{"id":2578,"date":"2013-07-30T21:42:30","date_gmt":"2013-07-30T13:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/?page_id=2578"},"modified":"2013-07-31T20:50:06","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T12:50:06","slug":"phuket-13-pg-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/?page_id=2578","title":{"rendered":"Phuket ’13 Pg 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday 16th<\/b>
\nWe both woke at 6am, which was far nicer than being dragged awake by the alarm that was set for 7am. We had no choice but to walk the dirt road and be brave enough to use one of the two ATMs that were around in \u2018the village\u2019. We needed cash and they were the only choice without paying 600 Baht for a taxi to somewhere more civilised \u2013 and still use an ATM there.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t really take any photos of \u2018the village\u2019 and it\u2019s hard to describe without being rude, which I don\u2019t wish to do, because the people were beautiful, friendly and kind. So where does that leave me? And you? Their lives were simple. There was always the incongruity of small, ramshackle, wooden dwellings while the occupants played with iPads and talked on mobile phones. The rough wooden shelters that the taxi drivers all waited in were often equipped with TVs, yet had no other comforts at all. Just some wooden supports holding a few wooden benches for them to sit on, and a wooden roof.<\/p>\n

So the thought of using an ATM seemed like a dangerous pastime \u2013 would it even work? What on earth would we have to go through if not? There was a choice of two and we decided on the one attached to a still-closed money exchange. Holding our breath, David put the card in. The first relief was that the screen showed English as well as Thai writing. The second relief was that it all worked as planned and we got both our money, and our card back. Phew!<\/p>\n

We returned to our room for a congratulatory cup of tea\/coffee and made sure we had everything we desired packed for the cruise as the sky came over black, the wind increased, and then down came the rain!!! Yup. (Yup as in \u2018no surprise there\u2019.)<\/p>\n

Thankfully, it cleared after about 10 minutes and disappeared as fast as it had arrived. It was, after all, monsoon season. We knew this before we went.<\/p>\n

Downstairs, and we were assured by the little restaurant that our requested packed breakfast was \u2018almost cooked\u2019. Interesting. We\u2019d asked for a ham and cheese sandwich and a cheese sandwich. Cooked??? When we\u2019d requested these the night before we\u2019d been offered additional French fries \u2013 really? For breakfast? And cans of Coke, which we\u2019d politely refused. But the sandwiches arrived and it turned out they were toasted club sandwiches, and were very nice indeed. I only ate half of mine and saved the rest for later. By now it was 1\u00bd hours until we sailed so I had to take my travel sickness medication.<\/p>\n

The bus was a little late picking us up, but the driver was friendly, as were the other Aussies already aboard, and the drive was pleasant, taking about 30 minutes. When we got out of the bus we were each given a sticker to wear and told we could get coffee or tea inside a caf\u00e9\/gift shop. I aimed for the loo, quick, before too much of a queue could develop and I\u2019d be dragged away without emptying my tank. I needn\u2019t have worried \u2013 1 girl took up camp inside there and we had to resort to finding another toilet altogether!<\/p>\n

Eventually we were back in the caf\u00e9 and I said to David \u201cAre you having a coffee?\u201d And he, only speaking Male, not Female, said \u201cNo thanks!\u201d So he was given a bit of a \u2018look\u2019, realised his mistake, and hurried off to get me a cup of tea – tee hee!!! I hadn\u2019t had a single sip when we were hurried along to walk to the pier. I carried the paper cup carefully so as not to spill the liquid I was so desperate to drink. The travel meds dry your mouth out like a sandpit on a hot day, but I couldn\u2019t stop to sip, as the walk was hurried, and a surprisingly long way!!! We were half way along by the time David took this shot.<\/p>\n

\"Very

Very Long Pier<\/p><\/div>\n

We were all herded onto one of two boats. It was absolutely crammed full and I walked along trying to find a single inch of seat to perch our rear ends on and be together! We found a tiny corner, right at the front of the passenger area, squeezed behind a metal bulkhead with no hope of seeing where we were going.<\/p>\n

\"'Jacket

‘Jacket Lift’<\/p><\/div>\n

I guess this means \u2018life jacket\u2019.<\/p>\n

An additional feature to the over-crowded conditions was that we were right next to a massive speaker that the guide was using and it was absolutely deafening. We couldn\u2019t even understand a word she was saying because we appeared to be the only people aboard who were not Chinese. I said hello in Chinese to the people next to me and they seemed surprised and happy and replied the same. I often say that a good day is one where I get to speak more than 1 language and I managed 4 on this day, English, Thai, Chinese and German.<\/p>\n

Here was our *only* choice of view from our tiny corner perches. To the left was a high metal side to the boat and behind was the wall between the passengers and captain\u2019s cabin. I felt so bitterly disappointed!<\/p>\n

\"Crammed

Crammed in like Sardines<\/p><\/div>\n

Then, amidst the words that the guide was saying I heard her say \u2018Monkey Island\u2019. What??? Oh no, please don\u2019t tell me we\u2019re on the wrong cruise!!! What else can go wrong?<\/p>\n

After she\u2019d finished speaking \u2013 and it was a very long time \u2013 I went over to ask about Monkey Island. It was far too late to fix because we\u2019d cast off before she\u2019d said it. Her Thai side kick laughed and assured me in a really friendly and kind way that we were not going to Monkey Island. Whether I\u2019d misheard her or not I don\u2019t know. I didn\u2019t care \u2013 at least we were on the right boat! The guide was Thai too, but obviously of Chinese heritage. The 2 of them were gorgeous!<\/p>\n

I forget why, but David went downstairs and came back very excited to report that it was almost empty down there! Trust me, we left a dust trail behind us to get there!!! Downstairs were tables and chairs, only about a quarter of the tables had anyone sitting at them, and it seemed to be the Australian and European section of the boat. Most odd!<\/p>\n

To get to the open air front of the boat we had to walk along a really narrow section with a flimsy and too-low railing. Thank goodness I was not responsible for children on this trip or I\u2019d have freaked out. Yet I saw children of as little as about 8 years old walking along here with no adult in sight!<\/p>\n

\"David

David ‘On The Edge’<\/p><\/div>\n

The air was full of moisture and although we could see the many islands quite well, the camera picked up the moisture and would only produce misty photos. It was such a disappointment. I\u2019d got my photos from last year and had hoped to improve on them this year, but it was never going to happen.<\/p>\n

\"Misty

Misty Islands<\/p><\/div>\n

Our first stop was James Bond Island and some long boats with absolutely massive engines were brought out to our boat to transfer us to shore. It was pretty push-and-shove so David and I patiently waited until we could get into one of these without being knocked into the water.<\/p>\n

\"Arrival

Arrival at James Bond Island<\/p><\/div>\n

At the far end they thankfully had a little set of stairs for us to step onto. Though the frozen posture of the guy in the photo does make me laugh!<\/p>\n

James Bond Island would have to be one of the strangest places! It\u2019s basically 2 gargantuan tall rocks with a flat beach between them, and the beach has sea on the front and back of it. The beach is covered by a square with market stalls facing outwards on all 4 sides\u2026 and 12 million tourists.<\/p>\n

\"Inevitable

Inevitable Market Stalls<\/p><\/div>\n

The rocks themselves were truly fascinating and, if you were steady on your feet you could clamber inside one of them. Hopefully you can see the girl walking along inside the centre \u2018window\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Open

Open Caves<\/p><\/div>\n

We clambered up and here\u2019s David doing the crouched walk required in parts of it and disappearing from my view.<\/p>\n

\"David

David Disappearing<\/p><\/div>\n

I followed along until the floor was sloping and wet. I was going no further and called out to David to tell him so, but he was further ahead than his hearing distance so I just stood to wait for him to notice I wasn\u2019t with him. The next thing I heard was a thud and I knew it was my camera case that he was carrying hitting rock. I was so scared! I absolutely knew that David had fallen, and had visions of him hurting himself of the rocks and then shooting out of one of these \u2018windows\u2019 and landing in the ocean. Not a thing I could do to see what had happened, where he was, or if he was alright!!! In that instant I felt so angry with him for getting so far ahead and not noticing that I wasn\u2019t with him but I could only hold my breath and strain my ears, and a split second later I think someone had asked \u201cAre you OK?\u201d and I heard David reply that he was. Oh my goodness!!! He came back within a minute or 2 and assured me that he had only got a very small cut on one finger.<\/p>\n

Moving right along from those very unpleasant imaginings, this felt like a fun view once we were both reunited.<\/p>\n

\"Looking

Looking Out to the Beach<\/p><\/div>\n

Once we\u2019d safely climbed down and crossed the beach a man asked me to take a photo of himself and his lady \u2013 he\u2019d got the exact same camera as me so he returned the favour for us! It\u2019s funny the way we humans are drawn together by such small similarities.<\/p>\n

\"Young

Young Lovers<\/p><\/div>\n

As we were being pushed and shoved to get back onto the long boats to go back to our cruising boat, the guide came up to us. It seemed she\u2019d been speaking to all the Westerners, and here\u2019s what she had to say. \u2018You people must not be slow to get to the food when we get back to the boat. Asian people are not like Westerners and they will not stand back to let everyone have a share. You must get to the front of the queue or they will eat all the food and there will be nothing left for you. No food!\u2019 Wow!!!<\/p>\n

We were last aboard the last long boat so it was already too late to tell us this. We got back to find that there was a queue and we were near the end. The Chinese girl behind me made it her duty to interfere with my rear end as much as possible to help the time pass before she could get to the table. Even as we approached the table she beat me and the 2 people in front of me to get a plate and cutlery!!! Half way along I said to David \u201cI keep getting my rear end messed with!\u201d, never dreaming she would understand me, but she hastened a \u201cSorry, sorry!\u201d and continued without any change in her behaviour at all.<\/p>\n

The Chinese were now at the downstairs tables and their plates were truly mounded up to overflowing. No consideration for others at all, and the worst of it was that the \u2018finished\u2019 plates were still half full. What a dreadful waste, to say nothing of the greed and selfishness.<\/p>\n

Our next stop was probably the highlight of the cruise for us, and felt like the moment where the overbearing sense of disappointment in the holiday finally lifted. We had stopped quite near to a cliff face and there were a huge number of zodiac canoes coming out to meet us. We happened to be quite near to the back of the boat at the time so for once we weren\u2019t far from the beginning of the que\u2026 I mean shove-and-scramble. And we held our ground too!<\/p>\n

\"Canoe

Canoe Trip<\/p><\/div>\n

We got in and were soon paddling towards the cliff face, and then straight on in!!!<\/p>\n

\"Disappearing

Disappearing Into the Rock<\/p><\/div>\n

In places we had to lean far back to avoid the dark rock so close above our heads, but soon there was daylight ahead.<\/p>\n

\"Re-emerging\"

Re-emerging<\/p><\/div>\n

As we emerged into the bright sun once more it was the most amazing and beautiful sight. We were in a circlular \u2018lake\u2019 in the very centre of this island rock! Sheer cliff faces covered in lush green trees and creepers towered above us. We both said \u201cOh WOW!!!\u201d and just drank in the beauty, managing to ignore the other 10 canoes around us.<\/p>\n

Almost dead centre in the photo below you can see the tiny daylight windows peeking where we needed to go to get out again. The visit in here was far too short. I could easily have sat there in total peace for an hour and not been bored. The only thing I wished for was a fisheye camera lens to be able to take a photo of the entire scene! I believe these enclosed ‘lakes’ are named hongs.<\/p>\n

\"In

In The Hong<\/p><\/div>\n

Our very lovely paddler took this photo for us.<\/p>\n

\"David

David & May<\/p><\/div>\n

And I grabbed a shot of his beautiful smile too!<\/p>\n

\"Our

Our Gorgeous Guide<\/p><\/div>\n

Just as we got out from under the island and were heading to our boat, one of the canoeists was pointing to the right. We looked too and there was a black wall of cloud and heavy rain coming towards us. David asked \u201cIs that bad?\u201d and the paddler replied \u201cVery bad!\u201d and started to paddle like crazy for the boat. There were about 15 canoes all vying for position to allow the passengers to climb back onto our boat but, somehow, our man pushed them all out of the way and we were being helped back on board in a matter of moments.<\/p>\n

He had been incredibly kind because all of those people who got back onto the boat after us may as well have swum from the island \u2013 they were *drenched*!!! The canoes and paddlers were all hauled aboard as well and we sat there for a while with torrential rain hitting the clear plastic blinds that had been pulled down around the top deck area.<\/p>\n

It stopped again about 15 minutes later but you can see how wet the air was from this shot.<\/p>\n

\"After

After the Downpour<\/p><\/div>\n

The crew put some fresh fruit out \u2013 sweet bananas and pineapple, which was very nice, and the Chinese passengers must still have been full from lunch because there was plenty still as David went back for seconds, and thirds.<\/p>\n

The next island, Hong Island, we decided not to do. It was only a few minutes since we\u2019d got back on the boat and apparently it was another \u2018island middle\u2019 such as we had just seen. I suppose we really should have gone, but the rush to escape the rain had unnerved me a little, so instead of that we took photos of the cloud above some nearby islands that appeared to be volcanoes erupting. Which wouldn\u2019t have 100% surprised me, but I was trying to be positive.<\/p>\n

\"Volcano

Volcano Lookalike<\/p><\/div>\n

We weren\u2019t there long and were soon on our way again, but in no time, our boat slowed once more and we were looking at a tiny, tiny beach at the far side of a small cove. Apparently this was the beach used in the film named \u2018The Beach\u2019 \u2013 which we watched after we came home \u2013 what a pile of rubbish!!! ROFL<\/p>\n

We were stopping here so that people could have a swim. David was going to stay on the boat but we\u2019d only done 2 of the activities and it would feel very wasteful to only do 2 of the 4 for the day. So we piled into a canoe and got a lift to the shore. I just pottered around and took some unthrilling photos while David did actually have a swim. Some people had elected to swim from the boat to the shore but one guy will never do that again. Suddenly he was yelling for help between going down under the water. Several of our canoes leapt into action and soon had him clinging for his life to the pointy end of one of them as they paddled him in to shore. It was rather a horrible thing to witness, but of course we were all hugely relieved that he was OK.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Beach<\/p><\/div>\n

And that was it pretty much. Back to the port, walk to the buses and we were driven back to our resort.<\/p>\n

After we got back we had a nice shower to get the salt air out of our hair and elected for dinner in the resort restaurant. We had garlic bread (oh how I *love* garlic bread!) and it was really nice! David had grilled chicken with potato and salad. The ‘salad’ was 2 square inches of lettuce with a single slice of cucumber and a single circle of carrot on it – we giggled! I had fish and chips, after which we had a wonderful and leisurely chat and drinks with Sheryl and Jon. We followed this with a cuppa while we researched what we wanted to do the next day, and then fell into bed.<\/p>\n

Next page\/…<\/a> Please feel free to leave a comment in the fields below before leaving this page. Email addresses will not be used in any way, nor displayed for anyone to see. All comments are hidden until approved by me and spam will not be approved <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday 16th We both woke at 6am, which was far nicer than being dragged awake by the alarm that was set for 7am. We had no choice but to walk the dirt road and be brave enough to use one … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":560,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2578","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2578"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2578\/revisions\/2604"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}