Railay

Ok .... backtrack on the bit about me keeping Kate sensible ... our penultimate day in lanta we hired a scooter and explored the Island some more ...... but in my defence - it was a Tiny Scooter and an even smaller Island with next to no traffic !! We did get to see some amazng places with stunning scenery and by the end of the day were feeling so confident that we headed for the dirt track up to the waterfall marked ' experienced bikers only ' !!! How much more experienced can you be than four hours?? Toby sat in between us singing to me the whole way but we didn't quite make it all the way as the 45min walk in baking heat got the better of us - the only time we have bottled it so far and quite a shame in hindsight. On the plus side ... we did see some more elephants and some stunning scenery. It also gave us a cghance to see some other deserted beaches where we stopped for a swim.

The next morning we packed up and headed for the ferry to Railay beach with High expectations and no accommodation !! Everyone had told us that railayt was the best beach in this part of Thailand so we were really looking forward to it ... and the 2 hour ferry crossing came with stunning views .. particularly approaching the shore. - Actually 'approached' is a loose term as a few hunbdred meters out we were unceremoniously dumped onto a longtail boat for the journey in ... fortunately Toby was game as ever jumping down. On arriving Toby and I hung out with our bags on the beach while Kate went in search of accommodation. 5 minutes later I had met a young couple travelling for a year who told me of a great cheap resort with space and we were sorted ... if only Kate knew !!!! Two hours later she returned full of despair that there was nowhere decent around and the place was a bulding site. A short hop on another longboat round the rocks to the next beach - Tonsai - and we found a great resort of backp[ackers bungalows. No frills and little luxury but picturesque, clean and most of all a bed for the night !!

Heading down to the beach in the morning we decided to walk back to Railay accross the rocks ... but were stopped in our tracks awestruck at the climbers hundreds of feet overhead dangling on ropes !!! (lesley ... you and Pete would love it here ... climbers everywhere !!)

Inspired we headed for the trickiest route across with daredevil Toby leading the way (surprise surprise) pulling himself up by rope and skidding away.

Down the other side we decided that the young adrenaline junkie hadn't had enough ... so headed off in a kayak trhough caves to the other side of the bay ... how he is going to keep this up I have no idea !

Railay Bay itself though has been quite disappointing .... compoarted to the other places we've been it's quite crowded, touristy and loads of building work .... even if the natural scenery is stunning ! We may have come here too late but from all we'd heard we couldn't wait to get here and felt a bit let down.

2 more days here and up to chiang mai is the plan so far.

p.s. Kate is finally admitting that she isn't quite as game as she thought ... turning up with no accommiodation really stressed her out and the lack of cupboard in her room is driving her mad - it's quite fun to see !!

Much love to all

K, M and T

xx