Sunday 4th to Monday 5th March – Koh Ngai to Railay Beach

Sunday - For anyone thinking of travelling around Thailand I can assure you that getting around here (as long as you are not in any rush) is easy!  With minimal planning ahead, all you need to do is book your next transfer when you arrive at each spot.  For example, we went to reception on Friday and said we needed to get to Railay today and they booked the tickets for us, charging it to our room and telling us to be ready for 1030am today.  And they don’t charge anything for this service, it’s expected as boat is the only method of transport available.  To give you an example, our tickets for today only cost us about £30 each. 

Farewell shots of our beautiful Koh Ngai resort

The first leg of the journey was via speedboat back to Koh Lanta.  It took about 30 minutes for all the luggage and passenger pick-ups from the row of Koh Ngai resorts before we were off, by which time it was getting cosy on the small boat.  It was a 45-minute jaunt to Lanta where we climbed onto the rickety pier and carried our bags down to the main jetty.  We had over an hour to relax and get some refreshments before we joined the throng queueing on the jetty for the Ao Nang Princess - the ferry to Krabi, Railay and Ao Nang. 

We are finally feeling like proper backpackers!  Again, we were given stickers showing our final destination and boarded accordingly.  Railay was the first destination, so we got on last. We travelled north from Lanta with the mainland to our right and Koh Phi Phi just visible as we passed it on our left.  Railay was recommended to us as one of the best examples of the classic Thai scenery of steep limestone cliffs towering out of the water.  As we approached it, after about an hour and a half on the water, the view was breath-taking. 

If you can see the tiny boats at the base of the rock you will get an idea of scale!

There is no pier at Railay, and no roads.  It is on the mainland but cut off from any connecting roads by the cliffs themselves so, again, the resorts are only accessible by small long-tail boats.  The ferry couldn’t get close enough to the shore to deliver us, so it was then a bun-fight to find our bags, pass them down and grab a space on a smaller boat to be taken into the beach.  Then it was shoes off, jump into the water and make a pile of our belongings on the sand.  We have got used to our resort coming to find us, but we’ve gone for a cheaper option here and they were nowhere to be seen!  We asked some locals who advised that it would only be a 10-minute walk to the Anyavee resort which was on the east beach.  10 minutes is nothing.  Unless you’re carrying 20kg each in 32° celsius! Off we trudged, arriving at reception in a sweaty mess.

We had reserved two nights here in a bungalow for less than fifty quid a night.  The grounds contained lots of cats, squirrels and cheeky monkeys to watch (they steal anything left lying around) and an infinity pool with a view of the sea.  The pool was our first port of call to cool down a little before returning to our bungalow to shower.

Then we went out to find some happy-hour cocktails followed by some tasty Thai food to top the night off.  On the way we even managed to organise our next transfer all the way to the east coast of Thailand for Tuesday.  See, I told you this was easy!

Monday – Today was a relaxing day.  After a late breakfast and a touch of shopping (for mosquito repellent) we wandered through to west beach where we had been dropped off yesterday, intending to relax on the beach for a while.  But it was very crowded, so we made the decision to hire a kayak for four hours so that we could choose some more secluded locations.  With our important items having been placed in a drybag, off we went, me capturing the scenery as best I could with a GoPro.

We paddled around to Pranang Beach which had some less crowded sections to relax on and as a bonus, had floating shops selling all kinds of food and drink, including ice-cold beers which we enjoyed in the sea.  

The local shops at Pranang beach

Enjoying a cold beer in the warm sea

The view back to West Beach

We explored the crevices and narrow channels between the towering limestone rocks watching wildlife from herons to crabs.  In all, we were out for nearly four hours before we returned our kayak to West Beach, where we stopped to watch the sunset which was combined that evening with an amazing thunderstorm in the distance.

The sun setting behind the clouds and, below, an awesome thunderstorm

View up the 'High Street' at West Beach

We eventually made it back to our bungalow but after a quick freshen-up we were back out to West Beach for a meal.  It was still soooo hot, even in the dark, and apart from a couple of bars, it appeared that everything closed at 930pm, so it was not a particularly late night.