Island hopping Ao Nang, Thailand

This hotel is the first I’ve stayed in Thailand that includes breakfast.

Albeit it, just bread.

What was weird though was the butter – out of a normal looking butter tub, but had granulated sugar mixed in! Like the beginning of making a cake. Very tasty on bread!!

Today, I’m spending the day on a long tail boat ‘island hopping’!

The sea was unusually wavy today, long tail boats don’t have much cover to them, so I was soaked!

It took about half an hour to ride out to Poda Island and I may as well have swum there I was so wet!

The island was really pretty – a lovely view across to a nearby sea stack and lovely white sand stretching out into the sea.

Shame there were literally about a thousand people here.

But I managed to find a quiet spot to sit for a while.

We sailed around to Chicken Island. So called because there is a rock that supposedly looks like a chicken head!

The water was really rough still, so I didn’t risk drowning my camera and breaking camera number 2 in less than a week, so I don’t have any photos!

We stopped in a small bay for a spot of snorkelling.

Really there was not a lot of point!

The bay was just full of dead coral and no fish.

Around 20 other long tail boats were also squished into the small bay, a sea of snorkelers and engine blades mixed together.

Wonderful.

The boat driver then proceeded to gradually throw a whole two loaves of bread into the water to attract the fish. Not good for the fish at all, I don’t agree with doing that. (And all that came were some small sergeant damsel fish anyway).

We then stopped off at Tup island – this would have been a beautiful sandbar running between three small rocky islands had the waves not been crashing over it! It still looked pretty.

It took us a while it moor up, the waves preventing us from getting too close and not crashing into all the surrounding boats.

Lastly, we had a stop off at Phra Nang beach (I had already visited here yesterday by walking miles!). I walked a different way down the beach this time, over to a sea stack via a small sand bar. This is probably the most spectacular of all the beaches visited today, the limestone cliffs are amazing.

Overall, beautiful landscape and scenery. Lovely sand and water. Totally ruined by the fact that I was joined by probably around a thousand people, if not more.

These beaches are certainly no secret anymore.

And it’s a shame that these places are becoming totally destroyed by all the people here. I guess myself included!!

 

Monday 11 February 2013

It is finally time to wave goodbye to the palms, sand and sea and return to the big city.

I am a bit sad that it will be another 6 weeks until I am back at the sea (especially after living next to it for the last year, I will miss it!!).

But back off up to Bangkok.

After spending the morning enjoying the sunshine, I left at 3pm to begin the long journey back.

Firstly, a mini van to Krabi town.

You have to find these things funny, an 18 seat van – but no boot space, or indeed any space at all for bags.

So 18 people, each with a big backpack. Backpacks taking up 2 seats, everyone squished on all the other seats! Some people get terribly rude and shouty about their luggage/which van to get on, its very unnecessary and clearly the driver speaks no English. I was rather shocked at their attitude!

Ok yes, not ideal, but that’s how these things are, just squeeze on and make do!

From Krabi, another mini van to Surat Thani. This time, luggage went on the roof.

After a couple of hours we were dropped at the starting point for the bus…..a travel agency!

I ordered some dinner with the attached restaurant (being the only option around). Just green curry, but it was by far the worst food I’ve had in Thailand, barely edible. That was a shame.

Eventually at 8pm, the big bus arrived and we got going. Typical I ended up with a seat that didn’t move and the guy infront insisted on having his in my lap. So I was totally unable to move for the next 9 hours, wedged in my 1foot square space. To the point my legs went numb.

At the end of the trip, when I politely asked if he could move forward a little so I could get out – the glare I got! What is wrong with some people!!!