Mike, our new friend Laura and I took one of Thailand's famous long tail boats to go from Ao Nang to Railay Beach. Only 15 minutes by boat, Railay (sometimes also called Rai Leh) is a small peninsula between Krabi and Ao Nang. Because of high limestone cliffs that block mainland access, you can only get there by boat. 

When we arrived, we were relieved to see that the beach was nowhere near as crowded as the Phi Phi islands we'd explored the previous day.

It was a perfectly nice beach, with nice views (duh, this is Thailand, after all), but we all wanted to explore the area a bit more. We started by walking down random sidewalks and through resorts until we reached the path to a viewpoint. 

Calling it a "path" is pretty lame. It was more like a rock wall with tree roots snaking all over it and random holes in the rock. Oh, and everything was covered in red mud. So, with Mike leading, of course we took off climbing. We hung onto the ropes and rock handholds (smoothed and polished from frequent use) where we could find them as we scrambled up to where the steepness tapered off and we could move forwards instead of up. 

Had it been raining, the climb/walk could have been treacherous. Luckily, it was pretty dry and we made it up and back without any tumbles. Once we were done monkeying around in the jungle, we arrived at Phra Nang Beach and immediately ran into the water to wash off all the mud.

Phra Nang is quieter than Railay and feels more secret, since it's tucked in to a cove with a few caves and rock overhangs. Rock climbers made use of carabiners drilled into the rock and went up and down as we hung out in the water and sat on the sand people watching. 

One attraction at Phra Nang Beach is the Princess Cave, home to a shrine and spicy-smelling incense. According to local legend, Phra Nang was either a princess killed in a shipwreck or a fisherman's wife who was lost at sea. Whichever story you prefer, the ending is the same: Phra Nang lived out the rest of her life in the cave, waiting for her husband's rescue.

Around the shrine to Phra Nang are many wooden statues. It's apparent pretty quickly that they're penises. A plaque near the entrance to the cave explains that the statues, called Linga, are offerings left by fisherman in exchange for safe travels. These offerings are shaped phallic-shaped statues to represent the Hindu god Shiva. And there are a lot of them in there! Some look more realistic than others, some are adorned with cloth, some are smaller, some are bigger, but who knows if size matters to Phra Nang...

After taking a few photos of Princess Cave and the Linga, we walked down the beach to five long tail boats parked on the sand. With colorful fabric streamers tied to their bows blowing in the wind and the jungle-covered islands in the background, the long tail boats don't have to try very hard to look good. It's all incredibly picturesque. 

The parked boats turned out to be Railay's version of food trucks. Each had a big menu propped up against their boat, as well as small grills and blenders onboard in order to heat up spring rolls and make the best mixed tropical fruit smoothies. 

After hanging on the beach for a few hours and listening to podcasts, we headed back to Ao Nang for our last Thai dinner in Thailand.  

Next stop: Singapore!