There are two major beaches that can be found on the little peninsula of Railay. One of them is the West Beach which is where the boats serving food come up to, and there are bars and restaurants lining up for your business at the edge of the sand. If you are looking for something a little more quiet, I would suggest going to the Phra Nang Beach, or Princess Beach, on the tip of the peninsula. There are a couple of resorts here, but they tried to hide themselves among the jungle so it makes you feel like you are in a more isolated place.
If you are not staying at one of these resorts, you can get there by finding the path on the southern tip of the town. It is an interesting path in itself and worth searching for. It follows along a cliff face and there are many places where you can stop and take pictures of the rock formations that are being created. It is like spelunking without have to travel into the darkness of the caves. It even has many formations that are highlighted for everybody to see. I won’t ruin what they are, but they allow for some fun conversations along the way.
When I went, I was surprised at the crowds I first encountered along the way, and was even more surprised at the tiny beach that could be found at the end of the trail. The map I was looking at showed that the beach extended a lot further down the coast. I found out later that it was because of the tide and the beach was hiding beneath the waves. The crowds came from tour boats and only came once in the morning and then disappeared. They basically stuck to that small sliver of beach and would not venture out to the other side of the beach.
But it only takes a little bit of wading through warm water if you get here during high tide to make it to the other part of the beach, and you leave the crowds behind if you do this. If you come during low tide, you do not have to worry about the crowds or the wading and you can just walk along the beach. It is really worth the trip because there a lot of great formations to explore, and when you get tired of that you can always cool off in the refreshing waters of the ocean. It is one of the hidden gems in this part of the world, and really worth the trouble of getting there.
I think I have become obsessed with sunsets. I have been collecting my things and rushing to the closest beach around 6 o’clock every night to try and witness the best one before the end of the year. For some reason, it makes me believe that when I see it, it will give me a sense of closure to a tough year, and it will let everyone out there know that there is still beauty in this world.
My new beach has given me the best sunsets so far. I had to do a little traveling to get there, and I arrived just in time to witness a pretty good one, but I still believe that it could have been better so I will keep on searching until I get that perfect one.
This sunset came of Railay’s west beach. Railay is a tourist destination on the tip of Thailand that is a small strip of rocky mountains and sand that juts out from the country’s mainland. You can not get there by car or airplane. You can only arrive by getting in a tiny boat and having them shuttle you around the tall jutting mountains that surround the beach.
But the promise of sunsets from the spot is huge, and it looks like the perfect playground to stay at for the next couple of days. I will let you know more about the place during the next couple of days, but for now I hope you enjoy the moment that my camera was able to capture.
One of the things that everybody visits if they come to the island of Phuket is the beach. It is impossible to miss one of them. They are all over the place. There are small beaches with an almost private feeling to them, big public beaches, sandy beaches, and even ones that are a little rocky. There are ones that look to the east in anticipation of the sunrise and there are one that look to the west and collect people on its shores to watch the sunset every night.
I have visited a lot of the beaches on my stay out here, and it has been a treat this time around. Phuket is still waiting for the tourists to return to the island, and the beaches are practically empty, but the city is ready for their return so they have been cleaning up the beaches which makes them really nice to walk on and enjoy.
The city life is a little different though. Many of the business owners have not returned and there are many for sale signs on buildings and restaurants that have not opened up in a long time. There are still enough of them out there to make it feel enough like a vacation and there are corners that are opening up again.
For the most part, I can feel a more positive vibe coming from the people of Phuket then I felt when I was out here during the summer. They know that there is hope around the corner and they can get back to the thriving economy that this place once was. It will be a slow process and there will be a struggle to get back there, but they are up for the challenge.
You can see it on the west facing beaches of Phuket. The people who live here have come down to watch the sunsets. They know it is the one feature of the island that can never be taken away even though they have not been as great as they are during the summer months. During my whole trip out here, there has been a collection of storm clouds gathering on the horizon, and I have never been able to see the sun set completely. I have had some nice views of it as it has reached the storm clouds, giving a hint at how glorious it can be, but it has never reached that level of spectacular. But just like the people of Phuket, I know that those clouds will eventually disappear and I will once again get to see its beauty. I just have to keep on chasing it until I get to see it for what it can be.
Until next time, stay safe and be kind to each other.
One of the things that I absolutely love about the Thai people is their love of celebration. The majority of them are Buddhist, and they will look for any opportunity to have a celebration. They have many traditional holidays that they observe, and they still adopt all of the other holidays around the world and celebrate those as well.
They don’t always reach the same level of excitement that they have in other places in the world, and Christmas is one such holiday. The malls are all decked out with holiday gear, and the night sky is lit up with the twinkling lights, especially when you get to the city centers, but the whole country does not shut down on Christmas day. It is just another day for them.
My students were still excited to wake up on Christmas morning and receive presents, and they all wanted to listen to Mariah Carey’s Christmas album. I don’t know why, out of all the Christmas albums ever made, this is the one that captured the country’s heartstrings, but I have heard it a little too much the last couple of weeks.
But after the morning festivities, it is life back to normal, and then they gear up for the next holiday only a couple of days away. It is always cause to be happy and get together with family and friends. It is part of the reason that there are so many smiles on the faces of people out here.
I hope today gives you the smile that the country is able to find, and you are able to spend it with family and friends, whether face to face or safely over Zoom. And I wish you all the happiest of holidays whichever ones you may observe.
It can’t all be about the beach and playing in the water. There has to be a time to fuel up, and the Nai Harn Beach part of Phuket has a lot of options of great food all over the place. I have not really found the street food stalls that you would expect to see in a city of Thailand, but enough of the restaurants serve good Thai food that I do not feel like I have to worry about talking much about that. It is all of the other cuisine that is made available out here that makes this place a gastronomical heaven.
To start off with, I have not eaten many lunches out here. I have been moving a little slow in the mornings; it is vacation after all. And the resort that we are staying in, Nai Harn Beach Resort, serves the best breakfast buffet I have ever seen. They will make omelettes, or eggs benedict for you fresh, and the rest of the food is so well prepared that it is hard to believe that you are eating at a buffet. I am usually so stuffed afterwards that I am not hungry again until mid afternoon, so there is no reason to think about lunch.
Dinner has been a different story, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every place we have been to. The highlights have to be Rustic and Blue, a favorite of ours from Chiang Mai. We have been to that place at least four time during our visits to this northern part of Thailand, and we were really excited to see that there was another one in Phuket, right by the place where we are staying. The food is western cuisine with a heavy dose of seafood dishes in the Phuket version of the restaurant, but there are still enough of the other favorites to make it a comfortable. My favorite is the grilled cheese sandwich with maple bacon and jalapenos.
There is also the Green Tamarind Burger which took a little longer to find, but it was worth the search. The food there is obviously burgers, but could easily be the best burger I have found in Thailand. They make their own buns, and they have fresh ingredients that just make the burger a juicy treat to eat.
And if you are in the mood for Italian, there is Trattoria del Buongustaio. This is right next to the Nai Harn Beach resort, but it is not associated with the resort. The owner is always around helping the customers, and the food has an authentic Italian flavor to it. Most of the food comes with fresh seafood, and has a little bit of a kick to it that reminds you that you are in Thailand.
It has been one of my favorite experiences in this part of Phuket, and I am glad that it has opened up more so I could experience it. It makes me just as excited for the rest of the trip and I hope that the country stays open long enough for me to experience it, but with new Covid cases confirmed up north, it might end sooner than usual. If that is the case, at least I was able to have these moments in Nai Harn Beach.
There are many reasons that many people go on vacation: to relax and recharge their batteries, to see and experience different places in the world, and to go visit loved ones. No matter the reason for travel, it is really important to understand and participate in one of the biggest aspects of it, play.
Play is one of the things I believe the most in. I know that there is a time to take things seriously, and we always need those moments to unwind, but play is the time in our life where we truly find our passion and make the most out of the moments that we are given. It is the time when we find real joy and experience a variety of emotions that allow us to say that we have really experienced life. It is the one thing that I try to incorporate into my lessons, because when my students are actually having fun with their learning, it is when they are really processing the information and internalizing it. The lesson that they are supposed to be learning suddenly becomes their passion because it is now a part of their playtime.
There are times on vacation where I just lounge by a pool or stroll on a beach and do not find time for play. It makes the trips relaxing, but it does not make them memorable. It is those times when I go out a play that I start to have a good time with my vacation. The Nai Harn Beach Resort understands this and gives their guests many opportunities for play on the beach that the resort overlooks. They supply the guests with boogie boards, paddle boards, snorkels, and kayaks. The waves are not big enough right now to make the boogie boards of much use, but the rest of the stuff there has made for some memorable moments.
I have gone out on the paddle board a couple of times to place myself in complete isolation from the rest of the society hanging out on the beach, and today Christine and I took one of the kayaks out to check out the other beaches nearby and the island right across the bay from us. It was a little bit of exercise to get out there, but it was completely worth it. We ran into local fishermen, and in the rocks near the shore we were able to observe schools of tropical fish float underneath our boat. It made for a memorable day.
Which makes the nights even more worth it. It is almost as if I earned the moments of relaxation after the moments of play. It has created the perfect balance on this trip to make every moment the most that it possibly can.
I think I have hit that point in this vacation where I am starting to feel more like myself and am ready to take on bigger adventures. I am sorry if my posts have not been that exciting the last couple of days, but if you are ever in the mood for one of those relaxing beach vacations, I would highly recommend Nia Harn Beach. It is a little off the beaten path on the Phuket island, but it has some great restaurants within walking distance, the beach is relatively quiet with calm waters during the winter months, and the place just begs to be lazy for a couple of days.
One of the things that I like the most about it is that the it had a nice view of the west and there should be a good view of the sunset almost every evening. I have gone out the three nights I have been out here in order to witness one of these highlights from nature. Unfortunately, this is the best one I have seen so far. Something has always seemed to pop up in order hide this from view. The first day had big violent rainstorms out in the distant sea that obscured the sunset from view, and the second day was too cloudy for it to make an appearance.
It does not mean that I will not continue to try to get that elusive picture of a great sunset. Last time I was down here, I could out every night and catch an amazing light show on the horizon, but it is funny what s difference a couple of months makes. The sun shifts a bit, the weather makes adjustments as well, and now the sunset is hard to come by.
But it is important that I continue to look for it. If I give up and let myself by satisfied with the small example I collected earlier, I will miss the bigger show when it comes around. I fear that too many people give up too early when there is something spectacular on the horizon, and if we would just practice a little patience, it will be another beautiful sunset.
The Celtic culture uses many aspects of nature as symbols to express certain ideas within their stories, and many of these symbols have found their way into the literature of the world. The strange thing about these symbols is that they have a duality to them that can express things that are the complete opposite of each other. One of the best examples of this is water. It can be a destructive force that can wipe out a civilization, but it can also be a healing entity that can restore a person and show them a new life that they had been missing all along. Both of them work hand in hand to form this world. We cannot build something better unless we first destroy the mess that we have left behind. We cannot find something new within ourselves if we don’t wash away the thing that is holding us back.
This has to be the reason that beaches are such a big draw. They are the place where we can find this property in such great quantities that we cannot help to feel the healing qualities that it has to offer. Many people are not big fans of these tourist destinations and I get the reasons why. You spend a lot of time wiping away the sand off of your body and somehow you seem to grab suitcases full of the stuff to bring back with you. Most of the time it is almost impossible to find a nice spot where you are not disturbed by other people. So why would people want to come here?
Well, there is the plethora of water sports that they can participate in and if the world is tilting the right way, there are huge waves that will crash on the beach bringing the surfers to their shores. But I think it is something more. I felt it yesterday as I wandered into the warm waters of Nai Harn Beach. All of the work and stress from a semester as a high school English teacher was washed away. I no longer had to worry about lesson plans or grading essays. I didn’t have to reread books I have read numerous times and guide students who may not have read them through their intricacies. I didn’t need to worry about yearly evaluations or the problems that were happening behind the scenes of my school. I could find myself in the moment, laying on back in a huge body of salt water and let it wipe away all of these worries and just enjoy where I ended up.
This is the reason that people search out destinations where the land ends and the ocean begins. They need to wash away the pains and stress of everyday life in the healing waters of the ocean and be rejuvenated into something new that allows them to look at the world in a more positive and joyful light. After a year like we all have had, I hope you can find that place of calm so the next year is something that you are not only willing to conquer but you are looking forward to the possibilities that it will offer.
It is amazing the difference that one night can make. The previous night I had slept at a roadside hotel made out of repurposed material to a hotel that is a destination in itself looking out over one of my favorite beaches in all of Thailand, Nai Harn. It is not that I would ever have been able to afford to stay at this place normally, but considering that the usual tourists that come to Thailand are absent this year, a lot of the higher end hotels are having great deals, and I am taking advantage of them while I still can. In a year, I will have to go back to spending nights in private rooms in hostels, and hotels made out of shipping crates, but right now, it is five star locations overlooking some spectacular scenery.
We arrived later in the afternoon after another good day of driving. It is a nice feeling to be able to get out of the car for a little while and enjoy the place where we have stopped. It is also nice to know that we have left Bangkok just in time. This morning news of a Covid outbreak in the region to the south of Bangkok has put that area under lockdown, and it has not meant that it has crept into the big city yet, but it has put the people living there a little more on edge. Hopefully it does not mean a lockdown of all Thailand in the future, but only time can tell. It just means that this might be our last hurrah for a little while as we go back to a culture of being safer with what we do and how we interact with other people.
Until then I find out more about that, I will just have to enjoy the beach lifestyle I find myself at. Where the hotel is at, I have only a two minute walk from the top story down to the beach and then I can relax on the sandy beach, jump into the warm Thai waters, or even borrow one of the paddle boards or kayaks to explore more of the bay. Basically, my goal to make the most out of the freedom while it lasts because in this time, we do not know when for the sake of the health of others that it will be restricted for a time.
The fun that can be had in the waters will be a little different this time around as well. Last time I was here, over the summer, the waves were huge and the bay was filled with surfers looking to catch one of the waves. This time the surf is not as crazy. I am really surprised by how calm the waters are. I can see through the clear blue water down to the bottom this time around where as last time there was so much sand and sediment swirling through the water that I could never see an inch into the water even though I was standing right over it. I guess that is the difference in season and part of the reason that tourists make their way out to this part of Thailand during this time of the year as opposed during the summer months. The beach is still not very crowded though. I guess that is another bonus for finding myself here at this time in history. Those crowds are not allowed in the country just as it makes it really hard for me to leave the country.
I am happy to have finally arrived and I look forward to the next couple of weeks off from work. I hope things stay safe and I won’t have to cut things short, but in the meantime, I will make the most out of each opportunity that comes my way when I can grab it. I guess that is one of the better things to come out of this situation. We all have started to appreciate those moments that we used to take for granted, and I know that I am able to have more than most people, but I have really learned to make the most out of them. I hope that you can do the same wherever you find yourself, and that you can make it the greatest that it possibly can be.
Until next time, stay healthy and be kind to each other.
it that time of the year that teachers all over the world look forward to more than any other; the time when all of their grades have been submitted and they can spend the next two to three weeks thinking of nothing else but recharging their batteries and enjoying those small moments of life. In a normal year, you would see flocks of these people gathering around pools and vacation spots filling in the void that has been left behind because of the vast amount of individuals who have responsibilities due to the regular scheduling of the school year, whether it is themselves or their children who need to be attending one of these institutions located everywhere. But when that restriction relaxes, so does the rest of the world.
That was until Covid-19, and now this group of people are so happy that they do not have to spend their time staring at a computer as they try to learn in any way possible during this unprecedented time in history. They know that they can’t move anywhere right now, and if given the opportunity to do it safely, they would. Luckily, I have found myself in one of the countries where travel is still possible because of the way the way they have handled the pandemic. It still is not completely under control, and hints are on the horizon that quarantine might come back soon even though there is now a vaccine, but it is still under control enough to take this opportunity responsibly. So on Friday, after school with a packed car, we took a drive down south to eventually reach Phuket to enjoy the holidays the best we could without the people we would have hoped to have spent the holiday with.
The only problem with this is that the place we hoped to eventually get to is a fourteen hour drive away from Bangkok, and we did not get out of school until noon that day. There was no way that we could make it all of the way without arriving way too early in the morning. We needed to stop half way along the way to make it a reasonable drive. Our goal was the town of Chumphon, a fairly good sized city that is the jumping off point for many of the smaller islands down south, and we first thought of staying at a hotel right along the highway, but found a different one that had really good reviews that we chose instead, the Retro Box Hotel.
The reviews were correct, and it turned out to be the perfect place for us to stay that night. The rooms were tiny, but we weren’t there to spread out. We were there to sleep, and the beds were comfortable. It was in a good location only ten minutes from the highway, and they even served a breakfast of eggs, sausages, and toast in the morning. The price was even great that even included access to a pool which we never took advantage of. The whole thing seemed perfect, so what possibly could be the problem with the place.
Well, there was one thing that might have turned people away from the place. The whole building was built out of reused shipping crates. The Retro Box Hotel took a bunch of these crates that were no longer being used by shipping companies, stacked them on top of each other, and then made a hotel out of them.
Now I know what a lot of you are thinking. Why would anybody want to stay in a place like this? But in all actuality, is was a nice, quiet, and very clean place. Each room had its own bathroom, and most importantly, a working air conditioning unit. It was perfectly, and even well designed that some of the room opened right up to private entry to the pool. I even liked the fact that the place repurposed these crates to make them something useful instead of them rotting away some place in an empty field because nobody knew what to do with them anymore.
I even liked the breakfast. It wasn’t part of some fancy buffet that I have been able to experience lately due to the lowered rates of fancy hotels in Thailand, but it was satisfying and served the purpose of filling me up with a good meal before sending me down the road.
I guess my point is that life sometimes piles on the dirt and it feels like we get buried underneath it, but every once in awhile there is an opening in that dirt that allows us to crawl out and enjoy the sun that is shining up above. It might not be the beautiful paradise that is promised in some brochure that is passed around the workers at the lunch room table, but it is surprisingly great for what it is. We should enjoy it while we are given that opportunity. If that means smiling while spending the night in a shipping crate, then that is what it means. There has never been a year where this means more than this year. It is has been full of life piling dirt on us, but there are those small moments where life is truly great. In fact, better than it ever could be because of its simplicity. We should treasure those moments when they are given to us.
I know I did not spend a lot of time savoring my time in the shipping crate, but it was such a unique experience that I don’t think I will ever forget it. It is a great start to this tropical holiday, and makes me excited for all of the other opportunities that will present themselves over the next couple of weeks. Whether it is fancy or quaint, I am ready to take it on, and enjoy it while I can.
John Collings 