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Published: November 24th 2007
We got up really early today because the day tour agency would pick us up between 7.45 - 8am. We were told that our package was more of an upscale tour compared to most of the other tours in the market - they are mostly budget tours. So here we were standing in front of the hotel lobby, fantancising what kind of vehicle would pick us up. Most of the pick-up vehicles were air-conditioned 9-seat vans. A few were open jeeps and big coaches. Then we saw a mercedes-benz mini bus - we certainly hoped that was ours but it wasn't. This time our van showed up - with our hotel name on it. hmmm.. It was just a van - like most others got! But I guess I should be thankful that it wasn't an open jeep. Our van stopped at another hotel to pick up two more couples and we drove through the center of island to Boat Lagoon, which is on the northeast side of Phuket Island.
Boat Lagoon is basically a port where most tour boats set off. Different tour agencies' offices are all here. We were met quickly by someone and were taken with other
people to Phuket Adventure's office, where they served us free snacks and drinks. We were also given a blue wrist band and learned that from now on we should follow our guide whenever he called out "team blue". I love our tour guide - he's a very tanned local guy who speaks excellent English. Surprisingly for a 20-people group we also had another tour guide who's caucasian. Maybe that's why we paid more.
Before the trip, I read online that you were going to get really wet from the splash on the speed boat ride so it would be better to have a dry bag or everything waterproof. I also read that vomit was expected no matter how tough you thought you were. To be safe, I bought a dry bag before this trip but I actually forgot it at home, luckily our camera case and backpack are waterproof. I also took motion relief pill at breakfast. Honestly, once I was on board I noticed all these were not quite necessary. Maybe we were just lucky as the weather was beautiful and the boat ride was not that bumpy. We even chose to sit in the open front end
all day so that the sun could kiss us all over and that we also got to have the gorgeous view in front of us. But the price for that was that after this whole day, we were both toasted - in and out!
We went snorkeling first about 20 mins outside of Boat Lagoon, near a tiny tiny island that looks like only rocks there. The water was so clear here where we could see colorful fish swimming around. We were given some bread to feed them and once you threw them in, they all gathered from all directions to fight for the bread. I never went into water that was deeper than my height so I was quite scared to go in, not to mention it was hard to breathe through the mouth tube. I actually ended up going back to the boat right away. Sean tried it a bit but he got "kissed" a few times on his legs so he came back to the boat soon too, when another team member also mentioned the same "kisses" he got. They thought it was because the water was only about 2 meters deep. It scared him to
think about what could be possibly on the bottom.
They only gave people 20 mins of snorkeling time and then we started to head north to Phang Nga Bay to visit the James Bond Island, where two 007 movies took place. It was a longer ride to go to James Bond Island. We slowed down a few times when we got closer to take a look at the rocks and caves. It was such a scenic area. If I didn't hear wrong, these rocks were formed hundreds of million years ago. Because of acid rain, there are these pointy sharp ends pointing down to the water on the edge of the stones. Down on the rocks there are small and big caves where tourists can take the canoe trip. We saw a big cave called the Bat Cave - you could hear the bats clearly already. We also saw a fish boat parking next to another cave where local people were busy with something. Our guide told us that that was where they collected the bird net - which is very popular and expensive nutrition supply in Asia. Interesting!
We also came across this "scooby doo" rock sitting
on top of the hill. Not sure the real name of that rock but we were told when it is full moon, scooby doo would jump from the hill to the water.
After "scooby doo" rock, we were soon taken to the James Bond Island. We came through from the back so it was hard to believe that was it when the tour guide told us we were there as there was no sign of that famous rock which we came the miles for. But it was very beautiful scene there as well. We got off the boat and got ready to explore this island. When I said island, we did expect it to be a big area. We climbed up the steps and saw that pointy rock right away from there. Tourists were standing in line to get the spot for pics. We kept going and soon you went down hill already and it was a tiny beach with very shallow water surrounded by a few other big rocks. James Bond stone is standing right in the middle between the big rocks. And that's it - the whole island - definitely a lot smaller than I thought. The
little beach were packed by vendors selling souvenir. I was amazed by how much influence this particular rock has brought in. It's got visited by people from all over the world. But hey, it is indeed a nice unique looking rock!
Our lunch was going to be at the fish village sitting on water near Panyi island. I was all excited about getting to see this amazing village. It looks unreal from pictures. On our way there a small incident happened though. Sean's Wisconsin badgers hat got blown away into the water while we were moving with full pace. Despite of the fact that we kept telling the captain and the tour guides that it was ok, it was only a 5-dollar hat from Walmart, but they still stopped the boat and turned around to fish the hat back to us. We were quite touched by that!
The fish village where we had lunch at were all supported by either wood or concrete columns on the water. All people in this village are all muslim, so we were warned not to order achohol for lunch. Lunch was included in our tour package and it was not bad. The
restaurant was sitting at the front end of the village where the view was very nice and the breeze from the sea felt wonderful. Lunch included fish, shrimp, chicken, egg, rice, ice-cream, coffee, tea, pepsi, and I think pork too - although I thought pork is a big no no for muslims. We walked around the village a bit after lunch. The first main street behind the restaurants are all souvenir stores, mostly local stuff but they also sell other stuff such as lays chips, coca-cola, batteries, etc.. Man, I just wonder how the merchandising is done for this on-the-sea village! It is fascinating to think of what life can be like on this island. When I walked by one store, a woman - actually a ladyboy who still got a male voice, forcefully handed me a monkey - I tried hard to say no and ran away under his arms. It was an awfully big monkey. I was sweating all over already and didn't need anything fuzzy like that. I think he wanted me to take the pic and pay him once the monkey was with me. And honestly I was surprised to run into quite a decent number
of ladyboys in this all-muslim village. But over all, I still think this village is quite unique and amazing!
Khai Island was the last part for the rest of our day tour. It was a very small island half way between Phuket island and Phang Nga Bay. The sands here is like snowy white, water is so clear that you could see little fish right near you. From time to time you see fish jump over too. It is not as developed as any beach on Phuket Island. On the beach crabs were seen easily, saw some different kinds of muscles crawling too. I got all excited picking them up to show Sean but he kept telling me how cruel I was by adding another two days for their tour back to the sea. As a matter of fact, they actually crawled pretty fast!
On our way back to Phuket, it looked like storm behind us at Phang nga Bay area - we were lucky to leave on time. We actually never ran into any rain fall during this whole trip - lucky us! Back to boat lagoon, we made sure we tip the crew well as they'd
gone out of their way to get the hat back to Sean. They were very considerate the whole trip and took care of everyone. A few times I left my backpack right under the sun when we were on the island or lunch, they considerately put it inside the boat for us so nothing inside would get melted. Everytime we came back to the boat we noticed they put the towels on our seats so that our butts wouldn't be burned! Their service was definitely impressive! Back to their office we were welcomed back with ice-cream and icy-cold towels. That was much needed considering we were under the sun for the whole day.
Back to the hotel, we were both shocked when we looked at the mirror and saw how toasted we were. Sean wouldn't allow me to touch his forehead or nose while I wouldn't allow him to touch my shoulders. Gosh that hurt!
We wasted no time after shower back in hotel and came out again for lobster hunting. We really couldn't wait until we got the chance to go to Phuket town for cheaper lobster. It was suggested that lobster should be cheaper on the
Emily @ Khai Island
Boat & Rainbow chasing me!!!2nd street next to the beach. We asked for price restaurant by restaurant. There were a few Phuket No.1 seafood restaurants, a few Phuket Best seafood restaurants too. Their prices were pretty much between 160 - 200 bhts per 100g, although you can still bargain a little bit. We finally picked Yoyo seafood restaurant across Phuket Royal Hotel. They seemed to be packed so it must be good. We picked out a 900g lobster for 1000 bhts. That was a great deal. Along with a few other dishes, we were both happy and wished we could have another big losbter.
Our desert place was once again our regular ice-cream place at the mall. I also got pampered after that for a cucumber facial massage inside the mall. I don't remember how many rounds they put this and that on my face but that really helped relieve the burns on my face. When Sean touched my cool cheeks after that, he regret for not taking one as well.
Despite of how tired we were from the day tour, it was our last evening in Phuket as we were leaving the next day at 10pm. We decided to go out
for a few beers and enjoyed the night life a little bit. Sean took me to Tiger disco - must be the biggest disco bar in Phuket. It was quite empty when we first went in but soon this place was jammed. They got all kinds of music - european, American, Indian and local Thai.. It was quite wild and crowded. We ended up spending a couple of hours there. By the time we left around 2ish in the morning, that place was still so crowed to walk out through people.
It was a long day but it was quite the highlight of this trip. We expected tomorrow to be better as we planned to rent a car first thing in the morning and to drive around the island. That would be fun!
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