Railay

For a week, everyone I've met has gushed about Railay, a small island about 45 mintues from my home base of Krabi. So I went to see it on my last day in the area, before catching the night train to Bangkok.

The trip over was a trip in itself. All over Krabi, signs listed the times for the ferry to Railay. So I arrived at the dock in plenty of time for the first one. Only to be laughed at and told to come back at 9:30.

By 10:00, it was evident that there would be no ferry leaving Krabi that morning. I'm not even sure that such a ferry exists. I'm semi-convinced that the ferry signs are just a ruse to get tourists to the dock, where they can negotiate with owners of long-tail boats for private rides over.

Railay Pictures

At 10:15, I found a partner to split the cost of the trip. By 10:45, the boat was gassed and we were off. It was a GORGEOUS trip, worth the wait -- blue water, limestone cliffs and rock formations. I think boats are now my favorite mode of transportation. Odd.

Railay has 3 beaches, all of them stunning and bordered by expensive resorts. And all of them crawling with people selling drinks, toe rings and massages. All of them impossible places to enjoy a quiet moment with a book.

If not for my leg, I would have spent the whole day swimming. There was this beautiful rock just 100 yards from the beach, just crying out for me to swim there ... but alas, I had no bathing suit and no desire to harm myself anymore than absolutely necessary.

My main interest at Railay was seeing its two famous caves, the Princess Cave and the Diamond Cave (named for the large amounts of quartz inside). I was very sad to discover that the Princess Cave is only accessible by boat and the Diamond Cave was just, well, a cave.

I was hot and exhausted and my day was looking like a bit of a bust. But then, as I waited for a boat back, 3 gorgeous, 20-something men from New Zealand came running up the beach with their backpacks. They needed a boat to Krabi. So we rode together.

They were so charming, so cute, so funny, with such nice accents (and, NO, I DIDN'T ask if they were Jewish) that I briefly considered following them back to Ko Phi Phi. They regaled me with stories of bar fights induced by Thai whiskey buckets and how they mistakenly hit on one of the many many MANY transvestites (called "lady boys") they met in a bar. But I said my good-byes at the dock, and waited for my bus to the train station.

What might have been ...

I said a tearful farewell to the folks at the Internet cafe in Krabi. I had grown very fond of their fast connection and gracious accomodation of my digital camera's USB needs. They had grown very fond of all the money I'd spent. And I think they thought I was cute. But it was time to leave the coast and head north.