Snorkelling, Climbing and ponchos
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2009
1
7
14
Trip End
Ongoing
Phuket,
Thailand
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I was happily watching the fish when suddenly everyone started shouting and swimming towards the boat, which did make me panic a bit - you can't help but imagine a shark, but I was so suprised when everyone laughed as a huuge sea turtle swam right up to me, we were told not to touch but was hard to swim away as he was friendly and kept bashing us with his head! It was an overwhelming experience and made the whole trip worth it! The rest of the day we spent on a tropical island with turquoise water and bright white sand beaches, the sand was so soft! I then spent a day chilling at Karon beach in Phuket before travelling the next day to Ton Sai in Krabi by ferry- an interesting experience jumping from boat to boat with a 17kg backpack, it's difficult to remain balanced (especially as the boats rock)and the thais are really lovely but they just seem to smile and nod at you as you struggle on!
Anyway I then had a private longtail boat to get to Ton Sai beach, Krabi is beautiful with limestone rock formations jutting out of the sea- if you've seen the bond ''Man with the golden gun'' you can imagine it better as it was filmed in Krabi! Ton Sai is a climbers paradise with great rocks to climb and a chilled friendly atmosphere. I met jo and her friend Fiona here, I had met Jo in Bangkok and we wanted to meet up again. We enjoyed ourselves watching the climbers, lounging on bamboo slats at the reggae bar in the sun and eating bbq'd fish with jacket potatos (this excited me a lot!).
That night there was a huge storm and it rained harder than i have ever seen before, since there are no roads in Ton Sai the mud paths became rivers and we found shelter at a restaurant to wait it out. We then went to the beach to take photos of the thunder and jo has a great camera and managed to get some wicked shots of the lightning.
The next day we decided to go on an afternoon and evening snorkel tour, we were met my louis, a tattooed covered climber from Kent doing a bit of work for the scuba shop while he was travelling. He was a bit negative about Ton Sai and very laid back, so it was destined to be an adventure from the beginning..
The sky was grey and thundering as we set off (a great sign) and we got completely drenched as the sea was so choppy which was quite amusing, we were glad we had dry bags for our cameras! The first two snorkel sights had crap visibility due to the choppy sea, so I got a bit freaked out as I couldn't even see Jo and she was swimming next to me (yep, imagining sharks again).
The next sight was around a big cluster of rocks and limestone formations, the water was clearer but really choppy, we were told to swim through the rocks by our ''expert guide'' and as I went for it I couldn't really see anyone else but kept swimming and was really thrown about by the waves. I suddenly realised the coral was a centimetre from my stomach and I scraped my knee, I started panicking about damaging the coral and tried so hard to stay near the surface and swim without hardly moving, then my snorkel filled up with water and I couldn't see either. It seems quite funny now but thinking about it makes me feel a bit panicky and I could never imagine how people could be swept around by the current but I was being thrown about as much as the fish, even though I am so much bigger! Amazingly I managed to get out of that tight spot and found a deeper point and swam round back to the baot..to which louis said 'oh yeah it's a bit shallow today...best not to do it after all'' hmmm..qualified guide I think not!
Anyway we then arrived on a deserted bit of beach to wait for another boat to bring us dinner, we drank beer and watched the sunset, we also hunted for crabs (as in just to find them to look at) and I even managed to pick one up - crabs just look like hard spiders to me and they move way too quickly! A few hours passed so it was pitch black and we had no lights, a few of us sensible people (eh hem) had head lamps, i then suggested to Louis that he call the base to check where the boat was, he did and our boat had broken down and they were bringing another. By the time the next boat arrived (with our dinner on) the tide had gone out too much so we had to walk barefoot at a snails pace on really rough and sharp rocks to reach it.
It was so painful and Jo even cut her foot. By the time we got on the boat we were all a tad fed up and didn't want to get back in the water, but we didn't want to be kill joys so we went to the cave for the night swimming. We jumped into pitch black water and watched as the plankton shimmered as we moved, apparently it reacts to movement and it was like holding a sparkler underwater! We then had to get from the sea to the boat without a ladder, i can't lift myself up using my arms, my legs have all the strength (ish) so I had to be helped up and nearly fell forward and landed on my head, but thankfully no one laughed.
We then realised that the boat crew hadn't transfered our flip flops from the broken boat onto the new one..so we had to walk home through the jungle on a sharp stone path barefoot..was not happy. But as a plus point these experiences do make for a funny story!
The next day we decided to avoid paying for a longtail boat to get to the next bay so we walked around the rocks and waded through water, I would just like to note that merrel sandals slip like crazy on any sort of rock and therefore should not be advertised as an outdoor/water worthy shoe! I nearly cracked my head open several times! I tried barefoot but that was even worse as some rocks were sharp. Anyway we made it and decided to walk around Railay, we found a beach with mangroves which were really beautiful and we then saw a sign which said lagoon and viewpoing..why not? Then the next sign pointed up a muddy stone vertical hill... I scoffed 'Jo it says that way?! must be straight on' we then looked up and saw some weathered muddy covered tourists coming down and confirming that no that sign wasn't a joke and yes that was the way.
I have no worries going up but it's going down that freaks me out, anyway decided that i might as well try a bit of climbing while I was here and some kind soul had attached some ropes to hold on to (and thank god for tree roots). We managed to get to the top gasping and covered in red mud (might have been clay) then we saw some crazy spanish tourists climbing down a vertical drop to the lagoon in bloody flip flops! Jo and I decided our lives were worth more than that and since I hadn't really done any climbing anymore it wouldn't be sensible..and it was waaay to slippy..ok we chickened out but it was nuts! We made it to the viewpoint which made the whole petrifying experience worth it and we got loads of nice snapshots.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach before there was a second downpour. We decided the following day to go back to Phuket where i had previously stayed to do a trip to the James bond island. We also got invited to a foam party in Patong- which is a resort full of gogo bars and ping pong shows and lady boy cabarets..don't worry we just walked past. It was quite sad to see all these thai girls following old fat westerners wearing tight spandex looking dresses, and the girls dancing around poles looked so vacant. We didn't think much of Patong. While we were there a thai man ran up to me and put the biggest iguana i have ever seen on my shoulder..I always thought i liked iguanas but it started to put it's claws into my back so i shouted at the guy to take him off. I then had to run away from every other thai holding an animal.
The foam party was hilarious and probably quite dangerous but we hadn't been drinking much so we knew where the stairs were and the steps down into the dance floor, though thinking about it I still slipped and fell on my arse, though was helped up my a cute kiwi so i'm not complaining! We went to James bond island the following day and they even played us the film on the way which was a nice touch (it is a bit of a weird bond..movies have come a long way!)
Before we got on the boat it started to pour with rain (people are thinking the monsoon is early) and we were given sexy yellow plastic ponchos and life jackets, really felt like a dumb tourist. We visited a muslim fishing village which would have been nice if it wasn't so geared towards the tourists visiting with a proper toilet and market stalls everywhere and children selling you postcards, then again it helps them make a living so its a toughy!
James bond island was great but we were only given ten minutes there which was strange so Jo and I were a bit disappointed we didn't get to have a walk round, we got an amazing sunset coming back on the boat though which cheered us up. Jo then went the following day to Khao sok National Park and I have stayed in Karon sunbathing and trying to save money and I may have treated myself to a private room with air con and a telly and a dvd player...sometimes it has to be done! And I watched Slumdog Millionnaire and Burn After Reading which are both great films! Slumdog made me miss India again and i urge you all to see it if you haven't already!
Tomorrow i am off to Khao Lak to try and get to the Surin islands which are rumoured to be even more beautiful than the Similian islands. Hope all is well in the UK, and rest assured that Thailand has been having grey days and a lorra lorra rain! x
Comments
Hey
Wow it sounds like yr having a great time out there, it really sounds like an experience that we all need to explore, you keep on giving us these updates cos every time I read them it just gets more interesting, any look after yrself girl.
Huss x