This, was an amazing day.  We were nearing the end of our two week trip to Cambodia and Thailand, at our last Thai beach destination before heading to Bangkok and then home.  We had spent the previous 3 hours on a boat getting ferried from Koh Pi Pi island to Railay Beach in Krabi.  The ferry ride alone was spectacular…the turquoise blue sea streched out as far as the eye reached, dotted with craggily formations and clusters of islands.  This is what you see in the movies…and I sat like a child for 3 straight hours soaking it all in.  Legs hanging off the side of the top deck, face resting on the railing, and a huge grin plastered to my face.

Just as we started to see the towering cliffs of Railay Beach that make it such a famed rock-climber destination, the ferry’s motor turned off.  Time to transfer onto Longtail Boats for the rest of the journey…or not.  After only about 10 minutes on the Longtail Boat and still about 100 yards offshore, the motor for this boat stopped.  Apparrently we had to wade through the ocean the rest of the way to the beach…with our huge backpacks.  So we all took off our shoes, jumped overboard, tried our best to hold our bags high and dry and waded into shore.  A surprisingly fun entry to a new destination.

After checking into our hotel on the beach (which had an adorable “Welcome Henricksens!” sign out front) and freshening up a bit we walked back out to start exploring.  This photo is what we encountered.  The most brilliant sunset either of us had ever seen.  Not only because of the striking colors in the sky, but because of everything else unfolding in the glow.  The tide pulling out to sea leaving a bubbling, rippled sandy surface.  Longtail Bots rocking in the distance.  Epic cliffs, seemingly born of the sea, framing the entire view.  We stood, awestruck at the beauty of this place for a good 10 minutes…feeling a pang of sadness as the last glimpse of the sun finally dipped into the sea.  Lucky for us, we would experience a sunset view just like this every single night of our stay at Railay Beach.  The best sunset viewing location in the world, I’m sure of it.