Thailand - Day 6 Railay Beach

Our last breakfast on the beach.  This evening we are heading back to Bangkok, but scheduled our flight so we could hang out on the beach for the day. 

Because of rough seas the longtails do not anchor on the beach today and wait off shore for the seas to calm 

 doing a bit of planning for the next few days in Bangkok, while enjoying lemon tea in the shade.  For those very observant, or those who simply like to point out my mistakes, the lemon is already mixed with the tea and the lime is a garnish.  almost equal parts lemon and tea, which is delicious when you are hot and thirsty.

 garbage "barge" 

 on doctors orders we made sure not to die of thirst.  best tasting medicine I have ever had

view of the beach from Walking Street

 mieng kham, a delicious snack with roasted shrimp, peanuts, ginger, lime, green mango, and coconut, wrapped in a chaphlu leaf (pepper family) and served with a sweet fish dipping sauce.  goes great with beer on a hot day

Due to the rough seas, we ended up having to catch our return boat from East Beach, which at low tide means wading out through "sea mud" to get to your boat as these people had to do...

...or riding in one of the elevated "cattle cars" which is pulled out to the waiting boats by tractor

 Thankfully our friend Sang at the resort arranged a ride out to our boat and escorted us all the way from West Beach

Safely on our boat (photo not actually our boat, but they all look the same) we begin our trip back to the docks, then to Krabi for our flight back to Bangkok

Thailand - Day 5 Railay Beach

Day 2 of being lazy on the beach

after hanging out on the beach all day, we decided to freshen up and enjoy a few cocktails on the beach at sunset...

...which is obviously a pretty popular thing to do

1-2-3-self photo pose (why do they always turn out so weird?)

"Walking Street" where the few bars, restaurants, and shops on west beach are located

Proof that if you take enough photos one is likely to turn out pretty good

the beachfront restaurants come alive just after sunset

another night, another fresh snapper

people releasing sky lantern's on the beach 

beautiful to watch them ascend into the night sky.  I can only imagine how awesome it must be to see hundreds of them launched at once.  Perhaps it is also a small fire hazard?

Thailand - Day 4 Railay Beach

Panorama of West Beach - decent place to relax and nap the day away

 Everything comes and goes by boat.  People, supplies, even the trash.

Just to prove I was really there

 The village on East Beach

One of the staff where we ate lunch.  Pretty funny watching the other guys give him a hard time until he finally gave up on his mid day nap.

 Gotta drink your beer fast in Thailand or it gets hot...which led to the genius idea of brewing stronger beer into which you add ice to keep it cold.  Net result is an ice cold beer that starts strong and finishes about like a typical light beer, a thai half & half if you will.

Dinner time = more fresh fish

And fresh coconut juice

 papaya salad

& steamed snapper with sweet chili, tamrind, & chili lime sauces