Early start today, off on another organised tour this one was for the whole day. Our mission today was to see the sights of Phang Nga Bay, this time on a luxury big boat visiting some secluded places that we hadn’t been to before. I am not quite sure how we ended up on this particular adventure tour as I said I didn’t want to go canoeing. I wanted the luxury boat ride but never the less that was the mission for the day, canoeing. I wasn’t worrying about the canoeing it was more the fact that I had a flash brand new camera and with my awkward arse I was worried I would send it soaring deep into the ocean.

So off we went in the mini bus to meet up at the tour office in Ao Por & when we arrived there were a couple of hundred other people waiting for their day at sea as well. In true organised Thai chaos we were all tagged with a colour sticker which indicated which boat we would be joining for the day. We were then told to walk down to the jetty. So on mass this sea of people all did as we were told and walked down to the jetty which incidentally was lined with venders selling hats and the likes along the way. (who would have thought) The luxury boats were all moored at the end of the jetty so we had to wait to be herded on to an open back bus to be taken down to the boats which was based on the colour sticker that we wore.  We decide to walk as there were so many people waiting and only two buses and it was a lovely day for a walk.

Once we reached the end on the jetty there was about 6 Boats all tied up  four of which were side by side, again the staff looked at our stickers and said you’re on the 2^nd boat, which meant we had to cross the back deck of  two other boats to get to ours. So on and off the boats we went with the giant sized steps in between each boat to reach ours.

Well on board it wasn’t exactly luxury as I would define it but it was comfortable and perfect for cruising. So off we went, all the boats took off at the same time, our boat had many different nationalities & god knows how the staff did it but they communicated and herded us all around even though we all spoke different languages.  There was pleasant young man who was our guide for the day who filled us in the history of the islands and a few Thai legends along the way. It was very serene cruising along through all the island and bays.

The boat was well stocked with soft drinks, fresh fruit, coffee tea and bickies which you could have as much of as you wished.  We were a bit concerned that there was a big tray of bananas on board which is bad luck. Robbie has seen bananas thrown overboard on boats he has worked on by superstitious skippers. Not so, on this boat though the Thais had no problem at all.  We managed to put our superstitions away and guess what? The boat didn’t sink!

First stop was Koh Lawa, a deserted tropical island and the first canoeing experience.   We moved to the back deck of the boat and our paddling man arrived with our canoe so time to get on board. Hmmmm well getting off the back of the boat into a skinny canoe needed to be navigated with some care as I am not noted for being very agile. With some awkwardness, I managed to get my arse in the boat without tipping the little Thai guy and Robbie into the drink. Once seated I was right and we were paddled over to the shore to explore  it was easier getting out of the canoe when it was pulled up on the beach.  We had about an hour on the island to swim or canoe or explore what ever we wanted to do. It was a beautiful little place really isolated, well except for the herd from our boat and one other. There were signs of someone living there as there was a hut there with washing pegged out to dry but that was about it. There were some dodgy looking toilets and a gazebo structure selling cold drink etc.

Getting back on the big boat was little harder, getting my arse out of the canoe from a sitting position was not easy for me so Robbie and a little Thai dude hauled me out. I was trying to be nonchalant about it but I was a little embarrassed but that soon passed. Back on board we cruised along to visit James Bond Island again.  Our Big Boat put down anchor and we were put on long tail boat and taken to shore again. I had to do the giant size step out of the long tail onto the Jetty and I had to be hauled up onto the jetty. I didn’t feel so bad this time as quite a few people were having trouble with that one. We had time to explore although we had only been there two days earlier we still managed to fill the time as it is a beautiful place.

Again the market ladies tried to get me to buy some of their wares again I escaped their clutches. Saw a German lady buying some pearls she was rubbing them along her teeth to test their quality. They were cheap and nasty so I didn’t quite get what that was all about.

James Bond island done and long tail boat ride back to the big boat and our lunch was waiting for us on board, somehow while we were on shore the staff have cooked us a big Hot Thai buffet feast which was waiting for us. It was scrumptious and there were so many different Thai dishes to choose from and so much of it.  The boat cruised along while we ate our lunch to our next destination Hong Island.

Then it was back into the canoes again but this time we were taken in through the caves so had to duck our heads to avoid hitting the sides of the caves. There were little rippling rapids, well ok, not quite rapid but more of a slow rush. We emerged in a beautiful Limestone Cavern and paddled around in there snapping pictures left right and centre. We were there for about 1 ½ hours all up. So much serenity.

Back on the big boat again getting hauled up again and then off to the next destination of Mut Cave & what was supposed to happen was we would be paddled through the dark, limestone cave to reach the Blue lagoon which comes out completely surrounded by towering cliff faces. It looked divine in the brochures. Unfortunately the tides were out so there was very little water in the cave. We were taken from the big boat again on the canoe to the sandy cave opening that should have contained the water for us to paddle through but it was just full of sand and deep puddles, no water running at all. So our guides said they would lead us through the cave to the Blue Lagoon but we would have to walk. The roof was very low and we had to stoop most of the way and watch out for stalactites. If we had have gone by canoe we would have had to lay down all the way for sure.  OK walking didn’t seem so terrible until it got pitch black, we were being led by a boney man with a very dim LED light on his head which wasn’t really shedding light but when the light went down we knew to duck, he didn’t speak English so he couldn’t warn us what was coming up. I held on to his arm and he got me through as it was really dark and there were bats in there too, I hate bats I could hear them squeaking.  Robbie bounded through with his usual confidence.

The girls in front of us freaked out  and the dark was too much for them to handle and the guides couldn’t understand that they wanted to go back they were nearly hysterical but eventually the guide worked it out so they headed back to the cave entrance and back to the boat. We were walking. Stooping and paddling in puddles in the dark  for  what seemed like ages and then suddenly daylight appeared, we had reached the Blue Lagoon. Hmmm, well except the tide was out so there was no water no blue and we were left with  smelly mangroves. It wasn’t very attractive at all so the herd wandered around in there taking photos amongst the mangrove roots. Robbie and I were posing for our photo and then this little Balinese kid grabbed hold of my bum and wouldn’t let it go, he loved it and I got a big surprise, and the picture was snapped just as he latched on. It was hilarious his mum was mortified and saying sorry but we were laughing it was funny.

We headed back through the dark cave back onto the canoe and back on the big boat for the trip back to Ao Por and the bus trip back to our hotel. We were trapped in the bus with some people speaking some European language we didn’t understand and seriously this one guy spoke non-stop all the way back into Patong. Although we couldn’t understand him we knew he was being a know all and he was very rude I was glad to get out of the bus he was a ‘tool’ for sure.

We got back to our hotel had a shower then we went off to watch the Thai Boxing. We got to the stadium and got ringside seats for the fight. They had been advertising that some Aussie dude was in the main bout but we had never heard of him. It was a bizarre mix of people there where Thai families, tourists, men with their ‘rental ladies’ and although there were big signs up saying no gambling there were men spruiking for bets from people all over the place.

We also had our own waiter who kept our drinks coming all through the fights so all we had to do was sit back and be ‘special’ ringside!  A band was playing live music but it was like snake charmer music as there was a whole ritual dance that went on before each fight where the fighters would pay respect to the higher power ‘Buddha/God/Allah/King/Ronald Macdonald’ whoever and then the bell rang and the fight started. The music continued and it was all very surreal. I have no idea how they scored the fights but there was a lot of crowd participation counting down in Thai.

I didn’t know how to feel when the tiny tots came out to fight they couldn’t have been older than 4. They were so cute with their boxing garb on and so focused and so fair dinkum. Their whole family were there rubbing them down and supporting them between rounds it was a real family affair. After the fight they two littlies hugged each other. I had to tell myself this was a sport, but still doesn’t sit right tiny tots kicking and punching each other. Each fight the participants got older and contacts harder and having a ring side seat we were getting sprayed by the fighters sweat as the punches connected. I had to keep telling myself its sport, its sport, it’s Thai tradition!

At the start of every fight the fighters paid their respects and did their funny little dance to the snake charmer music and showed real respect to their opponent at beginning & end of the fight. There were a couple of fights with girls but they didn’t last long as the girls didn’t seem to be evenly matched, one little girl and one amazon. There was an Aussie girl that had a fight and she just looked like street brawler & not athletic at all, she was about 50 kgs heavier than her opponent and even I could see this wasn’t an even match. I was hoping the little girl would be too fast for big Aussie to catch but that wasn’t to be. The main bout with the Aussie guy was over very quickly too he was a big hefty bloke and the guy he was fighting was no match for him in size either, the Aussies seemed to win on weight and size they were both built like brick dunnies! 🙂  The Aussies in the crowd went berserk when the expats won and there was no respect paid by the Aussies to their opponents. I was little ashamed to be an Aussie for a brief moment and the Aussie Bogans in the crowd cheering them on didn’t fill me with pride either. They could have all learned something from those tiny tots and their families about respect!

As soon as the last fight was over everyone just stood up and left, no ceremony, no awards, no speeches just lights off and quick exit by all the spectators and this drew our evening to an end.