21,000 miles away from home- and that's a long way for Natty to be from home

One of my fellow volunteers (Eve) and I ran away to Rai Leh for a super-quick weekend visit to the beach (twelve hour bus rides there and back for a whopping 1.5 days at the beach)- but it was worth every second. Amongst Thailand's incredible beaches and islands, Rai Leh is widely considered to be the best. Here's a sampling of photos- that don't even begin to do the natural beauty of Southern Thailand justice. We spent $10 each for a bungalow in the Rasta-run Raileh Cabanas- situated in the heart of a legit jungle. We fell asleep to the sounds of the Natty Dread album wafting through the trees (coincidentily, the first reggae album I ever purchased- when I was 14 yrs old) and wild monkeys swinging high above us. I also snorkeled for the very first time- I had no idea how weightless you feel and didn't expect to be as shocked when face-to-face with schools of fish as I was. I loved it. It was a true new degree of experience! :)

I also had no idea how bad reef rash sucks. A new degree of experience I would, ahem, not mind doing without! ;)

Krabi pier at Ao Nang

Rai Leh beach West

Like many of the beaches in Southern Thailand, Rai Leh is accesible only by boat. In a "life imitates art" opportunity, I snapped this photo which reminded me very much of this blog.

One of the stops on our snorkeling trip was this tiny, uninhabited island about a 30min boat ride out from the coast. Many other kayakers and daytrippers had the same idea, and I can't say I blame them. Extending out from the left side of this picture, to the island that appears in the top left corner, is a narrow but long sandbar which connects the two, and sits underneath about 6 inches of water. Imagine how shocked YOU'D be when you saw people literally walking on water....

A longtail boat captain, hard at work.

Sunrise over Ao Nang

Any place where the main mode of transportation is nautical is just aces in my book :)