Sawadee Phuket! – Day 5

June 18, 2015 JZ

Today would be our final full day in Phuket, and we needed to wake up early for this final activity in Phuket. It was a tour around the Phuket National Park which includes 42 Islands in Krani Bay. This includes the three islands that we will be visiting, namely Panak, Hong, and the famous “James Bond Island”, where the classic “Man with the Golden Gun” was filmed. We awoke at 5.30 in the morning, preparing for the trip. The van that was picking us up would be coming at 5.55 am, and the driver would only wait a maximum of 5 minutes, for the water levels in the region is highly variable depending on the times that we visit the lagoons. We arrived at the lobby, and the van just arrived. There, we met our shipmates, a couple from San Diego. Another family that was supposed to join us was unable to due to some circumstances. This meant that the entire ship would be just to the six of us. We left Patong, to head towards Ao Por Pier, where the boat was awaiting our arrival.

The tour group that we booked for the trip is called “Two Sea Tour”. The owner, Fillipe , was French and he has lived in Phuket for 10 years already. He started this company not long ago, to ensure that his customers get the best possible experience in their trips. For that, we had to live very early to avoid the morning crowd coming to visit the James Bond island.

We were already ready for the trip, wearing our swimwear when we were on the boat, where we were treated to a short presentation of the course of the trip. Firstly, we were headed to Penak island, where we were able to explore some caves. The cave that we were headed to was 60m long, and had a very low ceiling. We were given torchlights, and instructed to lie flat on the canoe as the cave had a low ceiling, and with the rising sea levels, the ceiling was getting closer to our faces with every passing minute. We finally cleared the cave, and we arrived at the lagoon, where we were introduced to the three types of mangrove trees, Red, Black and White. We were allowed to take some photos among the rock formations, and the guides even made a cut-out of a heart out of a leaf, to take photos with.

Video of Canoeing into the Panak Cave into a Cavern
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Video of Canoeing out of the Cavern and thru the cave again. Cave ceiling really low
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After this, we canoed back to the boat, where we headed, next to Hong island for some sightseeing. There, we boarded the canoed again, with me changing positions to sit with Ashley. My new paddler, Tom Cruise, had fun explaining the various rock formations and wildlife along Hong Island, with some rocks shaped like fishes, others like King Kong, and one even like Scooby Doo on the top of a hill.

After exploring the island for about half an hour, we headed back to the boat once again to head to the famous James Bond Island. We arrived at the island, but as we arrived early, no one was there to transfer us to the island, so the paddlemen paddled us to the beach again, where they briskly took us to some photo spots for some photo opportunity. As we arrived so early, there was no one there on the island overlooking James Bond Island, so we had the beach to ourselves. While we were there, we also took some photos at the leaning rock, before heading off as the island was getting crowded.

The guides helped us with the steps out, and we headed out to Lawa beach for some relaxation. At this point, the cook on the boat had finished preparing lunch for us. We were treated to a huge lunch, consisting of Thai noodles, Spinach, Chicken Drumsticks, Steamed Rice and Green Curry. The lunch was amazingly good and tasted very homemade, and although there was a lot of leftovers, Filipe told us that he would share this with the crew and also others from the village where he stays, so no food was going to be wasted.

After lunch, we arrived at Lawa beach where we were allowed to canoe, swim or just relax. I took the opportunity to canoe around the boundary, and I had a blast. Because it was raining, we were not able to relax on the beach, but Ashley had loads of fun picking up seashells on the beach and swimming.

We went back to the boat, where we went back to Ao Por pier, where we were driven in the van back to the hotel. There, all three of us knocked out asleep, before dinner.

SF: After we rested, Ashley and I spent some time bonding over a spa session. In Balance Spa, located within the hotel was offering a ‘Mummy and Me’ package which included a range of services to choose from. For 990 Baht (SGD 40), we could both indulge in a 30 minute session. We did not have a prior appointment but the spa was very accommodating. We barely waited few minutes sipping a welcome fruit tea while they readied the room. The ambience was very soothing and relaxing. Ashley opted for a body scrub while I enjoyed a ‘Tension Back Massage’ which was perfect for me as I was suffering from back pain. Ashley was giggling and laughing when the scrub was applied all over her. However, we both emerged feeling invigorated. But what made it special was the fact that we did it together.

Unfortunately, I awoke with a massive headache, but as Ashley was extremely hungry, they went to the lounge to get a snack before heading to dinner. I rejoined them, and we headed to Patong Corner, a very well ranked small café, not far from our hotel. We ordered Soft Shell Crab, Green Curry, Tom Yum and Thai Omelette. We enjoyed all our dishes, and Ashley especially liked her Thai noodles. We ordered some Mango Sticky Rice as a desert, but ultimately decided that the one we had yesterday was better as the rice was better prepared.