2012-10-09 - Day 10 - Railay

Another big breakfast ready for our travels! Found Dan, and gave him and his boy a puzzle ball, took a picture and almost tripped on the broken bridge. We then took a boat back to the port through the mangroves, and gave our driver a slap band.

Rang Tut and he was visiting his brother who fishes on Koh Muk. We stopped at the fruit market on the way back - no mangosteen, but got some not so nice pre-packed fruit, which went straight in the bin, which was a bit sad. Lovely drive back to Kraby and Aonang.

We transferred to a boat to Railay Beach with some spanish girls and a couple of buys who left their mountain boots in the boat - oops.

We arrived, and it was a really hard walk to our Railay Garden Resort, perhaps the last resort on the beach, and past some monkeys which we did not like. It was worth it though, we were on the mountain side surrounded by mango trees and papaya trees, and was very peaceful and basic.

We had showers, and walked around East Railay shops after we stopped for iced coffees and ice cream and a game of Pit. We went back to our two rooms and chillaxed. We then went out to visit Diamond Cave, and had another monkey encounter, and watched a long trail of red ants on the telegraph wire. The cave was amazing - see pictures! Loads of bats! Saw lots of people climbing the cliffs too!

Out for dinner at a really nice restaurant - with some lovely thai food, and we stopped for sticky rice and mango after - amazing!

Headed back, and Aiysha stayed with Daddy, and Clara stayed with Mummy. We had to watched the step from our room to the bathroom - it was huge! A hot night, in another very different place.

2012-10-08 - Day 9 - Koh Hai & Koh Ma

We took a 45 minute boat ride to Koh Mah to see an island full of bats - amazing! We decided to snorkel, well, Mummy, Daddy and Clara did. Paish was a little too scared to go. There were HUGE schools of fish, and was amazing! We snorkeled around these rocks, and even swam through them! Roxy went to join Aiysha, and Mummy and Daddy carried on. We then took the boat to Koh Hai and had not so nice coffees while it rained on us. We walked along the beach, which was lovely.

We took pictures on the beach, and Roxy hurt her toe. There was a heavy swell on the way back, which was a bit scary.

We played catchy when we got back, and Aiysha won again! We finally walked along the pier with Daddy, which was lovely at the end, and there were loads of mussels and crabs, and the sunset was amazing!

For dinner we had soup, green curry, burgers, fies and played Pit.

Crab hunt - 37 crabs! So funny!

Started Dave's book today - interesting read, pretty well written.

Felt a little like our last night, but we have 2 to go - Aiysha and Clara are looking forward to getting home - namely for gymnastics. Wierd!

2012-10-07 - Day 8 - Kayak & Massage

Another big breakfast ready for our adventures!

We hired 2 canoes today after the chinese people hired them, and we canoed aroun dthe peninsula, which was pretty windy, past Pawapi to the calm, spooky mangrove swamp. Aiysha was pretty scared. We canoed in and out of the trees, and it was pretty amazing. On the way back, we decided to stop at a buoy and snorkel, but it was pretty cloudy. Roxy paddled all the way both way, whereas Paish did not. It was a great explore though, with trees growing in the most obscure places!

We came back and had a few snacks, the Moomis went for a facial and shoulder massage, and Paish, Roxy and Daddy played catchy. Aiysha has to sit out for a bit for being bossy, but it was good fun.

When Mummy came back, Daddy went for a Swedish massage, which was lovely - legs and head the best, and the Barry White, Carpenters and "Sealed with a Kiss" music did wonders! Funny.

When Daddy finished, we walked to the village for snacks, and watched some footballers. Paish loved the crisps!

Had an early dinner - steamed fish, noodles, the hermit crab hunting again! Dogs were hanging around, even the evil dog! We had a hermit crab race, which was hilarious! Roxy's crab won, but when she picked it up at the end, it went naked! It was so funny, but we managed to dress it up again with it's own shell. Daddy was second, and Mummy and Paish did not finish.

Watched a movie about a missionary in Tonga. Mummy sold 5 books, and Daddy got an offer for Timekeeper.co. Wahoo!

2012-10-06 - Day 7 - Emerald Cave, Charlie Beach

What a lovely first night. We woke up and walked straight onto the beach to explore. Los of starfish and crabs everywhere! What an amazing view!

We picked up some snorkels for our boat trip, then headed out on our boat to Emerald Cave. The water was pretty rough on the way there. We put our life jackets on, and then swam in pitch black through the cave and came out into the most amazing secluded beach and forest - it was out of this world, the cliffs just shot straight up, covered in jungle. The girls were so brave going through the cave, and it got amazingly calm as we went further into the cave. Paish did lots of backflips while we were there - typical!

We swam back through, and the closer we got to the exit, the rougher the sea got. On the way back, we stopped to do some snorkelling, but a little disappointing. Coral was bleached and not many fish. Roxy realy enjoyed it, but Paish didn't as she was a bit scared.

We came back to the beach, the girls went to the pool and Daddy did a run on the beach - so hot he got blisters, but he did 14 laps though and was very enjoyable.

Went back to the house to finish dragon eyes and magosteen, then walked into the village, bought crisps and saw some huge fish in the market for Tom Yam! Then we took at really small dodgy car to Charlie Beach. We saw Dan on the way, who waved then fell in a ditch off his motorbike - funny. We also had to get out at one point to cross a small river! Clara's dog tried to follow us, but could not keep up - sad.

Charlie Beach was deserted, apart from one other person! We played poison wave, then collected hermit crabs, then did some running races! Mummy also went for a swim - very brave! We went and explored the rock pools that were full of fish!

Found a taxi to take us back - tried to drive through the river, but could not make it - we had to get out! Saw the chinese guys again! Aiysha and Daddy went to the pool, and Aiysha won catchy 5-4, and we played pool poolball too, which Aiysha also won 5-4.

Mummy had Jungle Curry - hmmm, not so nice.

Another crab hunt! Maximum security prison needed! The purple crab was huge!

What a day!

2012-10-05 - Day 6 - Koh Muk

After another lovely breakfast, we went in the pool for the last time, while Mummy packed up. We watched a family trying to teach a boy how to swim - looked pretty hopeless.

Tut then picked us up and drove us to the port about a couple of hours away. We stopped for fruit, which was great. When we got to the port, we waited for our boat, and then had the most amazing boat ride to the island through mangroves, and was very mysterious.

Apparently Koh Muk is one of the last underdeveloped islands left in Thailand. It was vey overcast when we arrived at Pawapi resort. We met Dan who showed us our room, which was very basic but had two stories. He didn't know English too well, but tried really hard and we liked him immediately. His boss was not around, and when we talked to Dan about the keys and the safe, he could not get the keys to work and explain why they did not. The girls went off to look for another resort, and we decided to move to Sivilai. Dan was really sorry, and we left him a tip. He was pretty upset, which was a shame.

Sivilai was amazing - completely the opposite, for not much more! The hotel turned out our beds in the morning, and our rooms were amazing, with working locks! It was also right on the beach, so we could listen to the surf as we fell asleep. Lovely! This was perhaps the best room we have ever stayed in, ever!

We paddled in the sea and settled in. Dinner was lovely - satays, noodles, steamed fish and spaghetti for the girls. Aiysha was beginning to like the Thai fried rice!

There were some chinese people next to us who seemed to go wherever we went - funny. We had a night walk home, and we were followed by a pack of dogs - Roxy and Daddy made friends with two of them - Roxy's was brown (Emily?), Daddy's was black (Stephanie).

We played Go Fish on the veranda, and we were so exhausted we went to sleep early.

What a place to stay!