Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you what day it is. The day of the week, or day of the month mean absolutely nothing to me right now. We have more than a week of nothing, and it feels great.
As we arrived in the Krabi airport we joked about the fact we didn’t even know where we were going. ‘railai beach’ was where we wanted to end up.
The first shuttle bus we saw with the beach on their board we grabbed. 150baht each ($5). 40minutes later we are at the ocean. Looks wonderful!! Elevation, 6ft. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be close to the water again.
We find ourselves a shuttle and wait at a local restaurant. During the wait my father walks over to a travel agent a few minutes away. ‘can we book a hotel in railai through you?’. Her response was shocking, and a dose of reality at the same time. ‘you go, walk around’ she said. She didnt need or want to make a commission and thats not how things work here, a nice change from the hustle of HK, Kathmandu, and Bangkok. 20minutes later our drivers arrives and asks us to follow him. He ventures out into the water and motions to follow. No dock, no escort, pretty much just a boat ride. I venture out into the ocean and towards the boat.
I’ve never been in ocean water that is as warm as a bath tub, until today. As hot as it is here, the water is just as hot. No getting used to it, no building the courage to get in… Like I said, as warm as a bath tub. We jump into the boat and race out of there to our little chunk of paradise.
Railai beach is only reached by boat. Cool eh? Little wooden cabanas fill the shore, and longtail boats scatter the beach. The wind is as warm as a wool sweater on a cold day. There are no chills here, a nice change from the chilly weather at 17,000ft.
We walk into the first resort we see, 4500baht a night ($150). WTF!!! Not our style, and not what we want. Both of us can afford it, that is not the issue. How much local life can you experience when you’re sheltered within a 5star Americanized hotel, in the middle of this gorgeous setting.
As we venture down the beach a little ways, sweat fills our shirts. We come across the Railai Beach Cabins, RBC. Starting at just 1200baht a night, this is what we are after. A multi acre setting with wood cabins sprawlling the place. From 3 floor large houses to 2 room (bathroom and bedroom) huts, we pick ourselves a small water front bungalow for 3 nights, with an option of a 4th.
I’m sitting on our deck, music playing from my iPhone and writting a blog, struggling to find a reason I’m not in the ocean right now… On second thought, I’ll check in later.
I’ll leave you with a picture of my current view. Don’t be jealous, it’s only 3 plane, 1 bus, and a boat ride away. Join me if you like.
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