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Today we headed off on the Four Islands tour which sounded good but in the end wasn't brilliant, although it had its moments. This time we were on a really big speed boat with three 200hp outboards! There were around 30 people on the tour this time, mostly Thais and other asians. We were the only Aussies and there was a couple from Germany with a baby. First stop was Phra Nang Bay and a visit to a cave. This cave was interesting to say the least. Here fishermen come to make offerings of carved penises to a goddess whom they hope will honour them with a good catch! You have to see the photo. There were carvings of all shapes and sizes!! The beach was nice but steep and the guide told us that he would rather that we didn't swim here because then the asian people would want to go in too, and they aren't very good swimmers! We had a bit of a paddle and then left for another beach on an isthmus which was really pretty but the weather today was sunny and extremely hot! If you weren't in the water you just had to be in the shade so many people congregated under a stand of trees which provided the only shade on the island. There were myriads of fish swimming in the shallows and the water was so clear I was able to successfully take some photos of them! After an hour here we sailed around Chicken Island to a spot near some limestone cliffs which fell shear into the water, where we moored off shore. We immediately jumped in and commenced snorkeling in what I can only describe as the most amazing marine sanctuary I have yet seen. The visibility was at least 20 metres and there were fish everywhere. In some cases literally thousands of them. I was even lucky enough to see a banded krait (sea snake) which are extremely venomous and basically deadly, but luckily are very unagressive. It just swam through weaving in and out of coral and then was gone as fast as it came. Unfortunately we only had a half hour here: we could easily have spent much more. From there we went to Poda island where we had lunch of the same ilk as the day before (see previous blog). This was a strange island: it had accommdation on it and there was even a bar set up in the shade above the beach, but it basically has no permanent inhabitants and no villages or towns. There were vendors selling icecreams from large PVC eskies slung over their shoulders and one vendor cooking corn on a little stove/bbq. All were doing a roaring trade due to the heat! We bought a Magnum each from the most beautiful little Islamic girl of around 12 or 13 who said that she lived in Ao Nang. After a swim here we finished up by getting a drink at the bar: a Chang beer for me and a watermelon slushy for Sue. Yummy! We shared our drinks with a young dutch couple who told us that they had been to an island off Cambodia which they described as absolutely heavenly and unspoilt. Looks like we have an addition to our bucket list! Around 2pm we left and were back to Ao Nang in 20 minutes. Back to the hotel where I uploaded some photos whilst Sue had a snooze. She tried to call her mum who was unavailable and then the next thing I know Sue's mobile rings and it was her mum! How her mobile worked here is beyond us! She didn't organise global roaming and we haven't bought a sim! Crazy! We decided to go to the restaurant up on the hill just along from our hotel called Lae Lay Seafood. At the bottom of the road the hotel has a tuk tuk waiting which we hopped in and were taken up to the restaurant, as the road is quite steep and even then we still had to climb steps at the end. The outlook from the restaurant is absolutely spectacular (see photos) and the food was equally so! They even served my large bottle of beer in an ice bucket! The sunset was just magnificent. What a finish to the day.
- comments
Paul Waller Fantastic. I'm very envious. Weather here today is a bit 'warmer' Yes, a positively tropical 16 degC expected! Cheers, Paul.
Karin Grat blog Chris, how about sharing the name of the island off Cambodia. we can all add it to our bucket list then :)