If you take a boat from Ao Nang and head south, after having rounded a couple of promontories you catch sight of the suggestive Railay peninsula and its high mountains that enclose it like a treasure chest, denying any other access to it than from the sea. Railay’s tribute to the world are two of the most beautiful bays on the coast of Krabi: Railay West and Phra Nang, whose main characteristics are their beaches, their sea and their rock formations, panoramic pride of this province so coveted by climbers from all corner of the world. Disembarking at Phra Nang Beach, the first thing you notice, especially if it’s hit by the sun’s rays, is the reddish color of a mountain at the extreme right of the bay, sculpted by nature as a work of art of Baroque architecture. In the central part of its base you immediately notice a cave. It is Phra Nang cave, also known as the Cave of the Princess, characterised not only by the usual stalactites and stalagmites, but also by the presence of a small altar and numerous offerings. These comprise food, incense and all the usual suspects used in this part of the world to grace a spirit, but what stands out the most is a large quantity of wooden phalluses of every shape and size. The cave with all its ‘comforts’ is the home of a legendary princess or, better said, of her spirit. A spirit that local fishermen try to propitiate by handing the rich gifts we have just mentioned. But who is really this princess? What is the legend that makes her still alive and worshipped today? Talking to some of the slightly elderly fishermen, repositories of memory and traditions, one actually discovers more than a legend. LEGEND 1- Tayomdeung’s Daughter In a village in present-day Krabi province lived a man named Tayomdeung, who longed for a son that he could not have. One day, in a last desperate attempt to make his dream come true, he went to pray to the Dragon King, who granted him a child, in exchange for the promise that if a girl was born she would then have to marry his son. Eventually, a little girl was born into the world; she was named Nang and she grew up to be of extraordinary beauty over the years. Over time, Nang grew up and fell in love with the son of Tawaprab, another villager. Tayomdeung, forgetting the promise made, arranged the wedding with the groom’s family. Inevitable was the fury of the Dragon King who, disguised as a guest, wreaked havoc during the ceremony, destroying everything to avenge the shame suffered. A hermit who was passing by tried to appease the fury of the Dragon King and, failing to restore calm, he decided to transform everything into rock with a spell. Thus it was that the house of the couple was transformed into the cave of Phra Nang, the wedding dinner became Susahn Hoy – the fossil shells cemetery -, other objects of the house were transformed into the nearby islands of Mor and Tub and in other surrounding ones, and the Dragon King was transformed into the ‘Dragon Crest Mountain’, the mountain range bordering Klong Muang. LEGEND 2- The fisherman’s wife Phra Nang was the devoted wife of a local fisherman who one day never returned from the sea. Overwhelmed by pain, she spent the rest of her life waiting for him inside the cave that will take her name, and when she died, her spirit remained in constant expectation. To propitiate her protection, the local fishermen pay homage to her with all those objects that we still find in the cave. LEGEND 3- Indian Princess Srikul Dhevi Perhaps the best known myth tells us about an Indian princess named Srikul Dhevi, who sailed in those waters to go and meet her betrothed. In an adverse fate, her vessel sunk and wrecked, and with it her dreams. The princess lost her life while still young and without having known the joys of marriage. As always happens in these circumstances, the spirit of the princess could not find peace and began to wander around those places so unfamiliar to her. She kept frightening the local fishermen, who had nothing left to do but try to win her favours. The cave became her home and the fishermen set up a spirit house for her, providing for all her needs with offerings of food, drink, flowers, candles, incense and a large quantity of wooden phalluses. They were certain that the princess, as a sign of gratitude, would have them protected from the dangers of the sea and would have guaranteed them abundant catches. 2004 Tsunami During tsunami the coast of Krabi did not suffer serious damage and the victims were very few. An elderly boatman, who was ferrying me to Phang Nga beach a few days after the terrible event, said to me: “You know, it was the hand of the princess that stopped the wave and saved Krabi”. Who knows… maybe it’s true and maybe not, the legend certainly continues. Images by yGuglielmo Zanchi (Pluto)

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Sometimes, there are days that start out the quietest and end in the greatest adventures. This is particularly true of the day I saw whale shark in Krabi, Thailand. The fabulous Railay West beach was the starting point of the adventure. I was having my morning coffee at 8am, observing volunteers cleaning the beach of the excess of trash that comes with the night tides, when one of the locals I had met in a local bar the night before came my way. Come on the boat with us, he shouted, full of excitement. There are whale sharks right offshore here, he added, turning and racing towards the boat. Whale sharks? I thought. These are the largest fish in the world, rarely seen from shore. This was all the convincing I needed to grab my bag and rush to catch up with him. We got on to the slim longtail boat, the traditional mean of transport in this area of Thailand, where we we were greeted by a crew of equally exuberant faces, some local and some foreign. Soon enough, my friend prompted a loud revving of the engine and in a quick lurch we were off into the bay. As we cut through the waves I was given the details on what was going on. Earlier that morning one of the guys had been out on his boat and had caught sight of the whale sharks feeding nearby. He had never seen such a sight in all the years he’d been riding a boat, and had quickly radioed-in the discovery. It took about ten minutes to see what we had come to see. There were massive fins coming out of the churning waves, and they looked ominous in the sunlit water. At first it looked like there where several different sharks, but as we got closer we noticed that there were only two of them, each about 7-8 meters in length. They were so close that both their dorsal and tail fins where breaking the surface. As our boat started circling them, we saw that the majestic giants were skimming the surface with their mouths wide open, feeding on microscopic plankton. Both sharks had a kind of white polka-dot pattern on their rough oily-looking dark blue skin, and with their broad faces and tiny black eyes, they slightly resembled two enormous catfish. It was truly amazing to watch them from the front of the boat as they gracefully swam around us and under the bow. The sharks seemed to be totally unafraid of the boats and even playful at times. We all rushed to snap pictures and videos as we all knew this was probably the only time we were going to see something like this. Then my friend announced that he was going to swim with the sharks. Everybody stared in amazement and stammered protest as he donned his snorkel gear and plunged into the water not 3 meters from the giant creatures. I do not know much about whale sharks, but I do know that they are not man-eaters like the other giant predator of the ocean, the Great White Shark. These gentle giants seemed to welcome my friend into their midst. We continued to follow the sharks around, trying to reach out from the bow to touch them as they slowly swam along beside us. And as one of the foreigners also climbed warily into the water, a third shark, even bigger than the first two, was spotted far in the distance. As the morning wore on, more boats had gotten word of the spectacle and were racing out to see the beasts, which would probably put a great deal of stress on them, so we reluctantly decided our time to leave had arrived. All returned to the boat at once, and my friend turned the bow away from the rising sun and headed east back to shore. What a spectacular adventure, which was born just out of an ordinary, unplanned day.

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The plastic containers were loaded with water, food, and all the necessities for the 4 Islands full day trip. The boat was a longtail, traditional yet nicely equipped with a proper canvas cover, floored all over with good polished wood, and complete of cushioned seats. At its command, an experienced boatman and fisherman for 15 years from Klong Prasong who claims to know these seas like his pockets. The smiling and articulate tour guide told us about the program of the day while our bare-breasted Captain started a shining brand new engine and got us going. In spite of the heavy rain that had fallen the day before, it was turning into a nice day; the morning towering clouds were quickly and conveniently swept away by a gentle and consistent breeze. The morning sun rays hit the mountains on the coastline creating a blurry haze that would dissipate once the sun rose further up in the sky… The shapes of Krabi’s most popular islands got closer and closer as we sailed. We passed Koh Poda, cruising nearby rocks modeled by the sea and by mildly acidic rain over the centuries, and observing the hundreds of stalactites the boat was passing under. The boat docked in Koh Tub, a popular and highly visited spot where 3 islands are connected by a sandy path that crosses the immensity of the sea. Due to the high tide, the sandy path to Koh Khai, or Chicken Island, was under 50 cm of water, and could only be crossed by carefully wading and taking care of the strong undersea currents. As for why they call it Chicken Island, it is enough to look at it: from most points it does indeed have the shape of a hen, with rocks resembling neck, head and beak. The sun stroke our bodies and a gentle breeze kept us cool. Wherever we turned, massive limestone outcrops emerged from the waters, bare and vertical, their tops covered by thick vegetation. Some of the biggest islands like Poda or Khai are nearly entirely covered in lush vegetation. Boats came and went, parked and unloaded tourists, and the place quickly crowded up. The area is part of the Noppharat Thara National Park, and there is a counter where the Rangers who live on the island collect the entrance fees from the tourists. We passed boatmen resting in the shade of trees and climbed an easy path that took us to a 100 meters high viewpoint from which we enjoyed the surrounding views. This classic tour, branded “4 islands”, is misnomer some would say, as the last place we will visit, Railay, the fourth destination, is in fact a peninsula only reachable by boat but still part of the land. We were given a different explanation of the tour name by the guide: the 4 islands are in fact our next destination, four rocky outcrops one near the other called Koh Sii (in Thai, koh means island and sii means four). This is one of the best sites for diving in Krabi, the guide told us. On the top of one of the rocks, some black herons boringly stared at tourists. We stopped to do some snorkeling, while the crew of our longtail boat fed bread to the thousands of yellow and black striped tiger fish that populate these seas and that rushed and fought for a breadcrumb. Our longtail boat left for Koh Poda; there, we docked in a beautiful deserted spot. On the beach, the staff was busy preparing the settings for our lunch. Giant bamboos umbrellas were placed on the hot sand, and they provided an excellent shaded area where some wicker mats were positioned and lunch was served. We were given a generous free time to wander around the island; we walked the length of a circular beach lined with casuarina trees and reached the restaurant area, crowded with tourists. Some were coming and going as part of a day tour, while others had chartered their own longtail boat and spent the full day here. There is a group of small and finely decorated temples standing on a wide marble slab, some of them guarded by elephant statues. There, incense is continuously burning on the altars. The whole scenery is idyllic; a massive stony outcrop emerges from the sea in front of us, only a few meters away from Poda. People used the shaded area for relaxing and picnicking, and it was easy enough to find a quiet corner from which to enjoy the magnificent views and breathing the healthy sea breeze. At 2 pm we were off to the last destination of the day. Phra Nang Bay, part of the Railay peninsula, is indeed a popular spot easily reachable by longtail boat from Ao Nang. It is there that we enjoyed the last swim of the day; we paid a quick visit to the Nang’s cave, dwelling place of a legendary lady contended by two men at the beginning of the times. It is here that fishermen bring offerings: carved images of phalluses to placate her fury and seek her protection. We contemplated the sea from the stunning Phra Nang beach, the perfect spot to end a marvelous trip out at sea, to the magic beauties of Krabi.

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