Blog 15 - Ao Nang/Railay

We agreed to meet up with Easton and Fay in Ao Nang on route from Cambodia. We were really looking forwarded to catching up with them and spending the next few weeks chilling in the sunshine! Ao Nang is not a big town so we decided to spend just one night there before catching the long tail boat over to Railay the following morning. We hadn't heard of Ao Nang before we arrived but it was a nice chilled holiday town right on the beach. After checking the four of us set off for the beach. We spent a nice couple of hours drinking cocktails & catching up on each other's travel experiences. Then the rain started to pour and pour and pour…quickly back to the guest house, jumping in puddles to wet each other along the way. That night we went for a curry, almost as good as Cuisine of India, few relaxed drinks & couple of games of cards.

When we arrived on Railay it was gorgeous…beautiful white sand, turquoise waters & towering limestone cliffs, with lush jungle covering the centre. It's one of the few places in South Thailand that hasn't succumb to high-rise buildings & neon lights…and I really hope it stays that way. The boys sent Fay & I off to find accommodation to no avail, as we soon realised that the backpacker area was Tonsai Beach on the other side of the peninsula which was only accessible by boat when the tide was in. We found a basic but cheap bungalow 2mins from the beach that came with complementary toads in the bathroom. The family who ran the bungalow & restaurant were really friendly, loving practising their English at every opportunity.

We were woken early the next morning by rustling on our tin roofs and when we went to investigate there were 100's of cheeky monkey's jumping through the jungle all around us. We'd decided to hire kayaks for the day to explore the other beaches. I'm sure the boys will sure say that they did all the work but Fay & I certainly did our fair share of rowing. It was a lovely day soaking up the sun, playing bat & ball & snorkelling…all of us certainly topped up our tan, Easton trying to close the gap on Simon's colour! Luckily we were only 5mins from shore when the heavens opened again (as they did every afternoon about 3pm) so we got back in one piece. That night we had a few Chang's (local Thai beer) at the Reggae Bar & listened to some live music and watched the fire throwers.

Railay is famous for rock climbing so Fay thought it'd be rude not to give it a try, Simon, Easton and I decided against the exercise in the 30 degree heat however found ourselves tackling some rocky terrain and climbed through the jungle from our beach to the main beach. I was not feeling too well on the way back (joking that it was the exercise) however it seems that I had eventually succumb to the travellers bug and ended up being sick all night.

Railay is defiantly a place I'd recommend; it has such a chilled, relaxed atmosphere very different from many of Thailand's other tourist destinations. However partying and dancing isn't something that's big here so next we're off to Koh Phi Phi next to celebrate Eastons birthday.