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Just as well we had an early one for our last night in Phuket as our bus pick-up was bright & early at 7am! After saying goodbye to our lovely hosts at Square One, we set off for the ferry port, where we took a 2 hour ferry ride to Railay Beach - Krabi Island, which we had huge expectations of after hearing from a number of people how idyllic and beautiful it was. And it certainly didn't disappoint! We pulled up to Railay, where a couple next to us asked if we wanted to share a long boat to Ton Sai - the next beach along, that boasts the cheapest digs on Krabi according to our bible, the Lonely Planet. You didn't need to ask us twice, so we jumped in a long boat with them & went the 5 mins across to Ton Sai.
Well what can I say...remote & idyllic was what we wanted & Ton Sai certainly ticked all the boxes! A tiny little strip of beach, with no more than 3 little bars scattered across the beachfront, with sounds of reggae music drifting our way. We headed up the path in search of accommodation, surprised at how few people we encountered along the way & finally stumbled across the Pasook resort. We really couldn't have found more basic accommodation for trying, which suited us fine as what better way to experience the travellers lifestyle? And for 2.80 each a night, who cares if we only have electricity at night time & the shower has a cardboard roof?
We dumped our bags & after some lunch, we started walking over to Railay beach for a spot of well deserved sunbathing. The 'walk' soon turned into a pretty challenging rock climbing experience but we finally made it & found a nice spot. Apart from being a bit crowded & more commercial than Ton Sai, we had to agree that Railay was every bit as stunning as we'd been told. It's dream honeymoon material as far as I'm concerned...golden sand with hundreds of tiny little sandcrabs running through it creating pretty patterns, crystal-clear aqua water & little alcoves for 'private' sunbathing. Paradise!
After a swim & a snooze, we suddenly noticed that the wind had picked up & that the sky had turned a tell-tale shade of gray. Just as we made it under the cover of a coffee bar, the heavens opened & we had a very unexpected but fairly brief torrential downpour with full-on thunder & lightning storm! We didn't mind though & happily passed the time playing cards with a crazy Canadian guy & his friends (crazy because he really was just one of those people that is totally "high on life man"!)
That night, we had a delicious Thai meal on the beachfront of Ton Sai, which was so much more deserted & peaceful than Railay. It was almost like having our own private beach! Dinner was followed by drinks at the 'No Name Bar', where we were soon asked to dance by a group of guys who were in their element drinking beers, dancing & singing like mad to reggae. When the dancing had worn us out, we pitched up on deck chairs on the beach for a bit of stargazing, before heading back up to Pasook resort for the opening night party of their bar. It was really busy by the time we got there but we had a great time watching the fire shows & chatting to some new found friends. With another fairly early start & long journey to Ko Phi-Phi ahead of us the next day, we turned in at about 2am & somehow managed to get to sleep even though the party next door was still going at 5am!
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