Railay Beach

Before taking the overnight bus back up to Bangkok, we stayed two nights on one of Krabi’s mainland beaches. Since Railay has no pier, a series of longtail boats had to meet the ferry in the middle of the bay to bring visitors to the beach. This is an interesting and quite entertaining process when everyone seems to be carrying gigantic backpacks. We stayed in a budget hotel on East Railay where they send the backpackers since this side of the beach consists of mangrove trees and mud. West Railay is only a short walk away and home to the fancy resorts, soft white sand, and ingenious beach business. While you’re lying on the beach, someone will approach you selling foot scrubs, massages, pedicures, pineapple, grilled corn, sodas, beer, clothing, jewelry, and souvenirs. It’s less annoying more than it is convenient to have everything providing for you without moving. Over a four-hour period of sunbathing, we enjoyed some fruit, buttered and salted corn, a foot exfoliation, and an hour-long oil massage. We felt obligated to have a foot scrub; a woman kneeled down to feel the back of our heels and quickly gave a disgusted, high-pitched moan. She must have felt sorry for our poor feet because she gave us a bargain we couldn’t refuse. However, after seeing what came off our feet, it was us feeling sorry for her. At night we watched a traditional Muay Thai boxing match and enjoyed our last taste of Thailand’s unique beach bar scene.