Railay Beach in the low season: Very beautiful, but very boring.

Traveling during this time of year has some pluses and some minuses. In Thailand, this is considered the beginning of the low season. In some ways, this is great. Lower prices and more chilled out areas of beaches and towns can be really nice. On the other hand, some places which may be just a nice level of laid back can become absolutely dead in this time of year.

Tonsai Bay

After I left Koh Tao, I headed to the Andaman coast which is the western side of Thailand's southern strip of beaches and islands. My first stop was in Krabi, where I stayed for one night, and then I headed to Railay beach which I had heard was absolutely stunning. Railay beach was only a half an hour, 150 baht long-tail boat ride away one way. Many people that come here just come for day: a chance to soak up some sun, maybe do a bit of mountain climbing, and then leave again. I knew that I could take a boat from it to my next stop, and I didn't particularly feel like backtracking so I signed out of my hostel, packed up my bags and took them with me, intending to stay at some guesthouse or bungalow on Railay Beach.

Swimming in a lagoon

When I arrived, I was greeted by stunning limestone cliffs surrounding white sand beaches and lush jungle. However, I was also greeted by very nice, luxury hotels that seemed quite empty, except for the occasional family. Not really what I was looking for. Thankfully, I had met some backpackers from Brazil who told me that Tonsai beach was really what I wanted. I followed them away from the main beaches and hotels, over an intense cliff that we had to climb (glad that I packed light, wishing I had packed even lighter), and found myself in a run down, hippie beach which seemed to be populated entirely by rock climbers.

Our group on the way to the lagoon

Every place that I have visited has seemed to have one or two things that it does really well. Koh Phangan has its parties, for Koh Tao it is diving, and for Railay beach, without a doubt it is rock climbing. This place is known world wide as a climber's mecca, and I can totally see why -the cliffs are huge, jut straight up, and the surrounding area is beautiful. There are also no police and therefore no rules, which has cultivated a rather interesting nightlife. However, I am not really a climber. I am also not really a connessieur of Happy Mushroom Shakes, which were quite blantantly scrawled across most of the menu boards and seemed to be the most popular recreational activity choice in Tonsai, next to climbing of course. Additionally, the low season had started, as I previously mentioned. I wandered around with my pack, looking for a place to stay. Most of the cities or islands I have been to have people waiting at place of the ferry or bus arrival, touting their particular guesthouse/hotel. Lately I had had some really good luck just wandering until I found a clean looking hostel in the right area of town with enough backpackers hanging around. Here however, there was nothing. Very few people, very few bungalows. I found myself looking at a map on a sign, and getting confused because the main "roads" were more like paths or alleys -I use the word "roads" loosely. I ended up wandering for a bit, and found myself standing in front of some very cheap bungalows, with what appeared to be some of the only backpackers on Tonsai. They were a group of 6 or 7 guys traveling solo, all from different countries. They were friendly and inviting so I picked out a bamboo bungalow at the "resort" they were at, and just stayed there.

Home for a night

We did have a pretty fun day, so I suppose I can't complain. We took a little hike to a very beautiful lagoon with caves with some Canadian girls who we met on the beach, although they had to catch a ferry and couldn't stay for very long. We swam in some stunning water, jumped off some rocks, and saw wild monkeys on the path to the caves. The caves themselves were quite, uh, interesting as well. They were dedicated to a fertility goddess of some sort, and were full of penis statues. I wish I was able to read Thai -almost all the signs surrounding them were in Thai, so I wasn't able to understand what they really were about.

Penis cave!!

However, at night when we returned to our beach, there was not a lot going on. There was not a lot of people out and about, and our bungalows were just a bit too off the main path and too darkly lit for me to feel comfortable going out alone. It was a quiet night in for me! My recommendation for those going to Railay would be: develop an interest in climbing, go in the high season, or do a day trip with friends you already know. Otherwise, be prepared for a very quiet time (unless you're a big lover of "happy shakes". Then you might really like this place too).

Suffice it to say -a beautiful place, but maybe not quite the right fit for me

 

 

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