Asia2004 - Mike's Journal

Mike's Journal

29 Nov, Phuket

Monday, November 29 – Phuket

Woke up a bit earlier this morning, about 8:30 or so. Didn’t feel like eating much, so I only had a fruit plate and some tea. We booked a half-day snorkeling trip to the Kho Phi Phis. The tour agent, Nok, has a sister who lives in Toronto!

Another long bus ride, to Phuket Pier this time, then a motorboat trip, about 2 hours through bone-jarringly choppy seas in glorious sunshine, to Kho Phi Phi Le. First stop was Maya beach – beautiful white sandy beach in a heavily treed and rocky amphitheatre, with wonderfully clear, warm, green water. We swam there a bit, then motored around the cliffs to look at another two secluded bays. No wonder this island is uninhabited, there appears to be almost no way of getting on the island! Next, we headed across to Kho Phi Phi Don, where we snorkeled at a coral reef in a bay. Learned one trick- take a bit of banana into the water, and the fish will mob you. I got my arm nipped a few times, but it was worth it to swim through the swarms of iridescent blue-green fish in a feeding frenzy. Lots of other cool fish, black spiky sea urchins, and other unidentifiable creatures. Wrestled for a while with Chris’ underwater camera, trying to get good pictures. It was hard! The lighting wasn’t very good either, as it was shady that late in the afternoon. Finally, back across the bay to Phuket and the hotel.

I was hoping to watch the sun go down on the bay, but we got stuck in a traffic jam (!) but we got stuck in a traffic jam in Phuket town and didn’t make it back before dark. We ate a fantastic meal at an Indian/Thai Tandoor place. The service was splendid by North American standards, let alone Asian ones. Then, me & Andrew had to book our trip to the Krabi area. Looks like a 6 AM start tomorrow.

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