I woke up to a) early morning prayers from the mosque, b) motorcycle and truck engines rumbling by, c) mooing cows, d) chirping birds and grasshoppers. After a harried breakfast, we were bundled in a pick-up truck and brought to Ao Nang- our first views of the tourist populated beach front district. It was barely five minutes away from Noppharatthara Beach, yet felt like a different world. First world amenities, souvenir shops selling the mandatory wooden handicrafts and Thai restaurants catering to westerners prevailed. Anyway, Ao Nang's for another day. The main thing was there were people, lots of them. Everyone had descended for a day of kayaking, snorkelling or elephant trekking. We were there to kayak across the sea bit to the Ao Thalane mangrove swamps, about an hour's drive away from Ao Nang.
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