In Continuum.

In the film, due to chance, Leonardo DiCaprio's character comes upon a map that locates a hidden beach off the shores of southern Thailand, and he was intrigued by the idea of that. So along with a French couple he met, they decided to visit the island on their own and find out if there really is a hidden beach. The beach described in the movie is in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by high limestone formations, which is why nobody actually knew about the place save for a few lucky visitors. Krabi isn't exactly an unknown island in the middle of the ocean, but it is perhaps the lesser known cousin to other more popular tourism spots like Phuket and Koh Phi Phi. Krabi is a state in southern Thailand, and it is perhaps the most famous for attracting rock climbers from all over the world for their impressive limestone formation all along the coastline, and not to mention those randomly strewn mountains in the middle of the sea. You would expect yourself to be looking at a photoshopped postcard when you witness those mountains, but they are as real as realism gets. There is a particular beach though, the beach that we went to, that is so secluded and segregated from the main town of Krabi that you would have definitely missed it if researches weren't done prior to the trip.

Due to the agreement made during the trip, the exact name of the beach will not be mentioned. However, a little research on the internet is probably going to help a lot in identifying the beach, since Krabi only really has so many beaches with resorts. For now though, it shall be known as "The Beach", while the other beaches would be known as "The Other Beaches". The reason for these little code names is that we have agreed that The Beach is going to be our little happy place, a place belonging to us and where we would go if we want to let loose. The last thing we hope for would be a whole bunch of people wanting to go there and then crowding up the place, damaging the nature beauty. The Beach is unlike other beaches, simply because of what it caters for. Most of the residences on the beach are rock climbers, which is why the need for fancy resorts is minimum, and it is a paradise for backpackers who seek cheap and decent accommodation with toilets, beds and shelters. Though the toilets don't work at times, the beds are usually sagging in the middle, and the roofs have holes in them. Anyway, without photographs for now, here's an account of the first day to Krabi, which really should be the first night, strictly speaking.

After the shortest flight in my life on Tiger Airways and a long bus trip to Ao Nang, or Krabi Town with the air-conditioning on the bus going absolutely haywire, we were faced with having to find accommodation at midnight, local time, with most of the town emptied of people and the beach was threatening and dark. There were a few boatmen at the dock, just sitting there and smoking on their cigarettes when we approached them for a ride to The Beach. So there we were at midnight on a dark dark beach, carrying our luggage and hoping for a ride to a secluded beach around the coast with the surface of the sea as smooth as glass. A deal was made, the four of us hopped onto the shaky boat after waddling through the waves, and we were off towards our happy place as the stars revealed themselves in the sky after pulling away from the lights in the main town. It's been a while since I saw a display of stars as magnificent as that night, and I remember sticking my head out of the side of the boat, trying to catch the arch of Orion all over again. But the choppy waters were distracting, causing our butts to hit against the hard wooden benches on the boat repeatedly. Besides, the looming rock wall next to the boat rose up from the sea and blended in with the night sky at the top, taking our breaths away for the first time in Thailand. Just the first of the many moments to come, to be honest.

The first sign of Krabi's magnificence was probably the rock wall that loomed up to our right as the boat pulled into the bay. The boats, which acted like cabs around the beaches, are called long tail boats simply because of the long 'tail' at the bow, and the boats in the distance were like tiny little midgets of the Hobbit world next to the giant cliff, which goes to show how great the cliff was. Lights were thrown on the cliff from the cafes below, giving it a vast and somewhat sinister look from where we were a few hundred feet below. Jonno likened the look of that cliff to the hills in Mordor, the land of the evils in The Lord of the Rings, and that description can't more more apt, for it was dotted with caverns and steep walls, with stalactites hanging from the edges like menacing teeth of an enormous monster. The cafes were empty and the streets were vacant, and the five of us were forced to find somewhere to stay for the night as Kevin struggled with his drenched Timberland shoes, which he claimed to be supposed to stand up to the rustic outback at Krabi. Apparently though, it failed the test of the sea as he stepped into the waters right at the very beginning of the trip. So much for Timberland. 

Here's a rough outline of how The Beach is like. It is surrounded on three sides, mountains too high for any vehicles to cross, and too steep for humans to climb unless you are a rock climber like most of the population there. The fourth side of the beach is governed by the sea, which is inaccessible for a period of time in the year according to online sources because of its strong waves and high winds. Most boats are forced to dock far away from the beach, which forces the visitors to waddle through wet mud and rocks just to get to the main resorts. To say that they are 'resorts' is overstating things, because they are hardly a luxury to begin with. Most of the accommodations there are just little huts built on stilts, what we would see as 'kampong' in the context of Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia. Everything is in a state of rundown at this beach, which is also why the prices of everything are incredibly cheap. You have restaurants and minimarts all along the main road, but they are also overstating things as they are no more than shacks with tables and chairs for the most part. Our choice of stay that night, the Banyan Tree, was dark when we finally arrived. The bar was still opened at that time, and the bartender woke one of the owners up to give us a room that night. That man emerged from his dark room wrapped in a white towel and with his huge stomach exposed. Despite the time of the night and the rude awakening, that man had a smile on his face when he appeared, the first sign of the friendliness of the Thais.

We were shown to our rooms, with Kevin and Azhar sharing one room and the rest of us sharing the other. Our room had a large queen sized bed and the basic necessities. A fan above our heads, the very important mosquito nets, the cupboards and a single mirror, and a bathroom with small windows at the top and spiderwebs all over the place. It was a really rundown place, decently clean and had the basics of necessities. Problem with the place is probably the lack of cleanliness and electricity which runs from seven in the evening till seven in the morning, give or take. We were tired that night from the trip, and did not do or say much before we called it a night. Three grown guys sleeping on a queen sized bed with the middle of the mattress sagging in wasn't a pleasant experience, and I don't remember sleeping too much that night either. I was woken up by every attempt to change positions by my bunkmates, and they must have felt the same things when I tried to change positions too. It wasn't comfortable, and it was downright irritating with the holes in the mosquito nets allowing them to enter as and when they willed. That night was quiet, and it was long. We waited for our first day to end as we tried to drift off into sleep, and that was the end of that.