Marc & Nora ROUND THE WORLD 2005/2006 - Join us!

Krabi - Rai Lei Beach (Marc writes)

So after a few days on Ao Nang Beach we took a long tail boat ride around to the next cove (only accessible by boat) called 'Rai Lei'. We stayed in a really nice little resort called 'Diamond Cave Resort' where we paid about 6 pounds for a cool little bungalow. This place even had a pool which we have nver had before for so little money...bonus! Rai Lei itself is a very small and relaxed little place with nothing much to do apart from sleep, eat, drink and rock climb. So we decided to do just that. We subscribed for a half day climbing with a small local company (approx 10 pounds each).

So the next day we headed over to the sandstone cliff face with our climbing instructor (little thai bloke). After he scaled the rock like a monkey to secure the top rope we watched in amazement....so I was first up the rock face. we started with an 'easy' climb but s**t this sport is hard...really hard. They try to tell you not to use your arms and that the climb is all in your legs but when you're hanging from a sheer cliff face it is very difficult not to grab on to it with your hands and hold on for your life! We tried 4 different climbs with Nora beating my height on all of them....By the end of the morning your forearms (which you shouldn't actually be using) are absolutely dead. Just enough power left to eat lunch and fall into the swimming pool. For the next couple of days we just lounged around the pool and on the beach and on the final day we took a day trip to visit the surounding islands.