Black Magic Women

To unwind, western-style, on our last night on Ko Phangan we bought a bootleg version of 'The Beach' and watched it sprawled out in our open bungalow lobby as geckos shimmied above our heads.

Something that came out of Leo's narration struck a chord; traveling in Thailand during the tourist high season, it's frustrating to sometimes feel like we're caught up in a sea of tourists floating from one popular destination to the next (literally- on the ferries, it's ALL backpackers). It's the unique experiences that you have traveling, ones that you know are all your own, which really sink in. In the past week we fell onto that road less traveled & had the time of our lives.

We arrived in unsavory Krabi town after a ferry/bus combo once the sun had gone down. Eager to ditch our backpacks, we found the sleaziest guesthouse we've stayed in for very few ฿ (this made sense once we realized that it was a whorehouse in the morning's light). Krabi province is known to be the most beautiful province in Thailand: the stereotypical Thai paradise complete with massive limestone stacks, bathtub clear waters, endless tropical fish, mangrove forests, etc. etc. Krabi town, was none of this. We wanted out, but first we decided to check out their viewpoint temple. We've been made told, while awkwardly climbing steep uneven stairs at numerous wats, that stairs are meant to symbolically represent the difficulty of reaching higher levels of existence. point . taken . We climbed 1,237 stairs to the vision of a massive golden buddah and an amazing outlook of the islands we'd soon fall in love with. 1,237 stairs. There were markers of how far we'd climbed just so we always knew how few we'd actually conquered. Even the monkeys refused to climb past stair 500. But atleast we had a memorable experience while in Krabi town. The rest of the temple was relatively engaging- swarms of spirited monkeys, elaborate cave shrines, cliff walls with tiny rooms built into them that served as modest homes to the monks, & our first view of the massive trees that frequent this area. We marked our territory on one of the fallen giants

...& then we hopped a longtail boat to Railay.

on the doorstep of paradise

Railay, an isthmus North of Krabi town, is a nirvana like nothing we could have imagined. The rambling town rests along the edges of gorgeous towering limestone stacks lushly covered in palms. The two main beaches have sand the honest-to-god texture of baby powder & truly turquoise waters- there are no cars- not a tuk tuk, nor a bicycle, it is a land of bare feet. Dubbed "Rastafari Railay" by those who call it home, this rock climbers' haven is the ultimate laid back beach destination. Even the trees have their long thin vines twisted into unruly dreadlocks. We checked ourselves into rapala bungalows, a village of little huts located 58 steps up into the side of the cliffs. Nearly immediately, on the very first night, we met the people who would make it torturous for us to pull ourselves away come time to continue our travels.

We joined the group at a blacklit oceanside patio, added ourselves to their circle on floor pillows around a little wicker table, & found ourselves in a beyond intense game of JENGA. We'd stumbled upon a local hangout on the less touristy sunrise side of the isthmus... & thus stumbled upon the locals. Folk oversees a coffee shop, which also specializes in dreadlock repair... & is his home- the smile cannot be wiped off his face, he is dripping in reggae pride, & he actually quotes Bob Marley periodically- when the vibe hits him, of course. There's also Nat, Sun, Pon, Max, Ciao, Jack (who we renamed due to his striking resemblence to Cpt. Jack Sparrow- what with the eyeliner, kitschy pirate-like jewelry, & long beaded braids), & numerous other memorable local Rasta Thais who made our visit truly unique. Along with a set of nomadic rock climbing Brits who were on their 10th day in Railay (despite intentions to stay for just one night), we truly made Railay home.

tree dreads

Viewpoint hike- halfway to the lagoon

Sunset & Sunrise Beaches

the lagoon

We jumped off rocks, climbed (like legitimately up & down ropes) to a lagoon cradled in the middle of the southern stacks, & watched our friends straight scale sides of cliffs like spider monkeys- sans ropes. Sunset was always an event on the west side: the locals take full advantage of this time to show off their insane talents in volleyball, soccer, frisbee, & takraw (kinda like hackey sack with a bigger woven rattan ball) beachside as the restaurants put out grass mats & candles for observers. The whole isthmus shifts their focus in unison, everyone slows down to appreciate the end of the day in paradise. After regrouping in the cool night breeze, we religiously ate authentic cuisine on a picnic table next door to Folk's shop, lounged on floor pillows watching local (& sometimes 10 yr old) fire dancers, & joined in with the tambourine when a group of the boys put on an amazing jam session in our honor. We changed our ticket to leave 3 times. "Phi Phi is so busy, Railay has friendship" they would chant every time we got close to leaving... we legit broke into rounds of cheering "RAILAY" nightly in our starry-eyed bliss.

We did finally leave. Although the end of this story could easily have been "& so we opened a small business & lived happily ever after." Folk woke up at 8:30 the day we swore we had to be on our way & he walked us reluctantly to sunset beach. "Keep your smiles with you always time" he actually said as he pushed our longtail out to sea.

Folk :)

Thai Reggae

our thrice altered ticket to Phi Phi

We're on Phi Phi island now. Other tourists no longer look at us like we're suspiciously exotic for being in the constant company of rastas, & I think we may have fallen back onto that traveled road. But we had a great day. We joined a tour around the islands where the 2004 tsunami hit hardest, and our boat stopped at several beaches (including Maya Bay where "The Beach" was filmed), & gave us time to snorkel/kayak/swim in to explore a little. In the clearest waters we've seen, stripy little tropical fish surrounded us as we swam over intricate coral reefs. We climbed another absurd set of gradually inclining stairs this evening to the local viewpoint for a memorable glowing sunset.

sunset @ Phi Phi Don

*happy & so tan I've genuinely mistaken Jenny for a local more than once.