Work, Karsts, Phalluses!

*skip to photos here*

After our amazing experience on Koh Adang and coming down from a “trash-high”, we decided that since we were already on the road, we might as well do a little more exploring on the Southern Andaman coast. So after yet another ferry and minivan experience, we landed in Klong Muang, a little village / resort town in the Krabi province. The province is known for its impressive karsts (limestone rock formations), and once there, we saw some of these formidable formations protruding out of the water, as if they might fall at a moment’s notice.

In Klong Muang, we settled into an apartment (rented via airbnb.com) that was suffering from a severe case of pictures-hung-too-high-up-dom (but was lovely in every other way), from where we worked for the next two days. By chance (we were looking for some breakfast, and none of the hole-in-the-wall places we walked to were open so early), we came across an absolutely gorgeous resort: the Nakamanda Resort & Spa (Nakamanda… sounds like something out of a cool sci-fi movie!). Both hungry (not something we do well at), and needing to get to work fast, we then settled on the very pricey (for Thai standards) breakfast buffet, and pulled out our laptops. Some 8 hours later (at which point the buffet expense really had paid off), having gotten to know half the hotel staff (all extremely friendly and who didn’t bat an eye at our typing away while everyone else lay out in the sun), we left. I even got a tour of the beautiful property (and felt a lot like my mother while doing so). We’re usually not big spenders when it comes to living quarters (focusing our travel budget more on the culinary side of things instead), so this is probably not a place where I’d ordinarily choose to stay. But it is definitely a gem and highly recommended for those looking for a tad of exotic, nice weather, and gorgeous resort surroundings!

Having caught up on work-related issues, we started off for the little town of Ao Nang the next morning. From there, we caught a long-tail boat to Railay, a small peninsula that’s separated from the mainland by high limestone cliffs. Shortly after arriving, Phil started feeling unwell and went straight to bed. So after making sure that he was in no grave danger, I went out exploring by myself.

The beach of Phra Nang on Railay, voted one of the world’s most beautiful beaches in the world, is very picturesque, although the throngs of tourists carrying big suitcases around on the beach put a slight damper on the ambiance. I guess I just prefer an un-inhabited, ugly beach to white sands with a lot of people. My first sightseeing stop (and one of the main reasons I had wanted to visit Railay) was a cave called “Tham Phra Nang,” or “Princess Cave.” In this cave there is a shrine for local fishermen (Muslim and Buddhist alike), completely covered in carved wooden phalluses. Legend has it that a royal barge carrying an Indian princess sank in a storm during the 3^rd century BC, and that the spirit of the drowned princess came to inhabit this cave. Ever since then, she has granted favors to all those who come to show their respect. Totally showing their respect in the right way, if you ask me!

Since Phil wasn’t feeling any better when I checked in on him after the lingam-cave experience, I headed on to “Tham Phra Nang Nai,” or “Inner Princess Cave.” Nothing very penile here; a wooden boardwalk (that didn’t seem very trustworthy) led through a series of illuminated caverns, full of delightful limestone formations. At one end, there was a whole wall (a “stone waterfall” they called it) of sparkling gold-colored quartz. It was magical, but slightly creepy at the same time. Being the only person there, and with what seemed to be a million bats flying around, I decided to test the echo in the cave (secretly hoping that it would shut them up and make me a “bat-whisperer”). Sadly, my little bat-song didn’t do much for the bats, although it did result in the guard − who had been standing outside the cave smoking − running in to see if I was okay (“ok, miss, ok?”). I don’t think he understood my explanation, but he did show me to a wall outside with the myth of island, which I transcribed (word for word, no edits!) here. I absolutely adore the way some things are translated to English sometimes.

Having been away from Phuket for over a week and with Phil feeling lots better, we decided to head home to Phuket the next day. One last ferry and minivan ride each we were dropped off in front of our little condominium complex and settled back into Phuket life.