned to wake early and head to a climbing school for an introductory lesson, but Mother Nature had other plans as she showed us how many centimeters of precipitation a rainy day in Railay could include. As a result, we realized how incredibly blessed we were to have such wonderful weather the two previous days!
Lucky for us, hanging out at the hotel in the rain meant a hillside open-sided hut with hot tea and inspiring views of Railay East. Plus I was with my favorite cribbage opponent, so our last half of a day in Railay was still incredible.
