We left Pai and did all 762 turns in reverse to get to Chiang Mai, and from there we boarded a sleeper bus to take us to Bangkok. We had hoped that once we arrived in Bangkok in the morning, we would be able to get a train to Surat Thani and from there, another bus to Krabi. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the train station in the morning, having said our goodbyes to Jess who was meeting with a girl we'd met in Laos to continue her Thailand adventure with her, we were told that the 8am train was already full, and that there were only seats available on the overnight train. Having not really slept on the bus from Chiang Mai, we couldn't face another sleepless night and so opted to spend the night in Bangkok and catch the train the following morning.
We met up with Jess, Rheann and Rheann's friend Siobhan for dinner that night before myself and Kay hoped in a taxi to The Dome skybar. This is the skybar which was used for filming scenes in The Hangover part 2. We'd read that there was a bit of a strict dress code but with nothing but flip flops or hiking boots to wear on my feet, I put on my nicest dress and my hiking boots, jokes, flip flops, and hoped for the best. I'd love to say it was "No shoes, no shirt, but I still got service", but I was politely told that there was no way I was getting in with flip flops. Thankfully, some ingenious woman has started selling shoes from her shop across the road, this happens a lot I guess, and so I bought the ugliest pair of pumps you'll ever see, and off we trotted back to the bar. Apparently, the hideous shoes are much more acceptable attire, and we were granted access to the lift which would take us up to the 64th floor. The views from up there were absolutely breathtaking. They weren't demanding you buy a drink, which was nice, but we decided to treat ourselves none the less to a drink each, at a grand total of £28. We had just spent four days in Pai doing nothing, and eating even less, so I think we deserved a wee treat. Only enough time ( and money ) for one though as we needed to be up before the roosters to get the train to Surat Thani.
We met a lovely Canadian on the train to Surat Thani who invited us to stay with him, his wife and three year old kid when we go to LA. Seriously contemplating it, he seemed very genuine and said he would show us the sights around LA. We took a bus from Surat Thani to Krabi and stayed there the night before getting a boat to Railay Beach the next day.
We got off the long boat and were advised, by some idiot, to head to the other beach about ten minutes walk away where, he said, we would find plenty of cheap accommodation. This was complete nonsense, but we walked the ten minutes, with our heavy bags on our backs, and had to find this out for ourselves, the hard way. I went for a walk and eventually found some nice cheap accommodation back on the beach we had previously been on. We spent the afternoon walking around Railay, having lovely fruit shakes and booking things to do while there. There was a big crowd of scots staying at our accommodation, it was lovely hearing the accent and not have to explain my name to them.
The next day we went on a snorkel trip. This consisted of visiting a few different islands, some snorkelling and then a BBQ on a quiet beach. After sunset we got back on the boat and went out to sea again so that we could do more snorkelling, this time at night, with phosphorescent plankton. This was one of the nicest island trips we've done. Railay beach and surrounding are just breathtaking! Swimming with the plankton was unreal, so so cool seeing it light up in the water.
The next morning we got up bright and early to do some rock climbing. We were taken to an area at the end of our beach where we got to do five climbs each. It was quite hard going at times but the view from 30 meters up was well worth it. We had lunch with a lovely canadian girl who was climbing with us and then the three of us spent the afternoon catching some rays on the beach.
We spent our last day at Railay exploring some of the beaches in the area. We walked some ridiculous jungle path to get to Ton-sai beach. We sunbathed for a while but as it was pushing 40 degrees we did the sensible thing and went for a long lunch. After lunch, we met a nice New Yorker on the beach and she spent the afternoon with us sunbathing. There is a path over the rocks at the end of the beach that will take you back to Railay. We decided this was a much better option as the jungle path was a bit of a killer and Sarah (NYer) had already been to Railay this way that morning and assured us it was much quicker and easier. It probably would have been, if we hadn't got a bit lost, walked far too high up the hill, and ended up coming out at some random point on the beach, startling the couple sleeping in the shade. We spent some more time sunbathing and swimming in the crazy hot water, which wasn't particularly refreshing. Myself and Kay left late in the afternoon to walk to the view point which was up in the hills that we had been rock climbing at. Sarah decided against it and made her way back to Ton-Sai, hopefully using the right path this time!
We had expected a bit of a rocky path up to the view point as some Scottish people we had met at our accommodation, who had already been up, advised we wear "proper shoes". What we were not expecting, was to have to scramble up the hill for about twenty minutes. Our clothes and bags were completely covered in the red dust from the hill by the time we made it to the top. It was worth it for the stunning view of all four beaches and the beautiful sun set.
Our last time in Thailand this trip. Feeling a bit sad to see the back of it, we've been here so much now that it's starting to have the familiarity of home. But onwards to Malaysia we go for more fun and frolics.
No comments:
Post a Comment