Phuket – Island Hopping 1

I’m finding it very difficult to blog on a daily basis. Partly because I am always exhausted after a long day, usually starting at 7am, followed by a short break before night activities, and partly because it takes a while to select and edit the photos, So the regularity and quality of posts will diminish somewhat as time goes by.

The last few days I’ve been island hopping, finishing with my last one tomorrow, and I’ve seen a Muay Thai kickboxing event. This was the real deal as opposed to those shows put on for tourists.

I took a full-day speedboat tour to Krabi and a few islands to get a feel for the beautiful water and sands. Although the weather was pretty bad the water was very warm and the snorkeling fun. I will say that the quality of the reefs we saw was very average. Perhaps the tsunami made a real mess of things, perhaps I’ve been spoiled with what we have back at home – even in Port Philip Bay – or perhaps there is better to come. What made the tour great was that I shared it not only with the obligatory United Nations of Tourists, but with 6 off-duty guides. These local Thai’s were taking a rare chance to see the sights they don’t get to see when they are working, and were an absolute riot. Even with the bad weather we were all smiling, all day long. And to top it off they bought me beer for the return trip. Just me, mind you. I guess I look more thirsty than every other tourist in Phuket…

The trip out to the first island took about 90 minutes, during which their cameras didn’t seem to stop clicking. Mine was grabbed halfway through, and I was forced into this shot (Can’t you tell?). For the benefit of those who like to see me in photos (are you all nuts?) …

On the way out there were some interesting sights.  I can see how the tsunami was so devastating, as there is a very long shallow area, and the tides are quite dramatic here.  This guy is collecting “clams” (we call them pipis, whelks and cockles) whilst the tide is out. He pushes the box along, which apparently somehow “calls” the shellfish out, then grabs them and throws them into the box.

Halfway to the first island we passed a boat which seemed to be on fire. Seeing as our captain made no comment or radio call, I can only assume that someone was brewing local coffee or cooking up a storm inside.

My first attempt at snorkeling with my underwater camera housing was a mixed affair.  Whilst the camera didn’t get wet, I wasn’t able to see what I was shooting very well, and the PVC often pressed the function buttons whenever I dived deeper and the pressure increased.  It remains to be seen how successful I’ll be at shooting whilst scuba diving.

We stopped at Chicken Island.  I can’t remember why it is called that, but it’s a nice little sand atoll that has a shallow tidal crossing to another island.  On the landing area was a group of people repeatedly playing a snippet of Indian music.  I didn’t think much of it until someone explained to me they were filming for a Bollywood film.  This was a love scene, and I realised eventually that the two actors were lying on the ground kissing for each take, and that they had been filming the same take for the entire time were on the island – that would be about 45 minutes!

Around the Krabi region are small islands with caves in which people live. They set themselves up to collect birds nests for a period of time after which they set sail back to the mainland to sell their harvest.  Looks pretty peaceful, but I don’t suppose there’d be any wireless internet.

The trip home was very much a different experience to that going out. A storm hit us, and we all got extremely drenched.  Whilst this didn’t bother me at all the locals are not used to anything below about 28 degrees, and they were clearly suffering, even under their ponchos.  They still managed a painful smile, though.