Our second day started off later than the first by design, the Phang-Nga Bay All In One Plus Sun Set V.I.P Trip 8 Points & Canoeing wasn’t schedule to depart from the pier till 11am. However, upon arriving at the pier we were left waiting around in the souvenir shop for almost an hour. Finally our tour leader, Busa, introduced himself by saying “attention sexy lady and handsome man!” and we were on our way. After about 45 minutes we arrived at Naka Island.
It was similar to yesterday’s first island but longer and with muddy water. There was no snorkeling available and we were encouraged to just lay on the beach and eat and drink things. Instead we decided to rent a jet ski for twenty minutes. We left my camera on shore and took Sam’s waterproof Fuji with us.
Our next destination was farther away, so we we’re served lunch on the way – which was not as good as the fresh fried fish that were were served on the previous days tour. A Canadian girl eating with us asked What the fried pieces were (as I put one in my mouth) and when I said “fish” she said “yuck.”. If she can’t eat basic fried fish I don’t know how she expects to manage vacationing in Thailand. Ah, yes, I’m forgetting about the 24 hour mcdonalds and burger kings that litter the streets in the hotel saturated areas.
Eventually we arrived at another group of small islands.
We hopped onto an inflatable canoe and were taken around Hong Island and then through a cave.
After that we headed toward James bond island. On the way we boarded a big long-tail boat and toured the mangrove forest growing outlet the water before going through a cave that passed through one of the islands.
We next stopped at Panyi Island, a Muslim village built on stilts in the water, like a primitive asian Venice.
As we passed through a cross dressing man put a monkey on Sam, and then of course on me.
We boarded the long-tail boat again and headed for James Bond Island as the sun was starting to dip in the sky.
When we were about halfway there the boat’s engine died. There was about twenty minutes of nervous chatter between all of us tourists until finally the motor started up again with a Bang. Because of this and the day starting late our time at pangnga bay (which looks out on James bond island) was limited to only 15 minutes, a real bummer. It was already south of 7pm and the tide was dipping lower every minute. So, the island jutted up out of a mud beach instead of the bay you saw in the man with the golden gun (and every postcard from phuket). However, the silver lining was that the sun was settling on the western side of the island (James bond island is on the north beach). We quickly explored the rock trail leading to the western side and watched the sunset standing on a beach with “sand” made entirely of crushed seashells.
Before long busa was hollering that all the handsome man and sexy lady must leave. The sun was down by the time we reached the southern bay where our boat ws docked. The boats had been pushed out into the water to avoid getting stuck in the mud. We waded in the mud in water above our ankles to get to the boat, but once on board the tide had recessed further and boats had sank under our weight. We were stuck in the mud. After ten minutes of vigorous pushing from busa and his friends we were set adrift again – watching the moon as e glided over the water.
Once on board the big boat it became clear that our guides were not accustomed to navigating back to the pier in the dark. Sam overheard that they had no gps system on board. I had already gathered as much as I saw the guides using flashlights to signal other boats for directions. Because of all this it took us much longer to get back to the pier than it would have normally. We didn’t get back to our hotel till after 10:30.
