Railay Beach, Thailand

 {not a bad view from the breakfast table:)}

I’m not going to lie, 

all Kevin and I had the energy for after leaving Nepal was, 

well…nothing.

 I literally had sobbed every ounce of energy from my body after leaving the girls house.

So we decided that doing nothing sounded amazing. 

And what better place is there to do nothing than on the beaches of Thailand? 

I honestly can’t think of one.

I had lived in Thailand about 5 years ago teaching English, but never got around to visiting Railey Beach…

which, in the opinion of many, 

is the best beach in Thailand.

So this time I was not planning on missing out on it! 

Railey was everything I imagined and more! 

MORE! 

It was a dream of a paradise, with a very chill atmosphere. 

If you’ve traveled at all to Thailand, you know that some (many!) beaches have turned into an all night party for crazy youngin’s that chug beer like nobody’s business. 

Railey, thankfully, was NOT that place. 

Railey struck me as a lagoon where time stood still 

and people lost themselves in the beauty, and in their books. 

It was quiet and peaceful. 

Kevin went for a run one morning and was the only one on the beach!

To get to Railey is a process. 

You need to fly/bus from Bangkok to Krabi. 

From Krabit you take a shuttle to the Ao Nang pier. 

While Railey is not technically an island, you have to catch a long-tail boat from the Ao Nang pier to get there, 

as it’s surrounded by massive cliffs on a penninsula. 

After a 30 minute boat ride, you reach Railey West. 

Railey has two sides, East and West.

The beach on the West side is where you want to lounge during the day, 

however the East side is where the cheaper place to stay are located. 

We stayed at Railey Garden View Resort on the East Side, and got the cutest bungalow for $20 a night. 

It was a steal if you ask me, and I couldn’t recommend it more:)

The other amazing part of Railey is that you also can take a short 15 minute walk 

and discover a whole new beach called Phra Nang, 

which is touted as the 2^nd beach beach in Thailand!

 It is absolutely breathtaking with large cliffs rising out of the water. 

Unreal. 

it's also magical at night! 

One day we did a speed boat snorkel trip which

 A) made us feel a little less lazy, 

and

 B) ended up being one of our only activities favorite activities. 

Pics from the boat trip are here. 

I couldn’t recommend Railey Beach more! 

If you go to Thailand, make sure to add Railey to your list. 

You can thank me advance for this advice:)

love Katie 

ps- stop on by my sweet friend Rachel's blog for a little interview she did with me today:)