Today I got to see some actual scenery by avoiding the tourist hot-spots and going on a longboat cruise out to Phang Nga bay, a protected Thai national park now. The bay is renowned for its scenic beauty of numerous limestone rocks and islands that jut from the water. Cruising on the boat one can see these mounds of limestone covered in vegetation dot the seascape from horizon to horizon. It was truly beautiful experience reclining on the boat railing watching the splashing foam as we drifted over the bay en route to dock at Ko Tapu island, now popularly known as "James Bond Island" after it made a brief appearance where Bond lands on a beach in Man with the Golden Gun - interesting how a few seconds of film has completely commercialized this rock and made an entire cottage industry for the tourist trade.
Little excusrion to another cave temple on Phuket island.
Cute litte Thai girl with a sad face in the Muslim village.
Tomorrow evening I'm flying to Bangkok. Here's hoping the India Visa situation will be resolved.
Limestone karst formations jutting out of the waters.
The James Bond rock.
On the way back from the island, we visited a floating Muslim fisherman's village in the bay. These are local Thai Muslims who are probably descendants of ancient traders. This floating town on stilts is one most surprising sites so far on this trip - it's truly astonishing to note how adaptable human beings are when you see first-hand the living conditions and ingenuity's of the locals. The highlight today was strolling through the floating village and coming upon the elementary school; a few of the boys were playing and when I approached and immediately clasp their hands in a respectful slight bow to greet me. It's a wonder to see how natural and innocent they are.
Hand built rafters supported by stilts hold up the entire village.
Cute litte Thai girl with a sad face in the Muslim village.
Tomorrow evening I'm flying to Bangkok. Here's hoping the India Visa situation will be resolved.
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