This was a much overdue and well deserved ‘proper beach’ vacation that I’ve been itching for ever since I started work in Singapore (no East Coast Park doesn’t count!) . Took just one day off for a weekend getaway (3D2N) to Krabi Railay, and boy was it worth it!
Our trip via Tiger Airways was fairly uneventful, and only took less than 2 hours total flight time. Coupled with pre-arranged transportation from the airport to the resort, we got to where we wanted pretty quickly.
My lovely travelling companion 
If you ever travel to Krabi, I highly recommend that you stay in Railay - as long as you don’t plan to do much shopping. Railay is completely surrounded by tall cliffs and is only accessible by boat, giving it a much more secluded and private feel compared to the other resorts in the main town and Ao Nang beach.
Our cozy little 'Privacy Cottage' - with its own outdoor garden, deck chairs and jacuzzi!
Where we were staying, surrounded by imposing cliffs perfect for rock climbing enthusiasts...
As we still had the evening to ourselves after checking in, so we decided to go for a quick seaside swim and watch the romantic sun set at Railay itself (the bay faces West).
Catching the gorgeous sunset at Railay on our first day there
Some little buddies wanted to tag along too!
Our dinner consisted of some mediocre Thai fare (Spicy chicken with basil, Green curry soup) at a neighbouring resort restaurant. We also booked seats for our next day’s agenda – a snorkeling and island hopping expedition to Koh Phi Phi to the south!
Leaving Railay for our full day trip to Phi Phi islands - 45 km and 45 minutes away by speedboat..
The bad sunburn experience from Mt. Apo has shown me just how important sunblock is!
Our first stop at Phi Phi Leh was the famous Maya Bay itself. Accessibly only by boat between November and April due to the shallow waters, this was where Danny Boyle shot his adaptation of Alex Garland’s ‘The Beach’. Simply beautiful – you could just wade out into the crystal clear waters and swim with the large colorful fishes. Now if only there weren’t so many people…
Phi Phi Leh's Maya Bay - Every bit as perfect as I imagined..
Panoramic Shot of Maya Bay - click to enlarge!
Was hoping to find a lost settlement of friendly natives, but this idyllic path leads only to the toilet...
Fine white powdery goodness! Guide said the sand here was amongst the Top 10 in the world. I thought that was a bit far-fetched, but it's still pretty damn nice.
Our boat then took us to another nearby bay for some snorkeling. Highlight was catching a view of a long silver sea snake!
Crystal clear waters at Lohsamah Bay
Gross stuff! The slimy thing actually turns hard when it wants too, and squeezing it a little makes it squirt water! We actually eat these things?
A huge deep cave at sea level, named after ancient paintings of boats found in it. Now accessed by a private company who pays royalties to the Thai government to harvest swallow birds nests from within.
A short 10 minute stop at Monkey Beach..
Big monkey doing what he does best - annoying the female monkeys..
And off to a nearby wide expanse of sea where we snorkeled some more..
Open sea snorkelling at Hin Klarng, a large coral reef formation.
Our guide actually dived down to bring one of these guys up! Looking at them up close, I never knew they had small little legs that allowed them to slowly crawl over the sea bed..
And our final stop at Bamboo Island.
It's amazing that you get to see hordes of colorful fishes right by the beachside..
Back at our resort with 2 more hours of sunlight remaining, we decided to explore Railay a bit more (and by exploring, I usually mean monkeying and climbing all over the place) 
Poser Taken along the myriad cavelike formations on the cliff side as we were walking to Phranang beach from Railay
My pants nearly came off while doing this. but nice shot thanks to April! Wading around a shallow cove with overhanging stalactites and rocky caves = adventurous fun!
Right at the base of Phranang cave, was a colourful shrine dedicated to some phallic deity - strange awkward silence as we paid reverence to penile sculptures..
I did some additional research, and it seems that this ‘phallic deity’ was actually in fact the Hindu god Shiva. The penile sculptures (aka lingams) symbolize virility, fertility and good health and are left there by fishermen as sacred offerings. The cave itself has legends regarding a Princess Goddess that is said to reside there. As to how this princess legend and Shiva came to merge – hmmm..
The gorgeous Phranang Beach, just a short walk south of where we were staying.
Ok, we couldn't help it. Not everything is beautiful here..
Our 2nd sunset at Railay, and this time April just couldn't resist.. 
April wanted to buy me dinner, and she chose the poshest place on the block – the 5 star Rayavadee resort’s private restaurant – Raya Dining. Everything was exquisitely prepared – even the rich ice cream sorbet dessert had a fine flake of caramelized brown sugar, a dark chocolate stick, and a butter shortbread sprinkled with cinnamon powder… Talk about some nice fine dining by the sea!
Delicious fresh buns and sesame crackers. Huge chunk of a Thai gulf white snapper. Sauteed wild mushrooms in garlic and parsley. Seared duck breast and leg confit.
And thus our 2nd night comes to a close. Sucks that we will be heading back to work and the hustle and bustle of city life the next day. At times like these, I seriously contemplate just running away and eking out a carefree life as a bartender by a beach…
Note : All the above gorgeous photos are taken with April’s trusty Lumix (the panoramic view of Maya Bay was expertly stitched by April too). My supposedly waterproof and shockproof camera decided to finally fail on me during this trip, and I have as yet been unable to salvage the photos in it (they are on a silly non standard Olympus XDCard format).
Ranajay on January 27, 2010
The panoramic photo is really awesomely stitched! I can see two of you
.
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Great photos overall…makes me wanna go there too
Edmund Loh on January 27, 2010
Finally – the Fuu Fuu blog has been updated after a long long time! Nice pics and nice to see you had lots of fun in Krabi.
FoOie on January 27, 2010
Ranajay : Thanks for dropping by, you really should go! Don’t need to know how to swim, just life jacket all the way haha.. and April <3 you for your compliment on her pano shot
Ed : Haha yeah man.. eh when are you updating your personal blog too? I haven’t been receiving any updates via RSS or have you changed URL or something?
ASh on January 27, 2010
Mate.. great pics.. very funny. Hairy butt crack! lol….
littlepolaris on January 27, 2010
Whoooaaaaaaa!!!!! Nice place!
FoOie on January 27, 2010
Ash : Tell me about it, that butt crack was helluva distracting amidst the gorgeous views and bikini babes
YY : Yes it wasss… I’m missing it all over again already..
Edmund Loh on January 27, 2010
@Foo edmundloh.name has been privatized and needs a username/password. I’ll message you on FB later. Yeah right on time – I’m updating it now. A backlog of posts!
FoOie on January 27, 2010
Ah no wonder..
It all stopped right at your Asiaworks postings 
Edmund Loh on January 27, 2010
@Foo I privatized it for other reasons, in as much as I’d like to leave those posts in particular public. (it’s still on my FB tho, and that’s where most of the traffic are LOL)
Emily T on January 27, 2010
Har har. Loved all your captions Fooie!
/moves Krabi two spots up on dream destination list
Sandra on January 29, 2010
Nice place to be. Been wanting to go somewhere beach-y =P
Roy on February 26, 2010
Hey Foo, great post and fantastic photos! Definitely must visit Maya Bay.
MeeChez on April 8, 2010
Oh… dear …..
Why didn’t you add one … Wishing that you are here…. in one of the pics
glad you enjoyed yourself….
lubba lubba the pics
soolee on June 28, 2010
ahhh .. i wanna go krabi !!!
!!
soolee on October 8, 2010
hehe… i will be going there next month !! any tips to share? how much is the boat ride to phi phi ?
FoOie on October 8, 2010
Wah, talk about returning to my blog even though I haven’t updated in ages
can’t quite remember how much it cost ler, really depends on where you board the boat from. I heard can get for about RM150..
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Translation Services on December 12, 2011
Thanks for dropping by, you really should go! Don’t need to know how to swim, just life jacket all the way haha.. and April <3 you for your compliment on her pano shot
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