THAILAND SINGAPORE DAY 9: On The Andaman Sea

It’s a relaxed breakfast at the open air resort restaurant by the pond.  At 9 our driver meets us out front, a very kind middle aged gentleman, who apologizes for lack of English language skills.  We apologize back… we’re at his home, it’s up to us to learn the local language.  He drives us to the park at Noppharat Beach, the far other end of Ao Nang.  We get there just in time for a flash downpour.  The rain only lasts a few minutes, and we have some fun mugging in the back of the tuk-tuk while we wait. 

We always try to do a day on the water during our trips, and I’m always fascinated by the evolution of the purpose built boats each place has to offer.  Fancy speedboats were plentiful and affordable to charter, but that didn’t feel like the spirit of this place.  Today we’re getting more intimate with the longtail boats we sampled yesterday.  As soon as the rain clears up, our driver introduces us to our captain for the day, who we think is named Fang.  Fang walks us the few hundred meters to his waiting longtail boat on the bay side of the beach where dozens of longtail boats and speedboats await their daily charters.  Fang speaks exactly zero English (again, not a requirement for us) so we spark up Translate again and he lays out our 4 hour private trip for today. 

Fang is a very different type of captain than the two we had yesterday.  He loads us and our gear without rush, then pulls out of the tight birth with no drama or bumping.  Once we clear the inlet, he speeds along carefully, avoiding  the waves and providing a very pleasant ride.  I can tell right away he’s a pro and Mandy relaxes accordingly to enjoy the trip.

Our first stop is the tiny, protected cove on the back side of Hog Island.  We go through the narrow pass that opens into a little circle of bright emerald water surrounded by tall limestone cliff walls.  Fang navigates deftly avoiding the other longtails by mere inches.

Next stop is the beach at Hog Island, where we’re dropped off at the end a long floating dock.  We drop our bags on the pure white sand, grab our masks and set to snorkeling in the warm, warm sea.  It’s a very, very relaxing hour.

Next stop is Pak Ka Island, home to better snorkeling (or so we’re told through hand gestures, arm waving and Translate.)  Unfortunately the cove is coated in a film of gooey plankton, a naturally occurring phenomenon that’s very nutritious for the sea life, but not necessarily what I want to be peeling off me for the next few hours.  We pass on the dive and move on.

Last stop of the trip is Phak Bia Island.  Landed on the very rocky beach, we once again thank the gods of cheap Amazon water shoes for saving our feet.  (Pro tip: always, always bring water shoes on vacation!  You will never regret having them along)  We hop out and find the small sand beach.  Just 10 meters off the shoreline is this island’s most photogenic feature, a tall mushroom of a rock made of rough, craggy limestone.  We understand from seeing icebergs in Iceland what’s happening here.  Over time, maybe centuries, maybe longer, the rising tides have eroded the base of this rock until it has the silhouette of a weeping willow tree.  The base is live coral, sea live attaching itself during the higher tides.  Eventually, maybe centuries, maybe longer, the erosion will win and the top heavy rock will tumble and the process will restart.  Back to the boat, Fang hand drags the heavy sloop closer to shore by repeatedly throwing the anchor and pulling on the rope.  Once he’s close enough, we board and are off.  Our picture perfect day is now being threatened by gathering clouds and it’s easy to spot the rain line on the open sea.  We watch other boats get swallowed into the deluge, but Fang’s navigation skills keep us (mostly) dry.

Our driver delivers us safely back at the hotel, where we have fallen into a nice rhythm of pool, nap, shower.  Dinner tonight is off the beaten path at Zara and again, we’re the only non-natives here.  The owner / waiter is an affable guy who is quick with a joke and makes us feel right at home while he talks us through his grandmother’s Thai/Chinese recipes.  Service and food, both top of game.  Highly recommend.

We drive back to Ao Nang Beach and check out the night market briefly, but this one is kinda more-of-the-same so we don’t stay long.  We head back, but not before stopping for our nightly massage.  And yes, we know exactly how spoiled it sounds to use the term “nightly massage”.

THAILAND SINGAPORE DAY 8: 1260 Steps To The Buddha

We’re racing the sun, and the heat, this morning.  The service at the Ban Sanai is top notch, and the staff has boxed breakfast ready for us when we get to the desk just before 6am, complete with piping hot coffee.  Our driver for today shows up in a very luxe van, bows respectfully and starts speaking in Thai, his only language.  We both engage Translate on our phones and we’re down the road.

It’s about a 30 minute drive to the Tiger Temple.  The grounds are beautiful and one of the few we saw with active expansion and construction.  No fewer than 4 major temples and gathering buildings are being built here simultaneously.  The existing buildings are mostly closed and we only see a few other visitors at this early hour.

(click on the picture to view the full size image)

What really makes the Tiger Temple famous is the Big Buddah here at the top of the hill.  The only thing standing between us and His Bigness is the one thousand two hundred and sixty steep, uneven steps.  Yup, 1260 steps in Thai heat on a cloudless morning.   On some flights, the treads are only half as wide as Mandy’s foot.  Other flights features risers that are taller than Mandy’s knees (and she’s in 2” sandals!)   Some flights are deteriorating and tilty.  At each landing the step number is roughly painted on the post, taunting at the beginning, but encouraging once we can start counting down. 

The reward at the top is an entire collection of Buddhas and great views of the villages and valleys below. 

While we do appreciate our location, we’ve been struck with the same thoughts at several of these most sacred sites now.  They can be pretty trashed.  Litter abounds.  The monuments themselves are poorly maintained, showing signs of peeling paint and failing plaster.  Plus there seems to be no second thoughts about building visually unappealing advertising or secular structures right in the way of the holy beings.  It takes away from the zen of it all.  Plus it makes it really hard to get a decent picture.

Down the stairs is no cake walk either, but gravity does most of the work and it goes much faster.  Along the way we’re catch a troop of mischievous long-tailed macaques. 

At the base again, we explore the Tiger Cave Temple itself.  It’s already 90F so it doesn’t take much to see why the monks started meditating in this naturally cooled cavern back in 1975.

Back in the blessedly air conditioned van, we point to our next destination.  Along the way we make a very short detour to Little Palm Homemade.  This cute-as-a-button one room café is more dollhouse than restaurant.  Nestled in the oil palm plantation at the Tonplam Farmstay, The Little Palm is known for its amazing croissants and fine coffee, both of which we sample along side a croissant batter waffle.  It’s half an hour before opening, but the gracious owner literally runs the half kilometer from his house to nourish us.  We get to spend some time admiring the beauty that’s formed by the neat rows and columns of tall oil palm trees that we have been driving through.  An important crop here with small growers covering about a million hectares total, the production is mostly for domestic consumption split evenly between food products and biodiesel. 

Just a few minutes away is the Emerald Pool complex.  This is a privately owned nature preserve.  Opposite of a Disney attraction, you actually enter through the gift shop, being walked to the restaurant where you pay a few dollars each to enter, then are offered everything from coffee to souvenirs before getting to the entrance gate.  Once past the gate, we enter a very beautiful forested area and choose the longer walk, about 1km on a walkway along a picturesque river (we appreciate the walkway – it keeps the impact to the forest to a bare minimum).  The mineral deposits form beautiful aquascapes under the glassy surface, including this one, the Glass Pool. 

The trail ends at the main attraction – the Emerald Pool.  True it its name, the water is jewel green and crystal clear all the way to the silky bottom.  The tiny lake is formed by less then an inch of water flowing over a wide field of yellow rock then down the edge of the pool in small rivulets.  The water is warmed during its trip over the warm, hard surface and enters the pool at bathtub temperatures.  There are plenty of other visitors here, but it’s not crowded or loud.  The pool has a calming effect, the bathers soothed and happy, soaking in sun and minerals. 

After a good long soak, we towel off and walk the next leg to the very aptly named Blue Pool.  The pictures speak for themselves.

Our time at the pools complete, we, through the help of Translate, roll the dice and ask the driver to pick somewhere for lunch.  Somewhere small and local that he would like.  This is in keeping with throwing ourselves in the way of an experience.  Whatever he picks is going to be the thing we were meant to do today.  And boy, what a pick.  We are delivered to Chann Roen.  It’s not a tourist place, as the only language spoken by the staff and patrons is Thai.  It’s not a side of the road pheasant village place either.  It’s a suburban middle class restaurant indicative of the modern local restaurant scene today.  We guess that the majority of diners are groups on business lunches.  The food is brilliant – seabass with herbs, pork omelet, Thai salad – and Thai level spices cut only by the Chang beers served with straws and ice.

On the way back to the hotel, we ask the driver to stop so we can pick up our laundry.  Laundry is a crazy scene and just has to be experienced first hand.

Again we hang by our infinity pool before napping.  We get a ride to Ao Nang Beach in the hotel’s regularly scheduled tuk tuk, in time to watch the sunset and catch the nightly fire show.  We’re very surprised to see that the entire show was performed by a youth fire team, the oldest of the boys and girls not more than 12.  The show was brilliant, playing the fire off the water.

Ao Nang beach is the worst part of Ao Nang beach, overcrowded and bursting with drunken tourists bouncing in and out of the scores of open air bars.  19 year old me would be in heaven here, but the us on our 60^th birthday tour want a different scene.  We walk about 20 minutes back towards the hotel to a quiet, highly rated spot called 11/1.  It’s a bit of a wait, but everything we hoped, with excellent food and service.  When we leave past 10, there is still a line out front.