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Published: October 19th 2011
Waking up bright and early ready for a day out with Captain Mark, we peeked out our curtains to see what weather the day had bought us.. Much to our delight it was sunny and looking great! We have had such luck with the weather so far!
A private driver picked us up just before 8am. It was really nice to be picked up in a car and know that we didn't have to do the 'rounds' of the hotels again! The driver was a little late as he had gone to the wrong hotel... its funny, our hotel is great and such a bargain, yet no one has ever heard of it.. its not on the reviews on trip advisor... every time we told a local where we were staying they didn't have a clue.. its a hidden gem (especially in low season when the price is rock-bottom).
Getting to the Pier we were the last on the boat, and apparently they had been waiting half hour for us! Whoops.. nothing like making an entrance! Setting off on the speedboat our first destination was Koh Hong in the Krabi province. The weather was amazing and we had a
group of about 17 Aussies on the tour, incl. Gael and her friend Donna from back home (I used to work with Gael at Flinders Uni).
Arriving at Koh Hong, we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves.. Options on the island were swimming, snorkelling or going for a lazy walk through the island jungle... We opted to do the walk first up followed by a swim... Upon getting to a fork in the trail, Sean, one of the guides on the day decided we should take the right turn since he'd never gone that way! What followed was a steep descent upwards that turned out to be a tsunami evacuation route! We climbed to the top hoping we might find a viewpoint but it kind of led to nowhere.. by the time we got back down I was a little muddy and sweaty! We took the left turn in the trail from there and walked about 600 meters ending up back on the beach. Along the route, deep in the jungle were about 5 fishing boats, some intact, others smashed to pieces. Sean told us that these were 'dumped' there by the tsunami back in 2004
and were left there as a 'memorial', quite sad and eerie!
When we got back to the beach, there were several other tourist boats pulled up on shore but it was still quite deserted and so picturesque. We swam around, drank a beer while floating in the water and generally just relaxed until it was time to head to the next destination. Back on board, we soaked up the sun at the back of the speedboat.
We arrived at Panyii Muslim Fishing Village just in time for a huge buffet lunch. The food was fantastic and the view really pretty. After lunch, we went for a guided walk around the fishing village (all built on stilts over the water) before setting off in the boat to look at some cave art.
From here, we headed to the much dreaded and very popular tacky tourist attraction of James Bond Island. There were boats and people EVERYWHERE with stalls set up on the beautiful beach selling all the usual touristy stuff. After getting a photo in front of the 'rock' we piled back onto the speed boat and set off to do some canoeing/exploring of some Hongs. This place
seems to be on everyone's must do list when they go to Phuket and its a place that has never interested me, but Captain Mark obviously caters for all tourists and has it on the tour.. so James Bond Island is now officially ticked off the list!
Ben was keen to canoe himself once at the caves, rather than have a guide do it for us. I was up for the idea thinking that my baby can do anything so he must be an expert canoe-er too! LOL Lets just say it was a rough start (and I did start to feel some panic upon getting quite close to the rocks). The first Hong we went into was Phanak Island Diamond Cave and we finally managed to get the canoe headed towards the entrance. Having been in these caves and knowing how small and tidal they are, I was in a bit of a panic considering Ben was having trouble keeping it straight out in the open ocean! What the hell was he going to be like, in a small dark cave with jagged rocks either side of us!
His first attempt resulted in us sideways blocking other
tours coming out of the cave. They pretty much pushed him out of the way and before we knew it we were facing out instead of in... Out of the cave we went! LOL.. I was saying to him the whole time "What are you doing?! I thought you could canoe!!! Do you realise what you have got us into here?!" and he was like "Relax I can do this" as he ploughed us into the rocks again and again! Hehe...
Once outside the cave, I heard the determination when he uttered "I can do this" and off we went.... a few crashes and bangs later against other canoes coming out and the jagged rocks either side, we were in the middle of the dark cave and almost going straight.. By the time we made it to the other side, the relief I felt was amazing (I didn't want to think about the return trip!) and Ben was feeling victorious and smug! We paddled around the Hong for a bit before heading back out... He luckily had the current going with him on the way out and was used to it so did a great job! By the time
we headed back to the beach he was cruising along! So proud of him!
After dumping the canoe, we headed into Mangrove Hong which is a walk through cave. It is one I have been through on a previous tour. Upon finishing in the cave, it was back on the speedboat and we headed to Koh Naka Island for a final swim and relax!
The water was a little rocky at Koh Naka and we were told to watch for Sea Urchins on the rocks so it put me off going in the water. Right before leaving we went for a quick dip, but some of the others told us there were a few sea urchins that they had seen. That was enough for me to get out and while I dried off, Ben went to find the sea urchins with one of the other guys on the tour.
Arriving back at the Pier, our driver was waiting to take us home. Once we got back to the hotel, we decided to drop our bike off to Patong that night rather than the next morning when we would be in a rush to get to the airport.
We went for one final cruise on the bike to Patong and then decided to get some dinner. By this stage it was almost 10pm so after walking to Jungceylon and noticing all the restaurants shutting up, we decided to skip dinner and caught a tuktuk home. We grabbed a banana pancake from the lady out the front of our resort and headed to bed exhausted. Another full day out of the way!
We had been watching the flood situation in Bangkok over the past couple of days and were very undecided up until the last minute whether to go or not. I cancelled our food tour just in case (as it was a walking tour in Bangkok) and they were kind enough to give me a full refund! I will definitely give them a go next time... their customer service was brilliant. If you are in Bangkok and want to do something a little different check them out. They are called Bangkok Food Tours.
I rang the Bangkok hotel and they were happy to also refund based on the floods but were certain we would be okay. The decision was made... Bangkok here we come! See you
in Bangkok peeps
Love Reety and Ben
PS. Ben is obviously home now so LOVE and MISS you baby xx
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Paula Williams
non-member comment
Hey Reet - sounds like your up for a good time again!!
love reading your blogs and glad Benny lifted his butt from the toilet and like a trooper "kicked on a bit". Think I would have said "suck it up princess too.... but then I've got a cast iron stomach when it comes to travel!. Just planning my next the travellin willies trip to the Philippines and then will do Vietnam/Cambodia next. would you mind giving me the name of the place you stayed at in Kata (we usually stay at Kata Lucky Villas just down from the Red Chair. And also your most recent blog in Cambodia - you said it was a hidden gem not on trip advisor would love the name of it if its budget and clean. Photos look great - will have to read the full blog when I finish work! PS - what do you do for a job????? If ever in Newcastle you must catch up and introduce yourself - love talking travel with likeminded people. Keep having fun and live life to the full!