This morning we caught a
long-tail boat to Rai Leh, checking into the Diamond Cave Bunglows after arriving. That task aside, we were free to enjoy the place. Rai Leh is not an island, but a peninsula that you can only get to by boat, and there are no roads or cars here. We went for a walk on Phra Nang Beach, visited the Princess cave (
a shrine to impregnation, with its offering of phalluses (phalli?) at the entrance), and spent some time snorkelling around and lying on the beach.
One of the problems of being here during low season is that the Tout/Tourist ratio is quite high, and it became quickly annoying asked every 20 seconds if we wanted a coke, massage, beer, chips, food, etc. Pretending we were asleep seemed to help somewhat.
One of the most striking things having seen our first Thai
beaches is how shallow they are... the tide is probably 3-4m, but since the beaches are so shallow, the shoreline varies 200-300m between high and low tides. No wonder they use longtail boats here, with their shallow draft and skim-the-surface propeller. We actually walked to a couple of nearly 'islands' that were connected to our beach by an isthmus during low tide.
The town here is not very aesthetic, but the natural surroundings are completely stunning - massive limestone cliff faces sprouting out of the ground, caves large and small, mushroom-like rock towers along the coast. It is almost
surreal.
This evening we at at The Rock Restaurant, which was on a small hill and had a commanding view of the East Bay and the cliffs towering above... the ambiance was incredible.
long-tail boat to Rai Leh, checking into the Diamond Cave Bunglows after arriving. That task aside, we were free to enjoy the place. Rai Leh is not an island, but a peninsula that you can only get to by boat, and there are no roads or cars here. We went for a walk on Phra Nang Beach, visited the Princess cave (
a shrine to impregnation, with its offering of phalluses (phalli?) at the entrance), and spent some time snorkelling around and lying on the beach.One of the problems of being here during low season is that the Tout/Tourist ratio is quite high, and it became quickly annoying asked every 20 seconds if we wanted a coke, massage, beer, chips, food, etc. Pretending we were asleep seemed to help somewhat.
One of the most striking things having seen our first Thai
beaches is how shallow they are... the tide is probably 3-4m, but since the beaches are so shallow, the shoreline varies 200-300m between high and low tides. No wonder they use longtail boats here, with their shallow draft and skim-the-surface propeller. We actually walked to a couple of nearly 'islands' that were connected to our beach by an isthmus during low tide.The town here is not very aesthetic, but the natural surroundings are completely stunning - massive limestone cliff faces sprouting out of the ground, caves large and small, mushroom-like rock towers along the coast. It is almost
surreal.This evening we at at The Rock Restaurant, which was on a small hill and had a commanding view of the East Bay and the cliffs towering above... the ambiance was incredible.
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