Railay, near Krabi

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My journal entries have become a little sketchy it seems because ive been on the go so much that i dont seem to have chance to sit down and write them very often.

Luke and I have had a fantastic time in Railay off Krabi, near Koh Phi Phi. We took the night bus from Bangkok and arrived in Surrathani early in the morning, then had a hellish bus ride to Krabi to attempt to catch a boat to Railay which took forever because in true Asian style they wont go until the boat is full. It was raining when we arrived so we were a little bit dubious about going to the beach but we've both managed to get nicely sunburnt and are suffering because of it.

I think we've finally realised what its like to back pack without shoving all our stuff on the nearest tuk tuk. We actually have to walk places now and wade through waist high water with our things on our backs to reach the beach and that sort of thing. Its all good fun but i coukd do without the crabs attcking my feet to be honest.

We decided on Railay based on other peoples recommendations and the beach itself was beautiful. We were greeted at the hotel by a giant cockroach living under the bed but we did have hot water and satellite tv which was all good. The first afternoon we spent wandering aorund checking the place out then we went out for dinner with a couple we met on the bus called Lana and Arjun. We ended up spending most evenings with them drinking cocktails and just generally having a good time.

The next day Luke was determined to explore every inch of the place we were staying which meant climbing over rocks and swimming in my trousers to hunt out a nice beach. The beaches on Railay west were hit by the Tsunami but seem to have recovered pretty well and the sand is white and the sea was blue so there wasnt much more we could have asked for. We spent most of the day swimming and wandering. I was stung all over by tiny jellyfish which was annoying because it felt like someone sticking little pins in me but not as annoying as the mosquitos who seem to think im breakfast, lunch and dinner rolled into one.Luke doesnt get bitten which is probably why they pick on me so much. I maintain that mosquitos are the work of the devil along with marmite and places where there isnt any decent cheese.Railay has some very cute fuzzy monkeys and fantasic caves and rock formations. Its one of the best places for rock climbing you can visit apparently but thats not really my thing so we didnt try it.

The second day we booked a days snorkelling trip around Koh Phi Phi which was very expensive but included lunch and all your equipment. We had a tour of all the islands in the area including the beach where The Beach was filmed. The beach is beautiful but absolutely packed with tourists. When we arrived there was one other person in the sea and when we left there were hairy germans in speedos strutting their stuff and it wasnt cool anymore.

We headed over to Monkey island where I managed to put my foot down on a sea urchin with 12 inch spike which went an inch or so into my toes and broke off. It hurt like someone sticking darning needles into me and i cried like a big girl when the boat driver hammered them into my feet so that they could dissolve without becoming infected. Theyre still stuck in my feet and i think theres a nice picture of what they looked like so that everyone can feel sorry for me! What an idiot. Anyhow, once it had stopped hurting it was fine and isnt causing me too much bother now unless i put weight on it. we went over to Phi Phi for lunch and had a massive amount of seafood green curry and other lovely stuff (yes i am getting fat and I know that most of these journal entries revolve around food!) and then on to bamboo island where i finally found nemo living in a giant sea anenome. Not sure which my favorite fish is but i think probably Gill from finding nemo, there was quite a few of them knocking around.

The next day we decided at the last minute to go with Lana and Arjun on a second afternoon snorkelling trip aorund Railay. This one was cheaper but was fantastic. The snorkelling was harder because there was less visibility but we got to swim through caves, watch the sunset on a strip of beach in the middle of nowhere, Luke got to open a coconut (finally, he was whinging that he wanted to do it from the time we arrived. What is it with men and wanting to do manly things like breaking open hard objects?), feed fish with bananas and jump off the side of the boat into the sea to watch the phosphur lights in the water. For anyone who's interested the trip is run by a guy called Amile and goes from Bobo's in Railay West,its excellent value for money and your dinner is caught and brought to your boat while youre snorkelling. Theres also a lot of beer if you want it but be prepared that you might get seasick. One woman on our trip spent the whole time being sick and lying down which really sucked.

Next morning we left Railay an headed back to Krabi and on to Surat thani to catch a bus up to Khao Sok antional park.