Woke up early after a few hours of sleep. Shortly after 7am our shuttle arrived as scheduled to take us to Phuket town's pier for the 2 hour trip to Ao Nang across the bay. Driving is done on the left here, and although the driving is a bit hectic with lots of mopeds whizzing around, it is nothing we saw in Indonesia. The roads here are in great shape - better than California!

We got to the pier and boarded our boat. Soon we were on our way. It was a gorgeous day but already quite hot so we stayed below deck until the scenery started to become more dramatic as we crossed Phang Nga bay. What makes this area so picturesque are the massive limestone outcropings that jut right out of the water forming dazzling spires and creating a truly remarkable landscape.

Before long we approached the granddaddy of beaches in the area - Railey Beach. This place has one of the most stunning settings we'd ever seen and we definitely planned to visit from Ao Nang once we get settled. For passengers disembarking at Railey, small long tail boats come to meet the main boat to whisk passengers away. Transporting large pieces of luggage was very precarious - but everything worked out. We'll be experiencing a similar transfer tomorrow when we go to Koh Jum, so we hope it works for us!

Finally we were on our way to Ao Nang. Here there is a proper pier and it was easy to get off the boat. Included in the price of the ferry (700 THB) was transport to to our hotel the Ao Nang Goodwill. After a short wait we were on our way and were at the hotel in just a few minutes. At the hotel we were greeted by very friendly Pat with glasses of cold water. It probably goes without saying, but it is incredibly hot and humid. One step outside and you're immediately dripping with sweat. Add to that the nasty smell of insect repellent and sunscreen. With all that goo dripping down your face you really make a good first impression!

After checking in we went in search of lunch. Highly recommended Number 1 Thai Food was just a few doors down. The food lived up to the restaurant's name and we enjoyed pad thai, a wonderful seafood dish, and a spicy chicken curry. We washed it down with deliciously refreshing Chang beer - a local favorite. The people of Thailand are a very friendly bunch - the "land of smiles" is an appropriate nickname for the country. While at lunch Craig asked for a coke from who he thought was the server. In reality, she was a local woman just leaving the restaurant after eating there herself. Instead of being offended in any way, she just went over to the real server and relayed the order. Craig was pretty embarrassed, but no harm done.

Our next task was to set up a couple of day tours to take from Ao Nang after our return from Koh Jum. We walked down the main road and and entered one of the hundreds of tourist agencies. Lo and behold, the woman working at this shop was the same woman who "ordered" Craig's coke! Since she was such a sweetie we had to book through her, and we decided on a day trip to Phi Phi island by speedboat for Thursday and a trip to James Bond Island and canoeing through the mangroves for Friday.

We stopped for an ICED coffee before returning to the hotel to gather our stuff for the short trip to Railey Beach. The long tail boats leave from the Ao Nang beach at a price of 200 THB round trip. After a short wait we were wading out to the boat and climbing aboard for the journey. Ao Nang beach is beautiful, but on the boat you soon round the bend and have the majesty of Railey laid out before you. The towering cliffs and crystalline blue green water are an awesome sight. The boat first stops at Tonsai Beach - very attractive sugar white sand with sea kayakers plying the waters and exploring caves and coves. Soon we were at West Railey, and we scrambled off the boat and surveyed the paradise we found ourselves in.

After admiring the beauty of West Railey we wandered across the peninsula to less attractive East Railey. On the way we stopped to walk though one of the many caves present in the limestone cliffs. Efren really liked seeing the bats on the ceiling. We then arrived at East Railey which is generally just a marshy swamp. We stopped to admire some rock climbers before headIng to the most jaw droppingly beautiful beach of them all - Phra Nga Cave Beach. This is the place that comes to mind when you think of beaches in Thailand. We won't say much - just look at the pictures!

Just before the beach we saw a turnout to a "viewpoint" that involved a hike straight up a muddy cliff face. Efren promised he would tackle that in a few days when we were back in the area. For now, he decided to jump in the water for a swim to cool off. By now it was getting a bit late and storm clouds were gathering, so we took a long tail directly from here back to Ao Nang.

We ate dinner at Janettes Restaurant and caught a terrific sunset. The food was incredible. A fairly typical pineapple fried rice was accompanied with spicy green curry and delicious Massaman chicken. This was a first for us and is a curry dish with lots of peanuts and aromatic spices (cardamom and cinnamon) - absolutely delicious. We headed back to the hotel to get some rest after a long and incredible day. But before heading to bed we needed to by our boat tickets to get to Koh Jum in the morning. They cost 400 THB and included pick up at the hotel at 9:30am. Knowing we were going to need to transfer from the main boat to a long tail we decided to leave our large backpacks at the hotel as we will be staying there for several more nights after.

What a great day! But we are really excited to head to the nearly undiscovered island of Koh Jum for a few days to completely get away from civilization and unwind. Stay tuned for details from that next adventure!