Category Archives: Thailand

Tour of Phuket – Massages, Viewpoints and Elephant Rides

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The first duty of the day was to get checked in. The ride to shore on the dinghy was OK since we were going with the 20 knots of wind. We decided to beach the dinghy instead of tying it to the pier. Since, technically, Ron wasn’t supposed to be on board, he scrambled as soon as we pulled up to the pier. All three departments are in one building at the base of the pier. While the check in process was definitely easy, Thailand is the new winner in the “most number of forms needing to be filled out and signed” contest. All in all, check in took about an hour.

We were going to go walk around a little bit and get lunch. Eric just glanced at the dinghy to make sure it was OK. It wasn’t. The tide had come in big time, and the dinghy was now floating, being bumped into the pole it was tied to with every incoming wave. Sigh. We needed to tie it to the pier, and unfortunately, we had forgotten the second rope back on Kosmos. The ride back was against the wind and Continue reading →

Welcome to Phuket Island, Phuket Province, Thailand

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We untied from the mooring at 1000, just as a long line of tourists boats came chugging into the bay. Not only was our timing good going in, it was good going out, too. If there weren’t so many tourists around we probably would have stayed in the Phi Phi islands another day or two, but all the ridiculously heavy boat traffic made for very uncomfortable and rolly anchorages. Besides, we haven’t checked into the country yet, so it was probably time to get officialdom out of the way. Technically we weren’t supposed to have stopped in Ko Muk or the Phi Phis, but we had been told that the Thai government gives you a week between checking out of Malaysia and checking into Phuket before they become suspicious that you may have made an illegal stop along the way. Also, there is no real coast guard checking for illegal boats, so getting caught stopping someplace is unlikely.

Our trip to Phuket was almost identical to our trip to Phi Phi. The seas were smooth, calm and pleasant, there were some pretty islands along the way, and there were lots of fishing flags to weave in and out of, requiring constant hand steering. We understand fully why people out here prefer to day hop versus take overnight trips. Trying to avoid these little flags at night is very stressful. And like on the trip to Phi Phi, we had an equipment problem. Eric turned on the Continue reading →

From Don to Li

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We got up and went to shore for brunch. We walked through the grouping of haphazard buildings over to the other side of the isthmus, called Maya Bay. The cruising guide had said that Lo Dalam Bay wasn’t a very good place to anchor, but it looked a whole lot better to us than Ton Sai bay. There were only a handful of boats in there, as opposed to the non-stop boat traffic in Ton Sai bay.

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We walked along the shore of Lo Dalam bay until we saw a restaurant on the beach that looked good. The food was OK. There was more diversity in the age groups out this morning than there had been last night. The restaurant is part of a resort and there were some women tanning topless at the nearby pool. We wonder what the local Muslims think of that. Ron had told us that the pool was full of ocean fish last time he was there and that the water had risen to almost the very tip of the high peaked building next to the pool during the flood. It is hard to imagine.

The plan was head over to the neighboring island, Phi Phi Li in a few hours. Phi Phi Li is where Continue reading →

Ko Phi Phi Don, Krabi Province, Thailand

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Ko Muk was another place where we would have liked to go diving, but Christi still had some congestion and a cough, so we decided to skip diving. Other than diving, laying out at the beach and going to the cave, there isn’t much to do at Ko Muk. Besides, we really needed to get some money. We pulled up anchor this morning at 0945, bound for Ko Phi Phi Don (pronounced Pee Pee — the “h” is silent. No laughing, this is a serious name!). The ride was short, taking only 5 hours.

We are happy to report it was pleasant and very smooth on the way there, though Eric needed to be vigilant about avoiding the fishing lines. There were small islands all along the way, making for a scenic drive. The bad news is that Eric turned on our spare auto pilot to give it some exercise and it did not work. That is probably not a good thing.

From the distance, the Phi Phi islands looks similar to Langkawi, with tall vertical cliffs jutting up out of the water, except these islands have more unique shapes in the peaks of the cliffs. Phi Phi Don is in the first picture, actually two separate islands connected by a small isthmus of sand between them. Next to Phi Phi Don is the smaller Phi Phi Lee, the second picture, and there are a few tiny rock islands near the larger Phi Phi islands.

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We pulled into Ton Sai bay on the southern end of the isthmus at about 1500 (3:00 pm). There were tons of Continue reading →

The Emerald Hawng and Exploring Ko Muk

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Our friend Ron was going to arrive today to meet up with us. Ron is living in Bangkok now. He said he expected to arrive between 1130 and 1230. We agreed to meet at Charlie’s restaurant. We headed over at 1100 and ordered lunch. Now that there was only two of us, hitting the minimum was much harder. Christi ordered the safe Pad Thai, which is noodles in a peanut sauce with zero spiciness that she knows she likes. Eric ordered a steak and vegetables dish, which wasn’t spicy, but had an overwhelming garlic taste. Christi also got a “Thai pineapple pancake”, which was a buttermilk pancake with slices of pineapple in it. The ones in Indonesia are made with a lighter batter, closer to a crepe, and she prefers the Indonesian ones. We also ordered a couple of “to go” pizzas to get to the minimum order.

Ron arrived shortly after we finished eating. As soon as he arrived, Fafner joined us and we took our dinghies up to the entrance of the famous Emerald Hawng. Hawngs are Continue reading →