Rai-ley

Rasta and rockclimbing. If you could only describe the place in two words, those would be it. This place attracts some of the world’s best climbers on some of the world’s most beautiful rock faces so we were privy to some pretty cool shows. Riding into the beach is rather awe-inspiring. The lovely white sand beach is surrounded by 300 meter granite cliffs. People get up early because that’s when the climbing is the best. At high tide, climbers actually climb over turquoise water. The restaurants are a little back from the beach so the native vegetation gives the place a look like it really is a secret beach. Squirrels put the rock climbers to shame and a flash of blue catches your eye as a beautiful bird flies by.
On the way, we met the unforgettable 22 year old American who calls himself Quest. We first met him on the pick-up truck on the way to the dock to get to Rai-ley. Bright-eyed and ready to soak in the ‘real’ culture of Thailand, Quest, well, he might have read “The Beach” too many times. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a great start. Within the first 3 days of his journey into the unknown, he lost his journal, got an ear injury that the doctors said would keep him out of the water for 2 weeks, had his camera stolen, drowned his sorrows in an uber-expensive Mexican meal, and about 5 other bad things that I can’t remember. However, he seemed to have a very positive outlook despite the set-backs. My favorite Quest story is how he quite sheepishly told us that he hooked up with a 30 year old—can you imagine?! Ha! I took it as a compliment because I have to assume that he wouldn’t say anything if he thought that I was that old and that Mike is actually dating a 30 year old!
Probably my favorite part of visiting Rai-ley was the night of the Full Moon Party. This is not Koh Phangnan’s Full Moon Party. Much more chill—rasta and rockclimbing, remember? We went to a beach bar and listened to this great rasta band. The lead singer looked like Castro with dreads and swayed back and forth the entire time. The guitarist looked like a Japanese guy who escaped from “the grind” in Tokyo. The piano man was this old guy that was just so happy to be there. We loved it! At the end of the evening, we made our way down the beach (actually water because it was really high tide) to the deck in front of the beach’s famous cliff. The full moon crept out over the edge of the never ending rock, and we watched it cross the sky until it was over the ocean. In all of our travels, this could be my most favorite Mike and Amy moment.
Rai-ley is great in many ways, but in 2 ways, it is lacking in a beach- too rocky to swim in and no good sunset. Luckily, it’s more expensive next door beach has both! We just had to wade through some tidal pools or climb a small mountain in flip-flops to get there. The sunset is breathtaking here and the silhouette of children playing in the sand just added to this multicolored beauty.
Rai-ley was a lovely, happy, comfortable place, but we needed to see more of Thailand, so off to Ko Phi Phi!