FLASHBACK to THAILAND // the idyllic peninsula of Railay in Krabi

ryanne (43)in #travel • 7 years ago (edited)

A truly tropical escape with a lot fewer tourists.

I ended my trip to Thailand in the southern part of the country, at the peninsula of Railay in Krabi. You might think, "Shouldn't you start with the beginning of the trip?" But this was just my favorite part of my trip, so I feel most inspired to write about this beautiful place.

The evenings are so magical because of purple-colored sunsets and the stuttering roar of long-tail boats as the only sound you hear.

The great thing here is that it's not as popular as Phuket, or Ko Lanta, or Ko Samui, so it's a lot less crowded on Railay. Okay, there's less to do on Railay than on the bigger peninsulas or islands, but if you're planning on visiting for only four or five days, I would certainly recommend going somewhere small, like Railay.

In the morning, it's so peaceful walking from your hotel towards the beach and enjoying the views without coming across any other visitors. It really makes you feel like you're on some undiscovered island.

If you're an active traveler, I wouldn't recommend going there for more than a week; you're likely to run out of things to do. But nonetheless, Railay does have one of the absolute best views in Southern Thailand and is undoubtedly worth a visit.

After a somewhat clumsy climb which probably took me embarrassingly long, I was definitely rewarded for ruining my shirt.

A definite must-do in Railay is to take a boat to the island of Ko Phi Phi Don. The process of getting on that boat is so much fun! Roll up your pants and get ready to do some effort to get on the boat. You'll have to wade through the water to get on a small, wobbly long-tail boat. Then, once far enough into the water, you'll have to climb on the bigger boat.

The day started out sunny and warm in Railay which gave me the opportunity to make some beautiful photos of the cliffs as seen from the boat.

Railay and the island of Ko Phi Phi Don have a very similar viewpoint (these are often mistaken for each other). When arriving on the island after a, if I remember correctly, two-hour boat ride, it was raining like crazy. So, unfortunately, I didn't succeed in visiting the viewpoint of Ko Phi Phi Don. So remember to bring a rain poncho, just in case. I didn't do it... and I regretted that very much. And even more on the way back to Railay when I had to sit for two hours in an airconditioned boat in wet clothes... So ALWAYS bring a rain poncho ;)

Even though the bad weather ruined my plan of climbing to the viewpoint, I wasn't disappointed when I saw the beautiful mist between the cliffs. You wouldn't see that on a sunny day!