Another day in paradise...

Sorry for not posting anything for awhile (not like anyone really reads this anymore). I just got back from Southern Thailand. I flew from Bangkok to Krabi, Thailand and spent a little over a week traveling around islands, rock climbing, cliff jumping, swimming, and just livin it all up.



Southern Thailand on the West Side, (Andaman Sea) is beautiful with clear blue waters and massive limestone cliffs jutting out of the water. The first stop on the trip was Railey Beach. From Krabi town you have to take a longtail boat for about 25 min to reach the beach. The beach is virtually inaccessible by roads, so all of the streets are more like walking paths with bicycles everywhere vs. the motor bikes you see everywhere else. Railey Beach is an isthmus with 2 main beaches separated by cliffs and jungle. There is a rich side and the backpackers side, obviously I opted out for the "cheap cheap for you mistar" side.

"Kayaking off Railey Beach"

"After climbing through a cave and ending up on the opposite side of the beach, this is the view"



"Rappelling down"



"East Beach, Railey. This is the cheap side of the island"





"Myself, Andrew, and Kyle at the lookout"

"Sun about to set in Railey"

The sunsets on here were out of control, probably the nicest that I have ever seen. We went with a Thai rock climbing guide for a day and he took us to some cliffs all over to climb. One of the climbs starts out on the West side of the island and you climb through a cave and then rappel down the mountain on the other side of the island. It was awesome! The other days were spent exploring the jungle, kayaking, or just beachin it. I also found a lagoon that was in the middle of the island and you had to use ropes to climb up and down cliffs to reach it. When you get to it the place is completely secluded and surrounded by massive cliffs. We had it all to ourselves.

"The Lagoon"

After meeting up with some other guys from Thammasat I went to Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi is a diving mecca for divers from all over the world. The town itself is situated between two beaches. Unfortunately this island is over-run with tourism. Koh Phi Phi was hit really hard by the Tsunami in December, 2004. However it is completely built back up, I think its overcrowded and not as nice as Railey. There are lots and lots of Swedish people running the dive shops and filling up the beaches and bars. This was also one of the most expensive places in Thailand that I have been so far. It's a great place to go and swim and see the scenery, and the night life has many different bars to go to that offer Muay Thai Boxing fights, live music, beach side fire shows...etc.

"The Lookout on Koh Phi Phi...this area was destroyed by the tsunami"

"Koh Phi Phi Thailand"

This area was hit hard by the tsunami. Check out this youtube video that I found. It was taken the day of the tsunami and the people had to escape to the highest floor of the big white resort in the middle of the beach.

"Koh Phi Phi, this is about 4 years after the tsunami"


"This picture was taken from the same spot the day after the tsunami"

One of the days some friends and I did a half-day long tail snorkel trip that takes you all over the islands. One of spots that we stopped was "Maya Bay" this is the location for the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio. The beach was nice but since the movie it as well can get really crowded. I thought there were nicer beaches to see than Maya, but it's def. on the "Must See" list of Thailand. Enjoy the pics and I'll try to keep this blog updated alittle more often.

"Marney, Kyle, Angela, and Myself on "The Beach"



"Blue waters of Thailand"

Here are some of my other pics from the trip. I had a great time seeing some more of Thailand and meeting new people. This Friday I have four friends from Hawaii coming out to see me and I think I'll be taking them north to Chang Mai...stay tuned for that update.