A Long Day

Phang Nga Bay National Park 010
Originally uploaded by susiebarber

So today I did my big tour. At 8:00am, I caught a longtail to the Krabi Pier. From there I travelled in a van with 7 Brits to Phang Nga Bay National Park. It took us 2 hours to get there, driving north on inland roads. We travelled through many villages, a few small towns, and past many (and I mean many) plantations. We passed plantations growing bananas, pineapples, mangos, rubber trees and who knows what else. They went on forever and I couldn’t even begin to count the all.

We did make one stop along the way – it was a gas station with bathroom and Muslim women cooking food on the side of the road to sell. Think of it as a Thai truck stop. It was quite a site, it was pouring rain and I didn’t want to get the camera wet. But after about 2 hours of driving, we arrived at a Muslim village where we boarded our longtail and headed out to the islands. It was still raining, but only for about another 15 minutes. The rest of the day was gorgeous.
We started on a river lined by mangroves. It was about a mile wide and only got wider as we headed to sea. We passed a mountain that they call both Camel Mountain and Magoo Mountain, depending on who you talk to. As we opened up in to the bay, the view was breathtaking. Islands were everywhere and its just as beautiful as all the pictures I’ve seen.

Our first stop was Tam Lod limestone cave on Kho Majoo. Basically, we just passed through the cave from one side of the island to the other. Nothing all the spectacular, but there were self-proclaimed “ecotour” boats there with the tourists kayaking around.

We soon passed Kho Panyee. It is a floating village with about 2000 inhabitants. It was founded by Muslim immigrants from Indonesia bout 200 years ago and still going strong. The mosque rises up above the town and a few restaurants line the docks at one end of the island. The inhabitants are mostly fisherman who sell their catch on the mainland.

Then we arrived at Kho Tapoo. It’s more commonly known as “James Bond Island” because The Man with the Golden Gun” had some scenes filmed here a million or so years ago. Our guide also claims that some of the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie was filmed here as well – I’ll have to rewatch that movie to find out. I’m pretty sceptical. Anyway, it’s a pretty little island with too many people scampering about. And some women from Kho Panyee have set up shop hocking food, jewelry, t-shirts, and anything else they think people will buy. We had a half an hour to wander around, so I did. There’s pictures, but this really wasn’t the highlight of my day.

We then returned to Kho Panyee to have lunch in one of those restaurants. I covered up with a long sleeved shirt and zipped those pant legs onto my safari shorts because I didn’t want to offend anyone and I got some nice comments from the people in the restaurant. Funny how little things go a long way. Anyhoo, they were ready for us and served us a set family style fare. Everything was amazing, from the soup, to the shrimp, to the seafood stir fry to the veggies. I’d go back in a second, just to eat. Afterwards, I set off meandering the village. It really is mostly floating except for the end near the mosque. Everything is crambed together and you can see the water through the planks under your feet. I eventually found the cemetary and the mosque. The call to prayer was on the loudspeakers and the men were all heading my direction. I could look right inside the mosque and see them facing Mecca praying. I decided not to take a picture – it just didn’t seem right to invade their privacy that way. I walked on and got a little lost. I passed the school, many homes, the grocery store and finally found my way back. We then took the boat back to where we first boarded and got back on the bus.

Our next stop was Wat Suwankuha (also known as the Monkey Cave Temple). There are monkeys everywhere, I have to admit. But when you go inside, the thing that catches your eye is the giant reclining Budha. There’s Budha’s all over the place, but the giant reclinging one catches your eye. There’s also a tomb with the ashes of members of the family that built this temple 200 years ago, a monk accepting offerings, bats on the ceilings and yes, lots and lots of monkeys. I had gone up some stairs to another cave of the temple and was heading back down when a monkey stopped me at the top of the stairs. He walked right up to within a foot of me, looked me right in the eye, and kept motioning with his hand – he kept raising it to his mouth. The SOB was begging for food. I walked on by and back to the main entrance. More monkeys, including mothers with babies, were all looking at me as I went by. Sucker that I am, a bought 2 bunches of bananas from the lady with the food stand. I tucked one batch under my left elbow and started handing out bananas to the monkeys. They come right up and take them gently out of your hand. Of course, as I’m doing it the big SOB from upstairs had come down. He came from behind, jumped up, and stole the bunch from under my elbow. He then ran up a cliff, stashed them, and then came back and begged for more. No wonder he was the biggest monkey there. The Brits kept saying "cheeky monkey" which brought Mike Meyers on SNL flashbacks. Anyway, I think I’m monkeyed out now.

Our last stop of the day was Manora Waterfall. It’s a long fall that meanders down a hillside for 4 km. There’s a pool, then small drop, then another pool, etc. We walked up a ways to one of the nicer pools and started in. The pools were full or tiger fish. Though it doesn’t hurt, they come up and suck on your skin. Needless to say, no one stayed in the water for long.

After our 2 hour drive back, I caught another longtail back to Railay Beach. I’ve showered and am heading to dinner. I’ll be leaving Railay tomorrow, but I haven’t quite decided where I’m going next. If I don’t figure anything else, I’ll head back to Ao Nang and figure it out.
Only 1 more week left in Thailand. I’m already starting to get sad.