Project Sun Tan Part III

For the 3rd and 4th day, we opted to stay in Railay Beach, that is accessible only via long tail boats. Instead of going directly to Railay Beach, we went with our friend-cum-tourist guide called Buddy who would bring us visit Chicken Island, Poda Island, Tub Island and to Railay Beach ultimately. We started off at 9.30am.

It was a fun ride on the long tail boat. The speed was not even close to the speed of a speed boat but it allowed us to enjoy the view in more detail at a slower pace. What's the point of rushing to every destination exactly in the same manner as we rush for work? The whole idea of going on a vacation is to slow things down. We were amazed by the half-island-half-rock formations that are scattered all around the sea. They are extremely grand and pompous. You can't keep your eyes off them as they make such a grand sight. It made us feel so minute in this infinity vast sea with humongous rock formations towering over us.


Our first stop was Tub Island. It is quite a unique island, rather small but without sandy beach surrounding it. Instead, there is a sandy pathway that spreads on the sea surface extending to another part of the island.
The boats would dock along this sandy path and tourists would sun bathe, snorkel around. This is also where i cut my feet and leg on dead corals. It certainly hurt. Too bad i don't have any photos of the wound to share. Due to the injury, my snorkeling adventure was cut short. Instead, i merely soaked myself in the sea water, hoping to sterilize my wounds.

The next destination was Chicken Island. Chicken Island is named after its "look". Yep, you guessed it right, it looks like a chicken. We merely went around it to have a full view of the island. Somebody commented though, that if the Thais know about Loch Ness, this island would have been called Loch Ness Island instead.


We headed next to Poda Island. From afar, it looked like paradise, with its white sandy beach and wooden huts. However, when we explored the area, there was nothing much for us to do except to sun bathe. I do not mind being exposed to the sun during vacation but i still shun away sun bathing as it takes ages for me to remove my tan.


After answering nature's call, we decided to check in to our hotel in Railay Bay. Along the way, we immersed ourselves in the gorgeous scenery all around the sea.


Railay is separated into Railay East and Railay West. Railay West is deemed to be more secluded and quieter as compared to Railay East. Buddy dropped us at Railay East even though our hotel is in Railay West. You see, east and west is separated by a short distance that can be covered by foot. It is really interesting. The jetty at Railay East is odd. There is practically no beach at all. The boats can stop right in front of the pathway that is buzzing with people.

We hopped down and bade farewell to dear Buddy. Taking cue from the signboards, we went on our search for our next accommodation. We were lucky to bump into a buggy driver of the hotel called Railay Bay Resort and Spa. It turned out that the moment we stepped down from the boat and walked a few steps ahead, we were already in the vicinity of Railay Bay Resort and Spa, talk about how close the jetty is to the hotel. However, it was sure a long long way to the reception. The buggy driver drove us to the reception counter. Under normal circumstances, i would walk with no qualms as I love moving around on foot. But, at that moment i had my luggage with me, i had a bad cut on the dead corals hence the buggy ride was a welcome!

We weaved through all sorts of rooms provided by Railay Bay Resort and finally arrived at the reception counter. After checking into our rooms, we explored Railay West to hunt for food. The restaurants in Railay surely costed a bomb. It is equivalent to the price of food in restaurants in KL. That is explainable since almost 95% of patrons are Caucasians and all food supply be it raw or processed have to be brought in via boats.

Our itinerary for the evening was to visit Phranang Cave and Phranang Bay. We had to walk through Railay East to get there. It was a unique walk as we saw lots of climbing enthusiasts with their equipment since Railay is extremely renown for rock climbing activity. Further down the narrow walk way that separates the rocky hills and the resorts, there was a signboard that says Lagoon View Point. And, it was pointing up! Sigh, too bad i injured my foot if not i would have loved to hike.

There is nothing special about Phranang Bay and Phranang Cave except that they are more exclusive as compared to Railay West, much smaller too. Well, i did kayaking at Phranang Bay and it was fun!