My Day in Railay

When you are in a place for only two nights you can’t really take an all-day excursion to nearby islands – especially when you haven’t seen the place where you are! There were no half-day excursions available (I could have rented a sea kayak and tootled about for an hour or so – or, had I had the right shoes with me and some advance planning, I could have gone horseback riding on the beach) so I just stayed in Railay!


The beaches are all about ten minutes apart; exploration was in order. First I walked across the neck to East Railay, where I walked along the beach (it disappears in high tide, which is why West Railay’s beach is nicer) to a cave.


Then I went down the neck to Phra Nang Cave Beach – stunning and secluded,


with a cave shrine to the mythical princess who is said to live there (filled with, um, offerings to the princess from local fishermen)


and a hole in the rocks that you can walk through, depending on the tide.



Then I had a lunch/shopping interlude.


And I spent the afternoon at my own resort, walking back and forth along the beach, swimming, writing postcards by the pool, and enjoying another stunning sunset.


It’s hard to believe that in December 2004 a huge wall of water came up on this beach – it seems so tranquil. Railay has completely recovered, but parts of Thailand (not to mention other tsunami-affected countries) are still rebuilding. Is there something I can do to help? I still want to go to New Orleans and help, too, if there’s something I can do.

Thursday I went back to Phra Nang Cave Beach in the morning – the walk there, which at one point passes walls of rock, was contemplative in itself, and then the destination was still pretty special the second time. I decided that it was just as well that this was my last day on the beach – the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) said that the malaria pills she prescribed make you sensitive to the sun, and I probably needed a break from it. Went for a final swim and had a final lunch, and then took the longboat to Krabi town – walked around there for a while, went to the post office, and had a snack before getting on the 5:00 pm VIP air-con bus back to Bangkok.