Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand

Thanks for coming. 1 hour and 40 minutes by plane from Singapore takes you to Krabi in South Thailand. Daniela and I went for a long weekend last week.

We chose to stay at Railay Beach away from the shops and the traffic. You can't get there by car. From the airport there is a half hour car ride followed by a 30 minute longboat trip. Which of course would be lovely, if it wasn't pouring with rain. By the time we got to the resort we were soaked. Luckily it did get better, although it was definitely unsettled. As you will see in this and the next blog we managed to enjoy the sun too.

The first morning it had stopped raining and initially was very cloudy. Then things began to brighten up. Here is Daniela wearing layers. Compared to Singapore it was definitely cool, barely 25 C!


I hope you enjoy the photos of this beautiful place

Alan















We stayed at Railay Beach West. This area of
Thailand is famous for its limestone cliffs and
they help create some of the most beautiful
beaches in the world






















The cloud is still very low
















Early morning reflections. We then went to
have breakfast. The cloud started breaking
up.......
















....so I went back on the beach to take some
more shots
















The cliffs rise on either side of the beach
















The place we stayed is lovely, quite enchanting.
It is beautifully choreographed with plants,
trees and flowers. At night there was a concert of
sweet sounds from the various (non-human)
inhabitants. It is the Railay Village Resort
















You can walk from the west beach to the east
beach very easily. On the east side there is a
mangrove swamp area. The fisherman
casts his net wide
















The monkeys were very benign and quite
happy to pose for photographers
















The pace of life is quite different to that of
Singapore!






















Reaching for the top. You can
have rock climbing lessons.
Needless to say I kept my feet
firmly on the ground






















But I really admired those who
were doing it. This lady took a
break to wave to us
















A stalagmite that has taken a certain shape.
Phallic symbols appear to be important in
Thailand
















On the way there were beautiful rock formations

















Beach Altar with lots of phallic reference






















Magic spot

















Don't you just wish you were there? I do
and I have just come back! This is Phra
Nang Beach, back on the West side, just
south of where we were staying























The boat is a refreshment bar






















Imposing and impressive
















These guys also impressed with their footwork,
Spot the ball!






















This guy is a very good climber.
His body is crafted by his sport






















But of course compared to a monkey....
Though not much climbing going on here.
More like lunch!
















High tide






















The entrance to Phra Nang Cave






















Coming in to the cave
















Stunning limestone rock formations






















Just dripping!
















A couple of photos of the local fauna
















Basking in the early morning sun

















I leave you with these sunny postcard shots
















Next time a I'll show you photos of what we saw
when we went on a boat trip. Hope to see you then

Helix bridge by day and night - Singapore

Hello and welcome to my blog.

It's been a while since I posted some photos of Singapore. So much has changed here even in the short time since I arrived in 2005. The Bay has been transformed with the building of the Singapore Flyer, the Marina Bay Sands complex with a casino and a lovely bridge called the Helix Bridge. Here are some photos of the bridge and the views from the bridge both by day, and night. Click on the title above to see an interactive virtual reality 360 degree tour

There are also some photos of the light festival with exhibits that can be seen as you walk around the Bay.

We are going for a long weekend to Krabi, a tropical island off Thailand. I'll show you photos from that trip in a couple of weeks
Alan


The bridge was originally called
the "Double Helix Bridge" Quite
quickly it was renamed the "Helix
Bridge"
















The shape of the bridge recalls the structure
of DNA which is formed by double strands of
nucleic acid
















Daniela - her trousers bring some light relief
from all the steel and science!















The bridge links Marina Bay with Marina
South in the Marina Bay area






















The bridge was officially opened on
April 24 2010, but only partially. The entire
bridge was opened on July 18 2010
















A view of the Central Business District (CBD)






















With the opening of the bridge
it is now possible to walk around
the entire Bay.
















This is where the National Day Parade takes place
on National Day which is on 9 August
















The bridge is made of steel with fritted glass canopies
that provide shade for pedestrians






















It has five viewing platforms
















This and the next two shots were taken from
one of the platforms. Here you can see the
CBD and the Fullerton Hotel which is the
white building to the right . It is the classic
Singapore skyline of so many postcards
















The Fullerton hotel on the left. To the right
is the City Hall area of Singapore
















The building with the dome is City Hall
















This shot was taken on a more recent visit.
The large building on the right, which is part
of the Marina Bay Sands development is now
finished















For the last month there has been an
ilight Marina Bay festival, Asia's first
sustainable light art festival. You can see the
tigers and jelly fish exhibits. There will be a few
extra photos at the end of some of the other exhibits
















Now some photos as it gets dark
















There are two pairs of coloured letters c and g,
a and t on the bridge which are lit up at night
in red and green. They represent cytosine,
guanine, adenine and thymine, which are the
bases of DNA






















The Singapore Flyer. It is
bigger than the London Eye
















Sunset over the City






















The Marina Bay Sands Resort
with its striking 'ship' rooftop.
I haven't been up there yet. I'll
show you photos when I go
















Final shot of the bridge and the Marina Bay
Sands develoment
















Walking round the Bay to the other side












Exhibit from the festival of light






















I leave you with this shot.
We have strange tropical
plants in Singapore (ahem!)