Passin' Through Pak Meng

From Phi Phi we hopped on a ferry back to the mainland, then a bus down to the city of Trang and then a minivan across to the Pak Meng pier. When we arrived we found out that we couldn't get a ferry to Koh Ngai until the next morning. So we spent the rest of the day in this small town chilling out at our hotel. 

The next day we headed to the pier and boarded the 'big boat' over to the remote island of Koh Ngai.

Partyin' Phi Phi Island

We hopped on a ferry over to the popular destination, Koh Phi Phi. It had changed a lot over the last ten years, and was now coated in hotels and shops from one end of the beach to the other.

The bay was jammed packed with boats of many shapes and sizes.

We found a nice little bungalow at the end of the beach, made entirely from bamboo and palm fronds.

Our friend who lived in the bathroom...

We sampled a wide range of tropical fruits, during our time here.

A dragon fruit cross-section.

Since there was no good snorkelling to be had around Phi Phi itself, we took a trip to Koh Phi Phi Leh, a smaller island to the south.

We were crammed into the longtail with 22 other tourists...what can you expect for $6 a person.

We drove past this odd structure that they called 'Viking Cave'.

Our first spot was 'Maya Bay', the site for the filming for the movie 'The Beach' starring Leo DiCaprio (he wasn't there but the beautiful scenery still was).

Next they brought us to a nice calm bay called Pi-leh, where there was some beautiful snorkelling, but again very little healthy coral.

On the way back we visited 'Monkey Bay', where the tour boats regularly stop to feed the Crab-eating Macaques.

They probably don't eat many crabs anymore...

They were well adapted to climbing around on the limestone cliffs...

...and swimming in the ocean.

The view down the beach from our hotel, packed with bars that liked to play extremely loud music until 3am every night. We could hear at least a couple of them loud and clear from our bungalow. Fortunately, a few beers before bed allowed us to sleep fairly soundly.

Rockin' Railay Bay

After a short couple of days in Bangkok (photos to be shown in a later post) we took a sleeper bus down to Krabi, on the Andaman (West) Coast, of South Thailand. From there we took a short longtail boat ride along the coast to Railay Bay. It was a tiny little tourist town, famous for its magnificent limestone cliffs, riddled with caves and rock climbing routes. 

Our boat docked in the middle of a shallow bay, surrounded by tall cliffs and mangroves. 

A little pollinator doing his duty.

Our advertisement for 'Keen Toe Protection'!

The trail leading between two beaches on the Railay peninsula.

An island just off the shore.

Princess Cave, named after a fabled princess whose spirit is embodied by the cave. The local fisherman come here to give offerings of carved phalluses, to please the princess so that she will grant them a bountiful harvest.

We climbed a crazily steep and muddy trail into the dense jungle nestled among the limestone cliffs.

The lush tropical vegetation was spectacular to behold. Each frond of these palm trees was over 5m in length.

The viewpoint at the top of the trail, looking out over Railay.

In the trees above us was a troop of Spectacled Langurs.

Their eyes were encircled with large white rings, giving them a startled expression.

We descended down another steep and treacherous path.

The trail led down towards a lagoon that we could see at the end of the narrow rocky corridor. At 3 points the trail dropped off into 3-4m cliffs. We had to cautiously lower ourselves down the muddy rocks, using natural handholds and the ropes provided.

Our reward was this beautiful, secluded lagoon, all to ourselves.

We made the climb back out through the beautiful jungle, without incident.

We spent a few more wonderful days in Railay, relaxing in our hammock and wandering the beaches.

A lovely beach adornment.

Sea cucumber!

A Thai tide pool :)

An assortment of tiny sea creatures.

Kingfishers!

A mango tree.

We decided to go on a '4-islands' tour, snorkelling expedition to check out the local marine life. 

First stop was Poda Island.

A colony of red ants.

The aptly named 'Chicken Island'.

The third stop, Tup Island.

We stopped here for lunch, followed by more snorkelling.

At all 3 islands there was beautiful snorkelling, with many colourful fish, large clams and other invertebrates, but no healthy coral to be seen.

After the frozen wilderness of Nepal, these tropical beaches were a welcome change of pace. We enjoyed our time at Railay, but were soon ready to move on.