Thailand Day 8 - 11: Arriving in Paradise...

Day 8:

For the rest of our time in Thailand, Aaron and I were going to lay on the beach and have a second honeymoon (well... actually a third honeymoon if you count Disneyland AND Mexico). We hopped on a plain to the Krabi region on the coast where some the most beautiful beaches in the world can be found! 

We found an amazing spot called Railay where the only access to the hotel is by boat!

This is all beautiful in theory, but when you come to Thailand at the very beginning of wet season, your boat ride to the peninsula is not the easiest or driest experience of your life.

On the plane to Krabi!

We arrived at the Krabi airport and hopped on a shuttle buss just as HUGE storm clouds were rolling in. The shuttle took us to a golf cart which took us to the end of a pier just as the rain came pouring down. There was not much shelter as we waited for our boat, so our luggage and us started getting pretty wet. The boat workers then came over to grab our luggage, but didn't really acknowledge us. After a moment we realized we should probably follow our luggage onto the tiny boat before it left without us.

waiting on the dock for our boat... starting to get wet!

The boat we took had only a tiny tarp providing shelter and not everyone could even fit under it. This was NOT how I expected to arrive in paradise!

Boat to our hotel

Once we reached the bay in front of our hotel, there was a question as to how we would get off the boat. The tide was out, so we couldn't get all the way to the dock... so a tractor with a trailer attached and another loosely attached tarp shelter can driving out toward us. By this time I was soaked, a bit sea sick, and terrified that "wet season" was not just a chance of rain for a little everyday, but a perpetual downpour for the rest of the week.

Trying to be hopeful that the adventure was almost over and our hotel was literally in sight!

 We finally made it to our hotel and our specially requested ocean view room... but no ocean was to be seen... only rain.

There was the promise of sunshine in the distance, but maybe it was the stress of the trip to the hotel that caused me to have a bit of a breakdown. Aaron assured me that the sun would come and our week on the beach would not be disrupted by storm clouds. We had dinner in our hotel room, watched a movie in our hotel room, and called it a day.

Day 9:

The next day we woke up to sunshine, thank God! We immediately headed down to the beach to enjoy it while it lasted!

views from around the hotel

Views from around the hotel

Signs to each beach

It was low season when we were there, which meant that the beach was practically deserted when we were there. Even when it got busy, it still had wide open spaces between you and the next person on the beach.

Our beach for the morning!

The best part of the beaches are the amazing rock formations all around you. I have never seen such a gorgeous paradise in all my life. Aaron and I took turns running back and forth into the ocean! So glad to see the sunshine!

I laid on beach listening to music and reading books. Aaron relaxed next to me and took walks on the beach. It was perfect for both of us!

The tides were coming in as the morning went on, and when the tide comes in the Railay West beach disappeared, so Aaron and I packed up and went for lunch and then explored the peninsula. We walked around for a bit in and out of the jungle and then settled back at the hotel by the pool.

Even our hotel pool was amazing!

Was is a day at the beach without a nap and then out again to watch the sunset. We chose our sunset viewing for Phra Nang beach. To get to the beach you walked through a cave and then found a completely empty beach waiting for us.

What an amazing beach!

We got there a bit early for the sunset, so we walked around, explored, and sat on our picnic blanket and read and relaxed.

look at this hottie!

A perfect end of our first beach day!

Day 10:

After the perfect sunny day, we were ok that the second day was a bit on the cloudy side. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and then headed to the pool until the storm clouds rolled in.

We went to lunch at a restaurant at a neighboring hotel right along the beach. We got deep fried morning glory salad, which was divine!

We headed back to the hotel room and watched movies for the rest of the afternoon!

Day 11:

Since we woke up to another cloudy day, we decided to give the beach a break and head out on a boat to Ao Nang, which is a nearby tourist town.

Oh course it rained in Ao Nang as well, but we found shelter in a restaurant with wifi and enjoyed just hanging out together for the afternoon.

When the rain let up we walked up and down the line of shops and enjoyed the cheap knock offs and ice cream treats. We met one of the shop owners who was overjoyed that we were haggling with him! I love haggling and so it was so fun to hear that it was welcomed. Apparently Europeans don't haggle, which is a cultural norm in Thailand. Needless to say, the shop owner gave me a steal of a deal on the clothes I bought.

the beach in Ao Nang was much more pebbly than in Railay

all those dots are tiny crabs running across the sand when the water came up

Our time in Ao Nang was so wonderful, it is just our luck that the trip back to Railay just straight up sucked. The boat guys gave us the run around about the pricing and tried to get more money out of us since we were sailing back "after 5p during peak time" even though he had made us wait for 30 minutes until it was passed 5p. Then they made up walk out into the water until we were waist deep in the water to even get on the boat back. Aaron and I were so upset! Then as we sat down on the boat, Aaron realized his phone had been in his pocket the whole time and was now completely dead. We were in paradise though, and the waters of Thailand killing Aaron's phone would not defeat us!