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Published: June 21st 2017
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On Captain Mark's Speedboat
On Captain Mark's Speedboat Geo: 7.97501, 98.3515
On Tuesday we were picked up and driven to the pier for our speedboat tour of Phang Nga with Phuket Sail Tours. We had a organised a private charter as we were a group of nine and we had a wonderful day. It was our second private charter with Mark, we went out on the Sakai a couple of years ago. This trip was just as good. The beauty of doing a private charter is that you can choose the start and finish times. Normally the pickup is very early, but as it was just our party, we were collected at around 9.00am in a very comfortable minivan for the approximately one hour drive to the north east of Phuket to the pier.
We hopped onto the speed boat and immediately headed towards the Krabi region for our visit to James Bond Island. We went there first in the hope of avoiding all of the crowds that constantly descend on this smally island. We were
At James Bond Island
At James Bond Island partially successful, it was still very crowded but not as bad as I have heard it gets later in the day. While the island was very pretty, it was well covered in stalls selling tourist bits and pieces. Still, I am very glad we saw it.
We then stopped at a couple of islands, including Koh Panak. We saw some absolutely stunning hongs (inland rooms) before doing some sea kayaking. The scenery in Phang Nga bay is totally spectacular. This was my third trip to the region but you just cannot become blase about it - it is so beautiful and striking. The total peace when you step out into a hong, with its towering cliffs and greenery and sometimes the occasional monkey cannot be described.
After our kayaking expedition we headed to the Koh Panyi village on stilts. Captain Mark of Phuket Sail Tours took us around the village explaining everything which made it very interesting. It was quite amazing to imagine people living in such a beautiful place. It has its own school and hospital and even a soccer pitch floating on the water. We bought quite a few souvenirs here as all the things were actually made on the
At James Bond Island
At James Bond Island island, rather than being imported from who knows where. We watched some glass blowers so I had to buy a few glass animals to take home.
We then had a delicious lunch. There were so many platters of prawns that there was an entire platter left over at the end! As I mentioned in a previous blog, I don't eat shellfish, but luckily the crumbed fish was delicious, as was the chicken and cashews and the fried chicken. Yum! The staff also presented Mum with a birthday cake, which she loved. Thanks very much for that Mark.
After our lunch we cruised to some other islands, including to what was called the Secret Beach for a swim. It was typically hot and humid, so that was wonderful. We returned to Kata late in the day in time for dinner. We ate at our hotel's buffet dinner that night. That was the only bad dinner of the trip. It was quite an inexpensive meal, but really not very
Koh Panyi Village on stilts, Phang Nga Bay
Koh Panyi Village on stilts, Phang Nga Bay nice - you obviously get what you pay for! They too sang to Mum and presented her with yet another cake. She was getting quite used to all this attention by now. After dinner we wandered around the town and had foot massages.
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