We arrived in Krabi for only two nights and one full day. I hadn't read up on the area in my Lonely Planet Guide Book so we asked in a Travel Agent what we could do with our day there. We wanted to go the the beach. The man suggest we take a Long Tail Boat to Railay from the Khong Kha Pier. The only way to get to Railay is by boat.
Hat Rai Leh East is the beach where the boats arrive from Krabi. It was very shallow water, not suitable for swimming and it was really muddy. There were heaps of small crabs running about and then hiding in the mud. The cliffs were huge and there were heaps of people rock climbing. We had no idea what we were going to do once we arrived in Railay and the weather was not all that great. We headed left from the beach along the path from Hat Rai Leh East to Hat Phra Nang. We first came across a cave (Tham Phra Nang) which means Princess Cave. About half way along the path between the two beaches was a sign that pointed up a very steep jungle like cliff to a Lagoon. It looked almost impossible to climb but we came for a beach and as the weather was not good and the beach didn't look all that great for swimming and sunbathing, a lagoon seemed likeva fantastic second option. I took my flip flops off and the three of us headed up, holding on to the rope that had been put in place to help us up.
On route up we met people who told us about the lagoon and also the view point. Most had not made it too the lagoon as they said the cliff down was too steep and slippery. We finally made it to the viewpoint which looked over both beaches. By this time we were all sweating and felt like we were going to die but the view was worth it.
We then made our way to try and find the lagoon. After climbing up it was then a climb down. Rebecca had decided to stay at the top and wait for Jodie and I. It was very muddy and wet and the closer we got to the lagoon the worse it became and I could not go any further. I was helped by a girl to get across a wooden plank as it was so slippery and then by two guys to turn back. Jodie didn't even try to get across it was that bad but I really wanted to see the lagoon. I had to admit defeat... If you are going to do this hike, you really need suitable footwear!!
I would have liked to have done some rock climbing had we been here longer and it would have been nice to walk round to the other beach but we were knakered and the rain was about to come in. I sat and ate some fresh pineapple and watched the monkeys playing in the trees before we headed to catch the boat back. We had to wait for the storm to pass before we could return. It was an adventurous day out!!
That evening we went to check out the Night Market which was all food and we had our evening meal from the stalls. I had chicken satay sticks and crab sticks. They deep fry the crab sticks once you have asked for them which I thought was really strange. I had never had a warm crab stick before but it was surprisingly very nice.
Peace and Love
Zoe xxx
