In May 2004, Mr Moi and I went on a trip to Thailand. To be honest, I didn't really want to go to Thailand. I'd just finished a stint of working 16 days consecutively (these were in the days when I was a carny at fairs like the Royal Easter Show in Sydney).I thought a trip to Thailand and Laos would be too much 'hard work'. I was angling for a trip to Sabah in Malaysia to relax in a resort and maybe pay someone to drag me up Kota Kinabalu.
I discovered that Thailand is a beautiful country. We visited a couple of the small beach towns down the gulf coast before we headed to the Krabi peninsular. This photo is a picture of the sun setting over Railay beach. It was taken with the point-and-shoot camera. We stayed at Railay for six days before heading to Koh Phi-Phi (which was rather touristy, so we fled to Laos).
Visiting Thailand in May - which is the hottest month - was great. This is true low season in Thailand, so we didn't book anything except the first night of accommodation in Bangkok. Railay was rather quiet, and being mostly a mountain-climber haunt, there weren't too many backpackers in search of full moon parties and mind numbing substances.
Although the peninsular, being a peninsular, is part of the mainland, it's impossible to drive to Railay because of the impassibility of the limestone range that separates it from the mainland (good lord, what a bad sentence. I'm going to leave it there as a reminder to myself that I write bad sentences). Longtail boats, like the ones in the picture, take people to and from the island - just find a boat driver, and he'll take you there when his boat is full.
Railay was a great place to holiday. There's lots to do, no cars and comparatively few people there. It's a top spot to unwind.
5 comments:
i've heard many stoires of how amazing thialand is.
my paretns went there last year for a month without me... I'LL NEVER FOGIVE EM!
Dear Ashley. I wouldn't forgive them either! Thailand is lovely, the people are friendly and it's super beautiful. Swimming is fantastic, snorkelling is wonderful. And the food is delicious (goes without saying, really).
I have often dreamed of, but never visited Thailand (it's on my wish list), after seeing this I'm even more convinced it's a must.
Dear chrisb. I think Thailand is a must too. Not too hard to get to from Britain either, as Bangkok is an Asian hub so BA stops there all the time. Do it, do it! You won't regret it. And it's SO cheap there - we stayed in accommodation that was about $5 per night and absolutely fine, not grubby backpackers but a nice bungalow. Meals cost about $1. We were away for 4 weeks, and spent about $1000, including transport costs. And we weren't skimping, or slumming. It's just a cheap country to travel through. Of course, there are many spa resorts to splash out on too.
Congrats to Mr. Moi on talking you into that trip. I must admit that Thailand is not a place on my list of lands I'd like to visit...however, after reading your post, perhaps I ought to change my mind?
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