The Beautiful Phang Nga Bay in Thailand

At 550 km² Phuket, Thailand is the largest of the Thai islands and is best known for its tourism.  It is the only island province in Thailand, and it’s most populous island with 220,000 inhabitants. According to our guide, there are two seasons hear – hot and rainy.  April is the hottest month of the year, and since we are approaching April, we certainly can attest to the fact that it was hot, hot, hot!  I had brought a small travel alarm with a weather station.  I put it on the verandah, and in the shade it was a mere 101 while in the sun it topped out at 118!  Considering the cold 3 degrees wind chill we heard they were experiencing in Chicago, it’s hard to even think about the people at home shivering through the early days of spring!   

Our arrival at the island of Phuket, Thailand, was exactly one year to the day of our visit in 2012!  Since we had spent the day last year visiting the elephants of Thailand, this time we decided to branch out a little further and do something completely different!  So we chose a sightseeing excursion to the beautiful Phang Nga Bay on the mainland of Thailand.

This was to be an eight-hour excursion in a port where we were docked for 8½ hours so we didn’t have time for anything else.  Thankfully our arrival and departure were each postponed by one hour.  We had originally been scheduled to arrive at 6:00 AM with our shore excursion departing at 6:15.  We heard absolutely nobody complaining that we would actually be departing on our excursion at 7:15 instead!  As it was, it was the earliest departure time so far.  So we were particularly thankful for that extra hour of the previous night that allowed us to have a full night’s sleep. 

We were also very grateful that this year we were able to dock.  Last year when we tendered in, we had to get off onto a floating dock and traverse about six more floating docks before arriving at a beach where we had to climb some high stairs just to get to the road, then walk quite a distance to wait for the buses, which could only park two or three at a time to take on passengers.  So we welcomed the new dock area where all the buses could line up for the excursions and we could walk off the ship onto solid ground! 

We were very pleased that our friends Sally & Ange as well as our friends Bob & Nancy were taking the Phang Nga Bay excursion, and we all managed to get on the same bus.  This made for a pleasant day with people we knew better than others. 

We set off through the town of Phuket in the province of Phuket as we headed north on the island of Phuket.  I think names could get a little confusing here if people weren’t specific!  The city was bustling with activity.  Of course heading off at 7:15 would most likely mean crossing the town at what we would consider rush hour at home, and the traffic was busy here also!  We ran alongside a very long construction project that our guide Zen told us was building a tunnel.  Interesting observation on the part of our friend Bob when we got caught at a long stoplight:  the steam shovel appeared to work hard to scoop what he called a teaspoon of dirt then, then dump it someplace else.  At that rate, if we return in about 2213, the tunnel might be dug!   It was an interesting trip through the city with all its tangles of wires (so typical of southeast Asia) and all the Hindu spirit houses that adorned the entries of buildings. 

After exiting the town we continued northward toward our destination, and at this point we did not encounter any other traffic signals at all in our journey toward the bay.  We crossed the Sarasin Bridge that took us to the Thai mainland.  Our first stop was at the Wat Tham Suwan Kuha, a cave temple dating back 200 years. (Wat is the word for temple, as in Angkor Wat.) The biggest draw as we got off the bus was the many monkeys that were climbing along the cliffs and in the trees near the entrance of the temple.  We had been some of the few people who had not seen monkeys in Malaysia, but we certainly made up for it in Thailand!  Those monkeys were everywhere, entertaining the tourists as they swung from branch to branch or from ledge to ledge and eagerly taking food from those who bought it from nearby vendors. The only big surprise might be that this time I didn’t opt to buy any bananas to feed them, but rather watched and enjoyed them from a short distance.  Actually there was a very good reason for this unusual decision on my part!  A few weeks ago we heard a story about a fellow passenger who had been on a shore excursion where she encountered some monkeys and, despite doing absolutely nothing to aggravate them, she was attacked by three monkeys and bitten quite severely.  Also, the day we were in Langkawi, our tour guide advised us never to show our teeth to monkeys because they view that as a sign of aggression.  Knowing my luck, I’d have been grinning from ear to ear, and some monkey might have taken it as a threat.  Then there was my experience in Barbados last year.  I had made a little sound to get a monkey’s attention so I could take his picture.  He bared his teeth and snarled at me, showing fangs. Needless to say, I backed away as quickly as I could and went somewhere else.  Now, everyone knows how much I like animals, but I saw no reason to put myself in a bad situation!  So while I did really enjoy watching all the monkeys’ antics, I preferred to remain at a fairly safe distance. 

Entering the temple itself, we were struck by the fact that it was filled with Buddha statues in various positions, the largest being the one lying down.  We were interested in seeing all the statues, and we climbed up the stairs to see more statues, but I chose not to continue into a second smaller cave to view the stalactites and stalagmites.  I may have done so had we not just been in caves the day before in Malaysia.  The walking looked just uneven enough to deter me.  But we found the temple very interesting!  Exiting the cave temple, we were once again entertained by the monkey antics.  They certainly are active creatures!

From there it was a very short trip to the lovely Phang Nga Bay.  There we boarded a boat for our ride along the coast.  For once we had chosen the correct side of the boat, which was not only in the shade, but also the one that was on the “picture-taking” side that ran along the coast.  While this boat wasn’t quite as difficult to climb in and out of as the one the day before, it was still a challenge to climb onto the seat and step down onto the floor, but fortunately I made it in and out without much difficulty each time. 

We set off circling the bay and were immediately impressed by all the islands, mangroves, and rocky cliffs that we were passing.  The cliffs were very colorful, as the tour description said ochre and amber-hued limestone. The streaks of color on the dramatic cliffs made for interesting sights.  At one point I commented to Chuck that the outcrop reminded me of a walrus.  Right next to it, I could envision a lion’s head.  The sizes, colors, and shapes were amazing, and pictures just didn’t do them justice. 

As we traveled along, we noticed one small boat that appeared to be filled with large plastic disks.  As that boat approached, we looked closer and realized that all the people sitting in the boat were crouched down and were hiding behind umbrellas all of different colors.  As a lady near me commented, “I’m sure glad I’m on this boat!”  While the water may have felt refreshing, their sightseeing was certainly extremely limited with all those umbrellas open! 

Soon we were passing Koh Panyi water village, a very unique village of about 400 homes, all built on stilts and connected by walkways.  On our way back, we stopped there and got out.  That was an interesting feat in itself because it was difficult to climb out of the boat onto a floating dock with uneven planks, then transfer to another floating dock with uneven planks, and finally climb a floating ramp to the stilted walkway.  Passing through a restaurant, we came to a large market area. Chuck went with the guide to visit a school (which was not in session) but I stayed to visit the market, knowing that there would be little other opportunity to shop with such a long excursion planned. The one thing I did miss that was interesting was the “football” (i.e. soccer to us Americans) field built on a large floating platform.  I wonder what they would do if they kicked the ball too far!  At any rate, it was very interesting to walk through the shops and be able to peek between buildings to see the houses perched on stilts above the water.  It would be difficult to imagine living that way! 

As we continued along the shoreline, we eventually arrived at the island of Khao Ping Gun, nicknamed James Bond Island.  This was where portions of the 1974 movie The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed (with Roger Moore as James Bond), and it is now a major tourist attraction and a national park.  While we didn’t get off the boat, we did circle the island.  We also passed through a water tunnel that went through the island.  Now I want to see that movie again and visualize where we’ve been. 

From there we turned around and headed back to our starting point.  Our two-hour cruise through the bay was absolutely wonderful, not to mention that on such a hot day it was refreshing to have the wind in our faces! 

After leaving our boat behind, we walked to a nearby resort hotel for a buffet lunch.  We were fortunate to get a table for eight right at the waterfront, where we were able to enjoy not only the delicious Thai food and the wonderful company, but also some “longboat” or “dragon boat” races that were going on in the harbor.  Apparently these teams of what we would consider crew were having a tournament, and the best would advance to another level.  We were able to see three of them racing through the waters right by the restaurant.

The trip back to the ship was without any stops, and it seemed like we arrived in Phuket during rush hour again!  Maybe it’s just that the streets are always busy, but it seemed to take a long time to go a very short distance!  And it was hot enough that the air conditioning on the bus didn’t do much to cool us off.  Guess I shouldn’t complain – there have been some vehicles in hot climates where we haven’t had any air conditioning! 

Despite the heat, we had thoroughly enjoyed the day, having seen a completely different side of Thailand from what we had seen last year!

The next day we heard a couple very interesting stories.  The first involved some crew members in Phuket.  Holland America often provides excursions specifically for the crew, and Phuket was no exception.  All the guest tours had gone out, and there was a crew tour of the Siam Elephant Safari (the wonderful tour we did last year) scheduled to go out.  Everyone boarded the bus, and when they prepared to pull out of the port area, a bunch of taxis blocked their way and would not move.  The taxis were quite unhappy that more of them hadn’t been hired to transport people to various locations and were protesting by not allowing the bus to leave port.  Even when the captain stepped off the bus to try and negotiate with the cab drivers, they refused to move, so the crew was unable to do their excursion.  We were sorry to hear that because the crew works so hard to keep us happy, and instead of having a few hours of pleasure, they had that taken away by some stubborn locals.  I’m sure that Seattle will hear about this from the captain! 

We enjoy listening to pianist Debby Bacon whenever we get a chance, and we have invited her and her husband Ron to join us for lunch on occasion.  The day following Phuket was no exception.  Debby told us quite a tale that involved a close encounter Ron had had with some monkeys in Langkawi, making me realize that my decision not to feed the monkeys was a good idea.  He and Debby had rented scooters and had gone out for a ride.  Spotting some monkeys, Debby had suggested that he ride on and she’d stop and take a picture of him passing the monkeys.  Apparently he passed between an alpha male and a couple females and babies, and that male was not happy!  The monkey went after Ron, who took off on the scooter and managed to escape as Debby shot pictures of him evading an attack. 

With this heat, it really is hard to relate to the fact that they are still dealing with winter weather at home!  As I write this we are exactly 12 hours ahead of Chicago time, but that will probably change as we head to Colombo, Sri Lanka.  At this point we are thinking of our Chancel Choir at church who are preparing for their Easter Cantata.  The day we were in Thailand was their dress rehearsal, with the cantata being presented the day we are in Colombo.  We certainly wish them well!

BT