Hello everyone!
After a lovely warm uneventful day in Ao Nang, Krabi we headed to Railey. Uneventful that was except for Sophie, who, despite telling me many cautionary tales about rock fish, which look like sand until they whip you with their sting, was brave enough to make it into the sea. A few steps in, a suspected jellyfish wrapped itself around her foot, stinging her ankle to an impressive degree. She pulled herself together and came hurrying back to my sunbathing self, rather calmly suggesting she had been stung - I would award her with a medal of bravery personally. We took ourselves back to the bungalow, where, finding ourselves ill-equiped medically, and our respective knowledgable family members unresponding we resorted to our thankfully helpful travel guide, which gave us adequate information to save Sophie's stung state. Within minutes the friendly bungalow owner had provided us with supplies of vinegar that Sophie was doucing her inflamed ankle, and thankfully things were soon back under control (despite the said travel guide also warning of Box Jellyfish in the region - a threat we hadnt thought to consider until this point).
The following day we got a longtail boat to Railey, which involved much wading in and out but within the hour we had landed. A kind couple of men from the swanky resort nearby directed us to YaYa's, a far less superiour resort and much more within our budgets, and we soon found ourselves sat in a room smelling distinctly damp, with no windows and a bathroom with a door that neither had a handle nor closed (perhaps a benefit considering the lack of door opening tools present). Always the adventurers, we set out for a stroll to find the apparently lovely Ton Sai Bay, and soon found ourselves trekking through the rainforest (not without the statuatory trip to the diamond caves where we were promised monkeys and no bats, and found many bats and a distinct lack of monkeys - this was obviously a minor detail compared to our delight of finding such a big and shiny gem of a rock that was to be discovered inside). We got deep into the heart of the jungle before it occured to me that the cloud of mosquitos that had been following Sophie for the last few minutes may have been a threat. Once this had clicked, I demanded we stopped, though this just caused them to attack - at points we had dozens of the mob leeched onto us at a time, like a mass-feeding fest. Luckily I had equiped myself with insect repellent and wipes and we soon got the situation back into our hands - Sophie reports having swatted one individual which then released vast quantities of blood. As we ran through the trail I got entwined in a trailing vine and cut my toe, but struggled on to avoid the bloodthirsty clouds. We emerged with an impressively thick layer of gunge on us (admittedly me in particular, who could boast that the suncream/repellent mixture had formed a substance as stringy and with a remarkable resemblence to pva glue). We found the beach and soon decided we wanted to return to our damp cupboard to shower. Choosing a longboat return journey we sat down for the long wait for another six people to appear to join us before departure. These didn't appear however and we were egged on by another couple to walk back taking another route. Soon we were doing our own version of rock climbingk, Sophie adorned in heeled flipflops, myself abandoning all clothing due to the restrictions it held. We passed an interesting group of rock climbers chanting to one member of their group to offer good vibes to help her through this tough stage of this climb. Once back in the comfort of our side of the island we took a sea kayak out to a more secluded beach. Whilst Sophie was in her element, I was struck down by seasickness, and we had to return to shore after just a brief journey.
Later on we headed out for a nice satisfying meal and found ourselves served with salads containing not even half the ingredients promised - our complaints were met with the reply that we had moved the contents around (hunting beneath the damp leaves for any hidden ingredients) and therefore we would have to pay full price for the terrible dish. We held more promise in our jacket potatoes, that instead were naked potatoes with a thick layer of solidified cold cheese. We were not impressed, and as we stormed out feeling cheated, the rain began, reflecting our mood.
We have decided to return to Koh Phi Phi tomorrow in the hope this will bring a more promising few days to the end of our time in the Thai islands.
Much love,
Elinor and Sophie