For our first major vacation of the year, Kate and I took off with Jared and Alexis, who were visiting us from Los Angeles on their 3 week Asian trek, to Railei Beach, Thailand - just across from Phuket on the Southwest side of the country. Railei is known for its massive limestone rock formations and quiet beach coves. It is a favorite spot of climbers who could be seen all around the area with their gear. We traveled from Shanghai to Bangkok, stayed one quick night there, and then hopped on an airplane for the hour flight to Krabi, Thailand. From there, we jumped in a van for a 30 minute ride down the road, and then boarded a longtail boat for our final push to Railei Beach.
This time of year is low-season for the area because of the frequent monsoons. In fact, prior to our arrival it had been raining for three weeks straight. When we arrived on the beach, the sun was peaking out, but it didn't take long for the clouds to gather and for a dark grey to descend upon our house and for the rain to begin falling. Hard. It started to dump for a good hour or so. I was hoping that it would let up and I was hoping extra hard that it would not do this each and every day. Luckily, it cleared up that night, rained once more at around 4 in the morning, and then remained sunny for every day that we were there. 5 nights, 6 days of Thai living.
Here are some of our photos from the trip. I hope you enjoy them:
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| Branch, Alexis, McKenna and Jared on the porch of our house |
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| Here's Jared taking some time under the umbrella of our front porch |
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| Railei Beach West - 50 meters from our house |
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| Please remove your shoes before entering the house -it's a Thai custom |
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| One of our local eateries and watering holes on the beach |
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| Our beer of choice on the trip |
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| This is one of the captains of the long tail boats found on Railei West. He was there every day. |
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| The sign that starts the official "Walking Street" of Railei West |
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| View from the other side |
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| Railei Beach at sunrise |
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Out and about with our private longtail boat.
Hollywood Glam. |
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| One of our stops on the island tour |
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| On the boat coming back to Railei beach west - we also kayaked around here |
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| Every night when the tide was down a game of soccer would start |
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| They even had the official tournament kick-off on Monday night |
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| The guy from the Black Eyed Peas somehow joined up with a Thai team |
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| This guy was the commentator throughout - cracking jokes on his megaphone |
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| Sometimes he thought he was hilarious |
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| That's our team |
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| Kate watching a vball game during sunset |
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| Our final night and a glorious sunset - the light and colors were amazing. |
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| Kate's Silhouette |
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| Sky on Fire |
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| Hanging Clothes to Dry |
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| Watching the game from the boat |
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| A longboat that would not be sailing that night |
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| A tourist gets a better view |
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| Beautiful |
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| Still Beautiful |
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| And Still Beautiful (plus I couldn't pick just one) |
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| Hard To Really Capture How Amazing It Was |
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| Kate and I On the Lean on the Beach |
