Krabi and Railay Beach, Feb 2010

Railay Beach, near Krabi, is on the south western Andaman coast of Thailand. Waaaay back in 1995, the last time I was lucky enough to have graced the shores of probably the most beautiful beach in Thailand, I was attacked by an eagle. My friend M and I were strolling back from one of the three beaches on Railay Bay as the sun was beginning to set. We'd just picked up our daily ration of cheap fried noodles to take back to our bungalow just off the beach when we noticed the local eagle, a huge White Bellied Eagle (http://mepow.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/haliaeetus-leucogaster-e28094-white-bellied-sea-eagle3.jpg) that lived off scraps of fish discarded by Full Bellied Europeans. It was carving huge circles in the sky and riding the thermals, occasionally diving to the ocean to grab any unlucky fish that happened to be near the surface, and we looked on fascinated. 'Woah,' I said. 'Wow,' M said. 'It's so beautiful, innit?' I said. 'Yeah' M said. We stood there in the middle of the beach in awe of it's majesty, when suddenly the wind started to pick up a touch, rustling the plastic bags of food in our hand. I looked up and could see dark rain clouds approaching. 'Let's head back, it's gonna rain' I warned. We turned to go and started walking. I looked to my left to catch a last glimpse of the eagle but noticed it wasn't there anymore. I looked up. Nothing. I looked behind me and saw an image that has stayed with me for the rest of my life. About fifty metres behind us, atop a tall and thin fir tree, was the eagle. It's wings were outstretched to match the span of a small car and were catching the wind with such power that the tree arched under the pull of it's weight. 'M', I said 'I think the eagle is looking at us'. 'No', M croaked 'The bloody thing is looking at our seafood noodles'. Time stopped. Then, the bird's man sized claws let go of the tree and nose dived towards the ground, levelling out about at about five meters and started flapping. Really flapping. It let out a hue squawk and flew towards us with the obvious intent to kill. 'RUN' I screamed and we ran barefoot along the beach like cowards in a dark dream. 'HELP....HELP'!!!' M screamed. I turned round and saw M on the floor with his arms and legs in the air, throwing sand at the eagle who was scratching and clawing at his hands to get the noodles. 'R! GET HIM OFF ME!'. There was only one thing for it - I ran away into the jungle. I caught site of some travellers chilling out on the hammocks. 'Please help, my mate's being attacked by an eagle' I said breathlessly. They looked at me as if I'd just dismounted a unicorn. 'Honestly, please my mate's being attacked by Audrey'. In my panic, I had forgotten that we named the eagle Audrey, wholly inappropriately at this point, after an old lady. Everyone got up and ran with me to what surely would be a horrible scene of blood, guts and noodles. Instead, the beach was empty. No eagle. No M. 'Oh no' I said, 'It's carried him away'. The travellers moved away slowly from the mad man.


Of course the eagle didn't carry him away. M just ran off behind me and got lost in the jungle. Oh yeah, it's funny now. But trust me, I was scared. It made me wonder last month, 15 years later, if Audrey The Eagle was still there? Is the beach still incredible? Can you still buy cheap seafood noodles? There was only one way to find out - 'Hello, is this Air Asia?'


E and I boarded our Bangkok to Krabi flight looking forward to a well earned few days rest. You can fly Air Asia to Krabi return for about 5000 Baht during high season (Nov to Feb).

The flight is only one hour and before you know it you're looking at the infamous limestone karsts that surround this area of Thailand.

We landed at Krabi and walked straight off the plane into the arrivals hall. Here you will be faced with four separate taxi/bus desks with staff waving their pamphlets at you saying 'Bus to Ao Nang, Taxi to Krabi, cheap price, cheap-cheap!' Ignore the desk on the far right - they ripped us off on our way back. We headed straight for the shuttle bus desk where it's about 100 Baht each to Ao Nang Beach.

You can get a boat from either Krabi or Ao Nang - we chose Ao Nang as it's only another ten extra minutes from Krabi and the boat ride to Railay Beach (it's inaccessible by road due to the surrounding limestone cliffs) would be kinder to the eye. We weren't wrong.

Ao Nang beach and the longtail boats that can take you round the corner for about 100 Baht each.

We get on the boat and immediately I'd fallen back in love with this part of Thailand.

And I think E was about to swoon too.

There are three main beaches here: Railay West - the main beach with mid to top end accommodation, Railay East - the mangrove beach not ideal for swimming and therefore where the cheaper accommodation is, and Ao Phranang Beach - the star of the Andaman coast as you shall see later. We booked ahead to stay at Ya Ya Bungalows on Railay East, one of only a few budget places left on Railay (500 Baht a night for a fan room). We didn't realise that the boat from Ao Nang arrived at Railay West but it's only a ten minute walk to the other side. As soon as we arrived on Railay West, I felt a deep sadness at what I saw. I didn't expect the beach to be as empty as it was fifteen years ago but the site of more than forty long tail boats parked on a very crowded beach took the smile off my face. Ah well, things move on. E told me to shut up because as a first timer here she still thought it a stunning place. Thanks to her, I looked at my surroundings with new eyes and had to agree. 

We had to walk across - just follow the path next to the Sand Sea Hotel. This used to be totally empty land, now it's lined with new resorts.

As ever, a welcoming party.

'My table. Mine'

Ya Ya Bungalows probably looks nicer on the outside then on the inside. They are three story wooden bungalows built off the mangrove beach, with a restaurant and a shop nearby. It's also near the legendary Skunk Bar and some of the cheaper eats on the beach, which is always good. 

One of the three story bungalows at Ya Ya.

The first set of vertical 'stairs' to take you up to your room. Or 'The Sweatbox' as we lovingly called it.

The room itself isn't bad.

But we've become accustomed to the budget formulae: Budget room = filthy loo.

This toilet IS flushed.

Maybe it was just where we stayed. Maybe we should have complained and moved rooms but for 500 Baht a night we weren't that disappointed. You don't spend time in your room on the beach anyway - you go where the sun is. 

We headed to Railay West, leaving Ao Phranang for the next morning. Railay West still has it's brilliant accommodation at the end of the beach where families can stay in open wooden houses, with kitchens, large rooms and balconies facing the sea. Sadly though, there was no Audrey the Eagle. Not sure what an eagle's lifespan is but I secretly hoped to see her. We swam in the warm sea until it was time for a sundowner. The sunsets on Railay West are legendary.

Nothing quite like a cold beer watching the sunset. E and I then had dinner on Railay East before calling it a day - I can't remember what the place is called but they're right on the main walkway and cook up a decent seafood BBQ. And yes, you can still get cheap seafood noodles. 

The next morning our friends, E and L, who are travelling throughout SE Asia arrived from Koh Phangan for a couple days. Once they found somewhere to stay, we headed to Ao Phranang beach, THE beach, but ended up in Majorca. If I thought Railay West was crowded, then I was very wrong. On Ao Phranang, there was no room in the shade. There was no room in the sea. There was a bit of room...right at the end of the beach, where we headed...

...and get horribly burnt because that blue bottle I'm holding in my hand turned out to be tanning oil. Not sunscreen, like it said on the back, but tanning oil. One of the ingredients? SUNFLOWER OIL. And we put this all over our bodies in large quantities in the midday sun. I don't need to tell you what happened. As I'm writing this, two and a half weeks later, our skin is still peeling. Honestly, at one point we looked like pink dalmations.

One of the many longtails offering food on Ao Phranang beach. 

I don't want to sound like I'm moaning but, well, I am. It's always sad to go back somewhere and to see it changed so much. Yes, it's high season and I'm grateful that Thailand has a low season to allow this mini ecosystem to recover. One thing that really got to me, like it did in Koh Phangan, is the litter and cigarette butts on the beach.

There are bins on the beach, please use them (swear words censored).

Anyway, that's enough criticism. 

We had dinner at the same place that night with E and L and finished the day off at The Skunk Bar, where we were treated to some Thai reggae. There are Thai Rasta's here who offer mountain climbing lessons by day (Railay is very popular with mountain climbers, amateur and professional) and party by night. There is a legend amongst the Thai Rasta's in these parts and his name, ladies and gentlemen, is Job To Do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAdZzr0ysxg

The next day, E and I giving our best impressions of two walking lobsters, we headed to Tham Prangnai Cave which is a large cave set into the limestone cliffs.

It was good to see that some consideration had gone into keeping the stalactites and stalagmites untouched, unlike the cave in Chiang Dao.

After a dinner and a few cocktails with E and L we ended the day again at the Skunk Bar and were treated to a fire juggling show by a very, very drunk man. I didn't worry really, there was no way I could get more burnt. 

E and L continued their travels the next day and E and I spent the day in the shade on Ao Phranang beach. We ended the day watching the sunset whilst floating in the emerald green sea. Yeah, I know, you hate us. 

The cocktail bar is annoyingly on the way to our bungalow. It'd be rude not to pay a visit.

This bar to the right offers kick boxing lessons. Probably best not to attempt it after a few Changs.

E sniffs out some more beads.

That night we ate at a restaurant that served BBQ'd seafood including shark steak, which we had to try.

It was to be our last day and we agreed to wake up at 6:30 am to take some pictures of Ao Phra Nang beach before the hordes arrive. Well, it's still the most stunning beach in Thailand.

Sunrise on Railay East

We walk down the meandering path towards the beach...

And we arrive on Ao Phranang beach at 6:45 am.

We swam in this section of the beach and were surrounded by what we though was small jellyfish. On closer inspection, as pointed out to me by the boatmen, the transparent jelly actually held fish eggs. You could pick up the fragile string in your hand and it would throb with life. I wondered how long these little blighters would last with the heavy tourism here.

The Princess Cave is on the corner of this beach. It's adorned with phallic symbols (Phallus of Shiva) that local fisherman offer blessings to for a decent day's work, protection from high seas and, well, for babies. It's believed that a sea princess inhabits this cave. 

There is only one resort on this beach, Rayavadee Resort, and it costs 1000 quid and above. Yep. We saw couples arriving with the wives walking on the beach in high heels. 

Railay Beach is still beautiful but, as with everything in the world, money is to be made and building work was in full flow when we left. If we go back, it will be during low season to avoid the masses. The saddest thing, apart from the litter on the beach, is that E and I are part of the problem.

Our flight wasn't until 6pm, so we headed to the airport early to dump our bags and left to see Wat Tham Seua (Tiger Cave Temple) in the forest of Krabi. Apparently a cult has developed around one of the head monks in the main cave due to his obsession with the human body. Pictures of human innards and model skeletons adorn the cave to remind us mortals that the body is just a vessel for the spirit.

'I can see your soul'

The forest monks live in these huts and hang their robes to dry.

These female monks are cleaning the tiger statue.

Well, we end another journey. It was only short but very worth it. I'm writing this on the eve of a massive Red Shirt march to take place all over Bangkok at the protest of Thaksin's overthrow (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/thaksin-judgement-update/171132/udd-threatens-to-stay-beyond-mar-14. Apparently its a five year sentence for any foreigner to take part but I'll see if I can get some pics in...if not, the next post will be about our trip to South Africa and Kruger Park. Oh, and our wedding!