Thai Rhapsody. Song seven. Heroic
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So, for today we planned to visit the Railay peninsula and visit the local beaches, of which, as you know, there are four: in fact, the beaches of Railay (western and eastern), Pranang and Tonsai. I cannot vouch for their correct spelling, they have not yet come to a consensus. Call!
On the way to the embankment, we bought a snack - rice with vegetables and scrambled eggs for ourselves and Verka (50 baht each) and rice with chicken leg for Vadik (60 baht). It was fifteen minutes to eight and the box office hadn't opened yet. An older man approached us and asked where we were going. The company gathered quickly, and even before the ticket office opened, we were loaded into a longtail without identification marks. And they didn't take the money.
About 10-15 minutes later we were unloading on the Western Railay.
Cap, standing in the water, pulled the rope with one hand, trying to hold the boat, and the other was collecting money from us. Having received his, he immediately set sail. Denyuzhki passed by the cash register.
The backpack was light, so I let Vadik carry it. I had a bag with a snack in my hands, and Verka had her own bag.
Vadik took us somewhere in the Khashi - supposedly Maps Me showed a short road to Pranang Beach there. But this "short" road, in fact, turned out to be almost impassable. Descents, ascents, kuscheri-mud. Stupid bowls of food in my hands, preventing me from climbing. And yet, Vera had to be dragged along. In the end, I took her bag and almost yelled obscenities at the homegrown Susanin, demanding to return and go along the long road. The path on the map was completely indistinct - like "somewhere around here. "
Unfortunately, we reached the view point in half.
And then there was a pass with a hanging rope. And Vadik was seriously going to overcome it! Kapets! Well, let's say we'll probably climb up there, and Verka? We had to return. We met two more abnormal ones - women of indeterminate nationality, presumably, mother and daughter. I didn’t understand from communication with them, they came from that side or, like us, from West Railay.
After wandering a little more, we got back to the beach. Just lost time! An hour and a half or two. During this time, dofigischa boats arrived with a bunch of people.
Already along the civilized path leading through the hotel, we went to Pranang Beach through East Railay. Yes! Interesting area!
A paradise for climbers!
And here is the attraction - a cave with phalluses.
And the people! I was tired of hanging around with a bag and we immediately ate everything. Verka, as usual, stayed with her things, and we went to see what was around the corner. It was good there. And there were boats with food. And what for I dragged myself with basins? I thought the prices here were crazy, but it turned out not at all! Quite comparable to Aonang's.
And here is the pass through which we were going to climb. From here, he looked absolutely impregnable. Does anyone really go there?
A saddle between the mountains – a hypothetical path
After taking a dip, we went back. On schedule, I had another feat - Princess Lagoon. I didn't want Vadik to climb there, but he rested his horn. I read that you can get there up to your ears, so we dressed accordingly - in old Bolognese shorts. I went barefoot - the flip flops would not stand it, and it was a pity to kill the light green sandals. Vadik did not spare his black ones and remained shod.
The lift was cheerful, but quite passable.
A lot of people climbed up to view point. From here you can see both Railay, east and west.
And only a few people made their way into the lagoon, besides the foolish us. Although the descent was fun, it was no more difficult than the ascent to view point. It seemed strange to me. The mystery was solved a little further. I saw a girl peering into the abyss and shouting something down to her companions. The cutter inspired some fear. But we went. But the girl did not dare.
The wall was completely sheer, but it was relatively convenient to go down. There were a sufficient number of holds, called by climbers, as Vadik said, “door handles”. Holes in the rock where you can put your foot or grab your hand. A rope with knots was also not superfluous. And everything would be fine, but it was all in sticky, like glue, red clay. In one place, I also had to squeeze through a narrow hole leading to another sheer cliff.
And the lagoon was a shallow muddy puddle, fifteen meters in diameter. The muddy bottom sucked my feet. What kind of water was there, fresh or sea, I won’t even say, I didn’t guess to try it on the tongue. In general, we did not see anything particularly charming. No, of course, the lagoon is not without some mystery. But we climbed not at all for beauty. And, how should I say it... We climbed after ourselves ("I'll prove it! I'll show it! " (c) We did it!
Only now you still need to go back! One guy with a backpack got stuck in a hole and puffed for a long time, getting out. We climbed through - the backpack remained with Verka, who patiently waited for us for an hour and a half, sitting on a bench.
One couple looked at us with undisguised admiration and also wanted to go. But time was running out - it was already three o'clock. I didn't advise them.
We still had the same vidocq, but I was so proud of myself that without the slightest embarrassment for my appearance, I went back to Railay Beach. On the way, we met spectacled monkeys, which, supposedly, are a great success to see.
East Railay didn't look very presentable - the tide was crazy. The departing people were taken to the boats on a cart hitched to a tractor.
This is what my legs looked like:
We climbed into the shallow sea on the Western Railay, trying to wash ourselves off at least as a first approximation.
By the way, the day before I saw a dude walking down the street in Ao Nang barefoot. He was made cleaner than ours, and dirty sneakers hung from his backpack. I guessed it came straight from Princess Lagoon. I don't know why it's called that. For some reason, I didn't look like a princess. Rather, a toad that needs to be kissed urgently.
Back we swam again with hares. The captain of the longtail, having arrived at Ao Nang, unfastened some share to the elder. Mafia, damn it!
On the way home, we went to have lunch at the food center around the corner from Mama Masha. It was a small patch of land with plastic tables and chairs, surrounded by a dozen and a half stalls-shmarkov, preparing various food at relatively low prices. However, the fish cost 200 baht everywhere. I took soup with paws for 50 baht for myself, Vadik - tom yam for 150, Verka - pad thai with shrimp. The beer here was draft, 100 baht each, it seemed like even Heineken, but there was no one to pour, and I drove to Mama Masha while we were preparing food.
After having lunch and a little rest, we went back to the embankment. Both, as usual. Today was November 11, full moon. Before the trip, I specifically looked when it would come. Promised November 13th. It’s good that I’m already there, I asked Google again. And he gave out that 11! Weird! Could it be that the five-hour time difference somehow stretches out to two days? However, the moon was indeed full. There is nowhere more complete.
Why was I so interested in this phenomenon? I love the full moon, by itself. And the Thais, it turns out, love it too. And they even celebrate. Maybe not all full moons in a row, but on November 11 this year they have a holiday - Loy Krathong. It was interesting to see. And Verka is not interested.
“Restaurants lit up the coast with lights... ” (c)
It was really festive. From the restaurants of coastal hotels came live music. They invited everyone for some amount (I think 650 per person) to dine with them. Outside the Ao Nang Villa Hotel, beautiful girls lured passers-by by willingly posing for photographers like me.
Restaurants didn't tempt me, I was full. I wanted to see the ritual of launching krathongs. A crowd of curious people sat on the steps of the embankment. And there were not so many krathong launchers. Krathongs were sort of baskets woven from some kind of leaves, or palm trees, or something else, decorated with flowers and a candle. The candle was supposed to be lit before launching into the sea.
The first batch of kraton launchers lowered their boats into the water, which is quite calm near the shore. We swam. They managed to overcome a meter and a half. A small wave - and tynts! All krathongs float upside down. After some time, the second party tried to pull off the same trick. But with the same success. While we watched, no one managed to slip through, albeit a small, but irresistible wave. The holiday didn't work!
Then a couple made an attempt to start a flashlight. But even here everything went awry - he stubbornly did not want to take off. After hanging for some time half a meter from the ground, the flashlight slowly crawled away from the sea, and, in the end, it also caught fire. The cop began to whistle hysterically for a couple into the whistle, and the girl had no choice but to drown the flashlight in the sea. Not all dreams come true!
On this gloomy note, the holiday ended. At least for us. We went to bed. Koh Hong was waiting for us tomorrow.
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