KRABI - THAILAND

Our next stop was Krabi on the Andaman (West) Coast. We had heard that the scenery was great at Railay beach so we headed for there. A truck picked us up from the guest house and then we took a mini van from Khao Sok which took about three hours to an office in Krabi who arranged a room for us on Railay and a songthaew. There are no roads to Railay so we got dropped at the pier and had to take a longtail boat which took about 15 minutes. We waded through the water with our bags and the short walk to the resort seemed to take ages because it was so hot. The resort was nice enough but the scenery on Railay East where we were staying lacked the charm we had been expecting. After checking in we took a short walk to Railay West which is the stunning (and expensive) side. The beach on the west side is fantastic about a kilometre long and maybe 100 metres wide and framed with high limestone cliffs on either side of the bay. The water was as warm as a bath and crystal clear. That first day we didn't really do a great deal.

Limestone Karst - Railay East at Dusk

Kayaking Canyon

The following day we went on a kayak trip around Krabi and through the mangroves which line the coast there. The kayaking was excellent and our guide took us through shallow water into the mangroves and then through a huge canyon. We stopped for fruit and lunch and also at a beach where there were loads of monkeys monkeying around on the rocks. We fed them with pineapple and they seemed pretty pleased. The scenery was great on the the trip and we saw a huge monitor lizard and hundreds of star fish on the sea bed. At the end of the kayaking we had to drag our kayaks up 200m of mud flat which was pretty tough expecially as our feet were sinking into the mud above our ankles.

"Bacardi and coke please Myfanwy" The only gay monkey in the village!

Starfish in the crystal water

Despite the scenery there wasn't a great deal to do at Railay other than the rock climbing, (which it is famous for and we didn't do), and there is too much unfinished construction there which kind of spoils the atmosphere of the place, added to this is the fact that you can't get to Krabi town other than by boat so we thought Krabi town would have been a better base.
Hi Ho.....sleepy and grumpy pushed on to Ko Lanta.