Ko Samui & Ao Thong national marine park
Trip Start
May 12, 2005
1
2
33
Trip End
Sep 11, 2005
Ao Thong,
Thailand
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Shared a beach hut for the first night with Lisa, a German girl I met on the all-night bus from Bangkok, who was very interested in politics and was asking me about the general election - found it surprisingly difficult to describe Peter Snow's 'swingometer' and why it makes such compelling viewing!
Yesterday took a trip to the Ao Thong national marine park: 43 islands about 23km west of Ko Samui. Stopped off to snorkell at a recommended spot just outside the park and saw lots of little fish, some with horizontal, some with vertical stripes. Near the shore there were bigger fish with jewel-coloured, glittery scales and tiny krill-like fish.
The Ao Thong islands themselves rise sharply out of the sea to form rocky crags, with the occasional lovely white-sand cove. 'The Beach' was filmed here and I'm sure they must have had a difficult choice when deciding on a final location. It was quite something to have them almost to myself after the bustle of Chaweng.
We stopped off at the largest island, to see the 'Emerald Lake' at its centre, then had a Thai buffet lunch on the beach. The afternoon was taken up kayaking around a couple of the islands in the blazing afternoon sun. If it weren't for the sunburn, I'd be back tomorrow like a shot!
Cathy
Arriving at Ko Samui
Hat Chaweng beach - about 30m from my beach hut!
Lisa at the beach bar
Ao Thong national marine park
Me at the emerald lake on Ao Thong's biggest island
This is the beach from where we set off on our kayaks
