Sun, Sea, Sand and... Singha

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  Railay, Thailand
Saturday, November 3, 2007

So, we finally managed to make our way out of Phuket with the help of Kaiser... Kaiser-sosei... We made our way to the bus terminal in Phuket town (not much to report really) to buy a 117 baht bus ticket to Krabi, our next port of call, and some how after 5 minutes and a couple of Jedi mind tricks later, we walked out of his office dazed and confused and 1,300 baht worse off...

We'd sorted ourselves out with a mini van from our hostel to Krabi, a transfer to the port and then a long tail boat to Railay Beach, which seemed to take the hassle out of things, even if it was way over our original budget. So, after a sleepless night in the noisiest room in the hostel, we were up and about to catch our 8am transfer. We jumped in to the mini van, which must have recently been the star of Pimp My Tuk Tuk, with enough lights and fans and garish interior decor to make Westwood proud, and set off for the beach.

After an uneventful (hardly any near misses and a race with just one other minivan) journey, we reached the terminal to be confronted once again by one of Kaiser-sosei's minions, this time going under the guise of bumbling Thai lady 'May'. As disorganised as she was, she still managed to convince us that as it turned high season on November the 1st (a date tattooed on to every tour guide's palm as the date they can really start scamming people) we should really book before hand as she'd get us 'great deal'. A 'great deal' of fannying around later, we stumbled out of her office, dazed and confused and wondering how we'd just managed to part with most of our cash for accommodation  for the next three nights on Railay beach. A deal that she would refund us all our money if we could find cheaper... Suffice to say, I'd like to head back there on our return to Krabi and either get that refund offered or do something else entirely, mainly involving skewers. However, can't grumble too much, if you walk in to a place with 'mug' written across your forehead around here, you're going to get taken for a ride (probably involving a tuk tuk, mini van and long tail)...

A short trip on a long tail boat brought us around the headland, which from a distance, with Karst limestone cliffs looming either side, looked amazing. Upon closer inspection, it was a muddy beach, with a fair bit of rubbish and that unmistakable aroma of day old fish and sewerage...

A short walk up to the Yaya Resort, where May had happily got us a 50 baht discount per night, was followed by another short walk as they waved us on up the beach. Not only had we been mugged off, we'd been sold totally different accommodation, after she'd sneakily scribbling off the original hotel name after we'd paid. We finally found where we were supposed to be, and were led up to a lovely room on the hillside, vaguley reminicent of our old bathroon in decor and aroma... Just like being back home!

After huffing and puffing, and realising we'd got three nights here, so we'd better get used to the stench, we headed off for the beach on the other side of the headland, which is actually a really, really beautiful spot.

We spent the day there today soaking up the best sun we've had so far (The Return of  Lobster Boy!) against an amazing backdrop of the Karst cliffs and island on the horizon. Just finished off a barbequed fresh red Snapper each, and are now full and tired.

Having an amazing time, now we're on the beach and out of Phuket, and it's starting to sink in that we have a long road ahead of us, which is going to be a lot of fun travelling, if only we could make a decision between us without resorting to the flip of a coin or the roll of the dice. And as Shelley has just reminded me, she's, shall we say, found her skills slightly quicker than me in the backgammon championship... current score is around 21-10... and that was after a good run from me today where I only lost 4-3... Still, there's plenty of time to turn it around... Pete and Ali, are not going to stand a chance... against us (Shell)

Hope you're all well and enjoying the weekend as much as we are, at least we think it's the weekend, the only yard stick we have seem to be the football, loosing track of time and days. All good :)

All our love

Peeps and Shell
xxx

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