We woke up to a lovely morning with blue skies (and some clouds) in Railay Beach and both switched rooms to something 1/2 the price with way more character!
Aaron's room was on the 3rd floor of the "tree house!"
with a gorgeous view of the palm trees and cliffs that Railay is so famous for!
Ya Ya Resort is right on the water in Railay East (this is not a swimming beach) There were lots of boats this morning waiting to take people over to Krabi or wherever else they desired!
We both jumped up, got ready, and headed into town for some breakfast at Mom's Kitchen, a staple for me when I was in Railay last time!
After breakfast, we made the LONG trek over to beautiful Pranang beach, where I was blinded by the gazillion of tourists laying out on MY BEACH! Last time I was here, at this time in the morning, there was no one else except the ladies selling grilled corns on the sand nearby! This morning though, you could barely put your towel down without beig on top of the stranger next to you!!
See what I mean?! For any of you who have visited Railay, you know how devastating this scene is! But, instead of pondering on the sadness of my hidden gem being discovered, I decided to make the best of it, and ignore the masses...
... and let's be honest - Once I had this ear of grilled corn in my hand, all was well with the world as far as I was concerned, and I was a happy girl!
We walked down to the north end of Pranang beach, where there were less people (because it's a trek to get there), and did some swimming, snorkeling, and cave exploring! By this time, we were huuuungry, so we headed back to Eat Railay for some lunch!
After lunch, it was back over to Pranang Beach, and boy was I happy to see my monkeys were still around! They moved locations, but just like clockwork - 9:00am, 12:00pm, and 5:00pm, they come down the mountain and hang with the tourist, hoping one of the brave ones will hand them something to eat!
Today I was the brave tourist! I bit into my corn, spit it back into my hands and would feed the monkeys out of my hands!! Once they figured out that I had an entire ear of corn (which Aaron was holding) one ran at him to snatch it away! Long story short, I lost my corn to a monkey! ggrrr..
... but really?! How can you be made at a face like this?!
I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! I actually caught 2 monkey's making a baby! It was quick...
... but judging by the looks on his face, I'm guessing the boy monkey thuroughly enjoyed himself! Aaron and I were dying laughing and I think the people around us were jealous they didn't snap a picture fast enough!
We made it back to the beach around 2:00pm, and thankfully most of the crowds had gone in for a nap, some food, a shower, who knows?? But, the good news for us was that it felt much more secluded!
We hung here for most of the afternoon, enjoying the water, white powdery sand, and the gorgeous Railay cliffs!
YES, the water is actually this color green here! Something about the electrolites (sp?) Ever seen the movie the beach where the water sparkles?? Well, Railay does the same thing at night! :)
Look what a little post editing can do?! Pretty gorgeous huh?! I actually swam out to that island tonight while Aaron was taking pics of the sunset on the shore!
When I got back from my island swim, I climbed the nearby cliffs and spotted these REAL rock climbers scaling the walls!
If I remember correctly, I have a picture just like this from last time I was here!
We took full advantage of Aaron's new fish eye, and remote timer and had a fun little photo shoot on the beach!
.... fun AND romantic!
Who doesn't love a jumping picture, right?!
.... and this one is for Aaron's friend Sam McElwin! The 2 of them traveled Cambodia and Vietnam together, 6 months ago, and took jumping high five pictures at every famous place they stopped along the way!
After the sun went down, we walked back over to East Railay, took showers, put on our normal clothes and headed for dinner and drinks at one of my favorite little joints: Joy Bar on the water.
.... where they now serve oven cooked pizzas! Yum!
We lounged on some comfy Thai floor pillows (which we are both determined to find in Au-nong, on our last day, to bring back to Korea with us)...
And while I slowly ate my fresh pinapple stick, Aaron devoured NOT 1, but 2 entire pizzas!! (Granted, I ate 2 pieces, but STILL)! The boy can eat!
And as you can see... he was happy and full!
Tomorrow we're planning to do the exact same thing as today! haha! With only 3 days left, we're going to make sure to get some good relaxation time in! Lord knows we're going to need it before we go back to teaching the rugrats (cute rugrats) at our schools in Korea next week!! :)
