Did we say we were going to Koh Lanta? Reality intervened when we arrived at Krabi airport and realized we had probably missed the last public ferry over to the island. Oh well, change of plans – I’d heard Railey was good (Thanks Jason S.!), so we hopped in a minivan to Ao Nang and then a long tail boat for the 15 minute ride over to Ton Soi Railey.
Ton Soi is a small village in a cove, with one U-shaped road going from the sea to the hills to the sea. On both sides of the cove are towering limestone cliffs. These cliffs are why most of the people in Ton Soi are here – it is a rock climber’s paradise.
Climbers come to Ton Soi and stay for weeks (some months, with monthly visa runs to the border) to scale these walls. It’s impressive to watch a guy hang from his fingertips, and then launch his legs up over his head to reach the next hold. And inspiring for us to get our post-holiday bodies into some semblance of shape. Seriously, rock climbers may win the award for most rocked out (har!) physiques. A whiteboard serves as the village message center, and one of our favorite ads was looking to hire a muscular male model for a Japanese commercial, paying 4,000 Baht (~$133US) per day. No doubt several applicants qualified.
We’ve been in Ton Soi the past three nights, and have spent our days exploring the coast and venturing over to Railey East and West. Swimming, snorkeling, yoga, hiking, watching monkeys, drinking young coconut juice, eating roasted corn and grilled fish…these are the pleasures of Railey.
We’ve had breakfast at the same place every morning, a small open-air restaurant about 100 feet from our bungalow. They serve a buffet of Western and Thai food, including corn flakes, milk, yogurt, noodles, sautéed vegetables and fresh fruit. We know breakfast is officially over when the hostess changes the TV channel from CNN Hong Kong to a Thai soap opera. News is more U.S.-focused than expected – most of the coverage was about Oscar nominations, the sweat lodge guru’s arrest, and the Superbowl.
One custom we noticed our first day here is that everybody takes their shoes off when entering any building: room, restaurant, shop, etc. Sandals and flip-flops are the footwear du Railey.
Today we went on a “4 Island Tour”. We joined about 50 other tourists/travelers in a huge long tail boat and then rode from island to island, stopping to snorkel and sun bathe. Mark is sporting a fine band-aid tan on his left foot. Need for said band-aid was required after Mark introduced his foot to a rock at a high rate of speed – while cliff diving. The snorkeling at Tup Island was the best of the four, with lots of spiny sea urchins, large purple clams, parrot fish, and small blue and yellow striped fish that nibbled on our toes.
Tomorrow we move on to Ko Phi Phi Island. Probably most recently famous for the scene in the movie The Beach where Leo smokes a spliff, it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful islands on the Andaman coast. Ko Phi Phi was devastated during the tsunami, but has since rebuilt.
