Welcome to Ton Sai
After a brief interlude in Krabi, this morning I continued on to what will be my final "real destination" here in Thailand, and for my entire trip: the legendary beach of Ton Sai. I've heard a lot about Ton Sai — particularly from my friends back in Pai — and I think it's going to be a great place to wrap things up, and to have some fun and relaxation.
From Krabi, I hopped on a sawng thaew (shared taxi, usually a pickup truck — the Thai equivalent of a combi), which took me to the beach of Ao Nang. It was a cheap and quick ride, and I had a gorgeous (albeit braindead) pair of English chicks to keep me company. Ao Nang is one beach up from Ton Sai, and it's the only place on Railay Peninsula that's easily accessible by road. It's quite a nice beach, but it's horribly over-developed, and the glitzy resorts there are way above my budget.
Long-tails lined up along Ao Nang beach. If you’re going to catch one, then do yourself a favour: carry a light bag, and wear sandals.
I was in Ao Nang for all of 5 minutes. I strolled straight down to the beach, purchased a ticket, and hopped on one of the many tinpot long-tail boats there, which depart regularly around the headland to Ton Sai, and then on to Railay West. It was a blast of a boat ride: like the sawng thaew ride, it was cheap and quick; the light spray of the water cooled me off and put a smile on my face; and the views were sensational. For a start, there was the sparkling clear-blue water of the Andaman Sea, lit-up a tropical aqua under the sunny sky, which stretched out around us in all directions. But even more impressive were the famous cliffs: jagged and filled with vivid colours, they consisted of smooth yet hard-angled limestone chunks, and they towered up above us, beautifully framing the beaches and the sea.
Enormous limestone formation jutting into the air.
More cliffs framing the approach to Ton Sai. I can see why this place is the rock-climbing capital of Thailand!
Before long, the boat pulled into the beach of Ton Sai, and I was wandering around and exploring my new home for the next week. First task, of course, was to find a place to stay. Ton Sai is a charming place: it's laid-back, it's haphazard, it's friendly, and it's super-chilled. But despite it's reputation as "the only place on Railay Peninsula that backpackers can afford", it's still quite expensive. After extensive searching on the main track away from the beach, I couldn't find anywhere that was offering a room for less than 400B per night. Eventually, I managed to secure the "emergency room" at Tiew Khao — one of two spartan establishments right at the top of the hill, a 10-minute walk from the beach — where they offer simple wooden bungalows for 200B. I'm in the emergency room (which is actually quite nice, except that it's under the restaurant) for one night, until a bungalow becomes free. Ton Sai is a busy place: getting a room is hard, especially if you want the cheap ones! And if this is the cheapest place in the area, then I don't even want to know what the prices are like in Railay or in Ao Nang.
Once I was settled in and assured of a bed for the night, the rest of the day was spent "Ko Tao" style: relaxing on the beach. In a short time, however, I'd already discovered that Ton Sai is rather a weird beach: when the tide goes down in the afternoon, the water flows a long way out, to reveal a treacherous expanse of sharp, scraggly rocks. These rocks make the beach look ugly as all hell; and you also have to tip-toe across them (wearing sandals, not barefoot!) for about 200m, before you can get to swimmable water. So if you want to have a dip, or if you want a pretty view, then you should head to Ton Sai beach in the morning — because in the afternoon, you'll find neither. I guess that's why this place ended up being the cheap hippie spot. Always a catch somewhere.
Chilling on Ton Sai beach.
Uggh… Ton Sai beach becomes a minefield of rocks at low tide.