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9 December
Railay Beach
MARK: After almost 3mths on the road with no exercise it starts to show and words 'beer gut', 'belly', 'saggy' and 'double chin' creep into ones vocabulary. I'm happy with my vocabulary as it is. I don't want to use any more words than I have to. So this morning we got up just before 8am and donned our running shoes and headed along the windy jungle path that leads to the beach. Once on the beach which is pretty deserted at this time of morning we did a few laps up and down the strip and then headed home. Kim branched off near our bungalow at Phurit and I continued onwards following a sign to Ton Sai Beach. The path I followed went up and up and up and finally reaching the summit after an 800m steep climb I began to descend 800m until I came into Ton Sai Beach bungalows. It is like something out of the film The Beach. Completely self sufficient this little backpacker community has everything it needs - Pharmacy, Mini-mart, launderette, bottle store, restaurants & bars.... Ok maybe not quite like the beach but still pretty rustic in its feel and the vibe. I ran down through the village and onto an wide arcing beach with steep cliffs up the left hand side and longtail boats lining the right. There were loads of rock climbers (which is what Railay Beach is renowned for) scaling the cliffs on the left and after watching them for15mins I went to see if I could navigate my way around the rocks on the left and onto Railay Beach. You see Railay and Ton Sai are separated by a cliff between them and when it's low tide the rocks are exposed enough for you to walk around. I definitely didn't want to run 800m back uphill! I made it round the rocks and ran the rest of the way back to Phurit.
Kim was showered and packed and after a quick shower myself we went to check-out. Kim was kept awake most of the previous night by loud music coming from Stone Bar just behind the resort. We planned to move to Viewpoint Resort which is closer to the 'action' on East Railay and also has a swimming pool - all for 700 baht. After a quick check-in we grabbed our stuff and headed for the beach on West Railay where we bumped into our Canadian friends and chilled out for the day.
The day passed pretty much the same as any other day spent lying on the beach reading and doing b***** all and after a quick swim in the Viewpoint pool we were showered and back on West beach to watch the sunset which needless to say was AMAZING and near picture perfect.
Back to trusty Lucky Restaurant with TJ & Kayla for some more 300g squids at ridiculous prices - I swear the he-b**** that sells it to us is on drugs and doesn't realize how much she/he could be selling it for! Anyways we weren't complaining. All day we had seen posters advertising Muai Thai boxing and snake charming at the Last Bar which is next to (and owned) by Lucky Restaurant. So we headed there and grabbed a floor table and settled in with a round of Chiang Beers. Sure enough the boxers arrived and after warming up they began to fight. It soon became pretty clear that it was an exhibition fight as they weren't going hammer & tongs for the kill, but it still looked and I'm sure definitely felt, almost like the real thing. After 4 rounds a sneaky (yet choreographed) right hook floored Mr Blue Trunks and the fight was over. K.O.
Next up... snake charming. Enter 2 massive King Cobras and their enchanter. For the next 5 minutes we were entranced watching a dance between man and snake. Each time the cobra would strike within inches of the man's face and each time he would pull away just in time. Occasionally the snake would try to slither away in the crowds direction and the enchanter would slap it on the tail and the cobra would turn around and strike furiously... and miss. Finally for his final act of showmanship the enchanter grabbed the cobra around its midriff and the snake opened its mouth hissing. Slowly the man brought the cobra towards his face and literally kissed its open mouth with his bottom lip. Hectic. I reckon either the snake man was squeezing the snake so hard around its midriff that it couldn't breathe - causing it to open its mouth and rendering it useless so that he could kiss it. Or he was a brilliant yet crazy Thai mofo with a death wish!
A few too many beers later time for bed. Good night. Chiang-over coming on in the morning...
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