9, 8, 7 and 4, of The Similan Islands
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2004
1
31
44
Trip End
Dec 22, 2004
Similan Islands,
Thailand
Saturday, November 20, 2004
(The title may seem a bit strange, but you know us, a pair of loopies, it was a wee song we made up, well Andy did first of all, then everything we did we sang to the same tune, like "Looking for Chicken Crabs, on the Similan islands" or "We slept out in a tent, on the Similan Islands" or "Watching sunrise on 4, of the Similan Islands", you get the picture. Yes, we're not wise ;-) )
We got a boat from Ko Phi Phi on the 17th to Phuket, and then straight on a bus to Khao Lak, where we'd been told it would be better to book a trip to the Similan Islands from. Khao Lak was nothing special at all, but so expensive for Thailand. we found a cheapish bungalow (Arm Bungalow, of all names) on the beach, where the big Thai woman "Oi" was desperate to give Jillian a massage
Best Beaches
. She couldn't escape. Every time we left the room, you could hear "Jelly, you come, copme get a massage, I do it nice, extra 40 minutes for you!" Help! We'd had a brilliant Thai massage on Hat Railay, but there was something over the top about big "Oi'. Jillian finally managed to escape without a massage. Next morning it was up bright and early and into the cold shower before our pick up to the pier.Our mode of transport to the Similans was by speedboat, ooh, which was exciting and at times it seemed more like flying than sailing. We were treated really well with as many cold drinks and fruit as we wanted. It took about 1 hour 45 mins to get there, but it was such a gorgeous day, and looking out to the horizopn to see the 9 islands appear one by one was really exciting. Similan is actually the Malaysian word for 9, so that's where the name comes from.
The first snorkelling opportunity was at island 9, and that was absoulutely superb. We saw so many fish of widely differing colours and sizes, and the water was so clear making visibility so much better. The guides threw bread in near the end, so we were just swimming in the middle of hundreds of different fish, even big ones. Our wee zebra fish friends were there again, getting a good look at us
Chicken Crab
. After about an hour in the water, we headed to island 7 for more snorkelling just off the beach, and although the fish we saw were mostly the same, it was just as spectacular. This was apparently the better place for snorkelling and the most likely place to see sea turtles, apparently, but we weren't lucky enough for that, we were in our element anyway, a turtle just would've been an extra bonus! Andy spied a puffer fish, which was appaently swimming right below the blind Jillian - she missed it.From island 7, we went for lunch on island 8. Island 8 is where there is a massive rock formation which is the symbol of the Similan Islands and is absolutely enormous. we took some photos beside it, of course. The food was standard Thai fare, rice with a spicy sauce, but was nice. We were then off to island 4, where Jillian and I would be spending the night, the only people on the boat doing so. They had only an hour on the beach, while we'd be there 'til 3pm the next day :-)
Island 4 was beautiful, though there were more tourists than we'd expected, but that made little difference as most of them were also only on day-trips and all left by about 4.30. There wasn't a massive amount of accomodation on the island, thankfully. There were about 10 people altogether staying that night, so it was nice to be alone in paradise, not like on Ko Phi Phi
Coral in the clear waters from Viewpoint
. We spent most of that day just relaxing on the beautiful beach, the sand was like flour, then after dinner we headed off on a mini trek into the forest in search of the resident Hairy Mountain Crabs, known more commonly as Chicken Crabs because of the cluck-cluck sound they make with their pincers. Theses crabs live totally on land and our guide found many of them hiding behind trees or in holes, he even went as far as to lift some up. Rather him than me, they were massive and their pincers looked like they'd take a finger or two off. After returning to the campsite, we went back to our rather luxurious tent of all things.The next morning we got up at 5.30am to watch the sun rise on a smaller secluded beach at the opposite end of the island to where we were staying that we'd found out about the previous day. A sunrise was something neither of us had seen before. It was so beautiful, seeing the top of the sun come up from the horizon and light up the sky, and the setting was just as nice, a totally deserted beach with only our few footsteps on it, beautiful white sand, trees and big rocks at either side of the beach. Unfortunately we forgot the camera, but we have it all on camcorder, we joked the sunrise was just like a cornflakes ad - maybe we can sell our footage to Cornflakes for the price of another amazing trip The Similans! :-) We stayed there for about an hour and a half, just relaxing, so enjoyable
Crystal Clear Waters
. There was a swing made from wood hanging from one of the big branches and Jillian just sat swinging away while Andy explored the nearby trees and water - it was really surreal, just like a dream.Our most strenous activity for our final day on the Similans, was a 30 minute walk up through the forest to a large rock on the cliff above the beach known as Lookout Point. It was such a steep walk uphill in the blazing heat, and our guide, Amin, was very patient with us. Amin was actually our personal guide, who looked after us so well, after we got through the language barrier - we felt like royalty on those islands, which funnily enough are owned by the Thai King! Finally getting up on the rock, after Andy had stepped on and broke the ladder, we were presented with the most amazing views of the islands and the Andaman Sea, it was breathtaking. You could actually see islands 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5. Then on top of that, the sight of a pair of Kites, that's the bird of prey, swooping through the sky topped it all off, although Jillian insists they were eagles, because she says that's more exciting and Andy can't be sure if they were Kites! We stayed there for an hour just lying back on the rock taking in the view, careful not to slip, for it was a long way down.
After the viewpoint, it was back for lunch -yep, rice again with pineapple and watermelon for dessert again :-) We ley on the beach for a while, snorkelled again watching big colourful fish feed off the coral, and finished off our underwater camera, trying to chase the fish for the best photos. Unfortunately 3pm wasn't long in coming, and it was back on the boat for our return to Khao Lak pier, and a taxi on to our next destination of Phang-Nga. Though, an extra bonus on the return journey was the marvellous sioght of a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins (the real Flipper). They weren't as acrobatic as the Dusky Dolphins we'd seen in Kaikoura, NZ, but they still did a few wee jumps, after Jillian made her dolphin noises.
A brilliant few days in yet another paradise.
