Peak Experience

Peak season in Thailand means many things. Prices for all accommodations are raised. Pad Thai costs a $1.50 instead of a $1. The beaches are packed with families and long-tail boats will run you double what it normally is. But also, peak season brings the perfect possible weather and tons of parties that would be absent during low season. The best part of peak season is that it brought us our friends who can only take time off around Christmas and New Years.

We had already spent a week with Rachel on Koh Ya Noi and when Bryan arrived the foursome was complete. We spent five amazing days, just the four of us, exploring the amazing scenery in this breathtaking Thai beach land.

Andy and I had scoped out this area back in October and decided it would be a perfect place to ring in 2007. There were DJ’s flown in from London that were spinning on the secluded hippie beach and reggae bands from Bangkok on the bill at other bars close by. We also had Sam and Brad - our awesomely cool Chicago friends that we bonded with at the Pink Palace in Greece - that were meeting us for the festivities. They were traveling with their two girlfriends from home and we were planning on an epic night.


Woo Hoo! We made it to Thailand!!

Leading up to New Years, Bry, Rachey, Tan Andy and me were basking in our time together. One particular day was spent kayaking through the impressive Karst rock formations that jut out of the clear blue sea almost randomly. We explored the caves exposed by the low tides and even got underwater pictures of little fishies thanks to Bryan’s underwater apparatus. The weather that day was perfect and we got a nice little shoulder workout thanks to all the rowing.


Andy and I manuevering through a small opening thanks to the low tides. Nice shot Rach!


Nice camera settings. What's the point in having a kick ass digital camera if you don't know how to use it. Good on ya mate!

Rachel and Bryan took an alone side trip to Krabi town to see the Tiger Temple one day. The Buddhist monastery was built long ago atop a mountain and it sports one of the best views of the entire Phra Ngan Bay. And guess what? It’s only 1200 steps up an ardous mountainside to see it. Andy and I backed out and let the two of them explore on their own. I was templed out after 2 ½ months in Southeast Asia and Andy was just being lazy. Listening to them describe the place made me wish I had gone but I am glad they had that experience, just the two of them. I would have gone just to see the monkeys at the bottom of the steps eating each other’s butts. Gross but enthralling, don’t ask me why.


Thatsa alotta friggin steps. Watch out for vertigo Rachey...


That's right folks. That monkey is sniffin his friend's butt.

On New Years Eve, we had a posse of 8 people looking for some Thai rum and a sandy dance floor. We got all dolled up with glitter, makeup, clean clothes and a full wallet. We were headed for Hot Ton Sai – a beach unaccessible by roads. We chartered a long-tail boat for $1 each and hopped quickly over to the area after walking through the family resort shows put on by the ritzy establishments.

We found a nice place on the beach to chow down some dinner before we put back some drinks. The Pad Thai Palace was run by a drunk Thai lady who couldn’t keep her hands off us. She was in a festive mood and was scampering around her dirty, streetside shack, taking our order and wishing us a Sawadee Pi Mai (Happy New Year). She was a character and we wished we could have taken her with us for the evening. She would have been a hilarious addition to our group.

We wound up at a bar off the beaten track around 10 p.m. and had a couple drinks to get things going. There, we found people already in the mood. One British guy was so drunk that he had gotten his foot stuck in a rope knot hanging from the bar’s rafters. Everyone was laughing at him and no one was helping him. He also tried to hoola hoop despite having no balance and very little rythym. Sam and Brad’s friend Aesha (who is now our friend as well) is a hoola hooper and fire dancer and was trying to give him pointers. Thanks to the alcohol though, he was a lost cause.

We moved on and ran into a nice little beach scene where people were spinning poi and romantics sipped drinks on a perfectly lit, sandy beach. Aesha gave it a try and thanks to her low-hanging dress she almost caught on fire. Brad and I were clutching our big bottle of Samsung Rum and neither of us moved to help her. Who says chivalry is dead? The girls thankfully rushed to her aid and saved the day.

After an awesomely large fireworks show that stretched from our beach to the ritzy beach we took our boat from, we got our dance groove on. We found an awesome breakbeat sound with a perfect dance floor. We perched ourselves right by one of the speakers and let the music take control. At the time very few people were dancing. But once we got our group of 8 on the floor, others joined in. By the time we left at 2 a.m. there over 20 people packed on our sandy area by the speaker. It was a party!


Sam and Brad in the spirit of things. Are they a bunch of hotties or what?

We had to leave the scene a bit early because the boats back to our hotel stop running and we didn’t want to be stuck on a remote beach all night. We hopped in our floating vessel and thanks to a late-night low tide, we had to trek out through the mudflats. I was clutching our almost finished bottle of rum. Sam and Brad’s other friend, Sarah, bit it hard on a rock and skinned her knee. The alcohol took care of her pain, but her dress was soaked and we felt bad for her. She was a trooper though and laughed off the entire scene.

Sharing the boat back with us was a gay couple from Toronto who we instantly bonded with. Abel and Nikki were just about as drunk as we were and they were a friggin riot. Abel and I refused to get out and help push the boat into the deeper waters. We clutched arms and drank our drink and laughed our heads off. It was like we were best friends and yet I had only met him 5 minutes ago.

We were now a 10-person group and no one was ready to end the party. We headed off to another bar near our hotel and talked sluggishly, slurring every other word. Sarah and Aesha went to bed, then Rachel and Bryan. Sam and Brad came to our room for a nightcap after Abel wandered off by himself.

I was feeling good at this point. It wasn’t until Sam and Brad left and my head hit the pillow when the spins began. I began to sweat and feel sick. Uh Oh. I slept on a wet bathroom floor in my underwear with arms clutching the toilet for two hours. I got out what I needed to and went back to bed.

Despite the unexpected ending of me praying to the porcelain god, the night was perfect. We danced, laughed, drank, and made new friends. Rachel and Bryan were off to Chiang Mai the next morning and I don’t remember saying goodbye to them. We had an awesome time together and I can’t wait till we are reunited back home again so I can hear about their time up north.

Our experience on Railay was a reunion of epic proportions. We saw our friends from home and got all the stories we missed out on back in the Bay. Also, we were back in touch with our traveler friends from Greece. We are at the halfway point of our trip and we couldn’t ask for a better experience so far. South America is next and Andy and I are so excited to see what unexpected adventures lay ahead.