Phuket is Thailand’s largest, most populous and most visited island, thriving on tourism, but still retains a spark of the real Thailand. We tendered into the south side of the Island at 7:45, then boarded a bus for the one hour ride to the top north-eastern section of the Island to the Phra Taew National Park. We passed many pineapple and rubber plantations on our way. Our guide was Mai (pronounced My) and our driver was Dome.
They have a school for monkeys! They train them over 6 months to climb the cocoanut trees and pick the cocoanuts.
Our activities were coordinated with the tide. When we returned to this dock at 3:30, it was completely dry, all the way out to the boat! Sawasdee was the outfitters and they did a superb job! This is Suk, our personal guide.
Instead of taking a canoe in to Phra Taew National Park, we decided to jump in and swim there! The water is emerald green and very warm. This is Mai telling us about the cashews which we picked from the tree. We found a jelly fish and Jerry was brave and picked it up!
We then canoed the waters of Phang Nga Bay.
Back on the boat, we enjoyed the BEST Thai food ever! Fish, spicy chicken, some locally grown watermelon, pineapple, and some other fruits that I have no idea what they were, but were tasty!
We hopped back into the canoe for the grand finale…the cave! We had to wait for the tide to drop in order to get in to the caves. Even then, we had to lay down as to protect your head. It is very dark, so a flashlight lit our way.
We’re headed into that crevasse called a hong, with an interior lagoon! Open to the sky, these hongs are full of mangrove forests and are inhabited by monkeys that were stranded there after crossing during an extremely low tide. They are formed by earthquakes (not volcanoes). They popped out of the ground. There are only 3 hongs in the world; one in China, Vietnam, and here. There is one way in and one way out.
About 45 minutes from here is the location where the James Bond movie from 1974 was filmed – that will have to be another trip! On the way back, Suk made me a bouquet of flowers from colored straws, then put them in a water bottle! What a beautiful end to another fantastic day!
Two sea days, then on to Sri Lanka.
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