The tide was rising quickly on Phra Nang beach, and as the beach disappeared, more and more tourists appeared, quickly making it crowded. I was relaxing with my book when a commotion rose above the din and I sat up to see my towel neighbour surrounded by a throng of tourists who were absolutely (and invasively) enamored with her naked little baby, and had formed a semi-circle around them so they could take photos, make noises, and jingle things in his face. This went on for several minutes, until eventually the crowd reluctantly left the baby to his confusion over what had just occurred But then the baby found a shell and all was forgotten.
Not long after this, we noticed a bride and groom standing in full attire on a cliff just off the beach, directly in front of a “Don’t Jump” sign, where they proceeded, to loud hoots and cheers from the growing crowd, to jump into the water. We’re not sure if that was the wedding ceremony, or if they’d married earlier and this was a trash-the-dress situation.
Grabbed some lunch from one of the many longtails moored off the beach – we figure this is the way around the “no soliciting” signs posted around – then napped and relaxed under the trees until the worst of the heat had passed (this never actually happened, it was still blazing when we left the shelter of the trees later that afternoon).
Not long after this, we noticed a bride and groom standing in full attire on a cliff just off the beach, directly in front of a “Don’t Jump” sign, where they proceeded, to loud hoots and cheers from the growing crowd, to jump into the water. We’re not sure if that was the wedding ceremony, or if they’d married earlier and this was a trash-the-dress situation.
Grabbed some lunch from one of the many longtails moored off the beach – we figure this is the way around the “no soliciting” signs posted around – then napped and relaxed under the trees until the worst of the heat had passed (this never actually happened, it was still blazing when we left the shelter of the trees later that afternoon).
The path that links Phra Nang beach and East Railay beach snakes along the very edge of one of the karsts where the dripping stalactites overhang it. There are lots of Macaques here, hanging out and entertaining tourists just by being their regular monkey selves. We watched an episode of Monkey Povich where several males were fighting over one of the more promiscuous females; later that same episode they were waiting for the results of the paternity test to settle who the true Monkey Daddy was. Drama in the monkey world!
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| For TJ! |
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| Relaxing under the trees |
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| The cave on Phra Nang beach is filled with offerings of phalluses to the Princess Goddess for luck at sea. |
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| This low-tide path was soooo slippery... |
HaHa - this post is great. This is one of the best parts of traveling - days full of completely random odd events. It looks beautiful there. I am working on catching up and reading all your posts.
ReplyDeleteChey xo
Holy dongs, Batman!
ReplyDeleteAnd what amazing cliffs!