Thursday, November 13

Nice night's rest despite hard bed - which we hear is typical for Thailand.    Enjoyed rice soup at breakfast - sort of like porridge - with many things to mix in, omelets, juice, toast, fried rice.  Internet speed is good and Tom and I exchange a few pictures.

At 8:30 we left for a boat tour to several islands in the Andaman Sea.  We are just a few minutes from the water.   Many long tail boats but today we are on a speed boat named Catherine.  About 15 of us, including 3 staff.

First stop is Pra Nang Island which has very nice beach with a couple of shrines to a goddess - lots of phalic symbols - and a small cave and plenty of rock formations.  I asked a Swedish man to take a picture of all of us.  There are a lot of different nationalities around: Swedish, Australian, Brits, Malaysian, Thai and more.

 A few minutes ride takes us to Tup Island, one of several closely spaced.  The tide is coming in, so we opt not to wade to the other island and instead go for a nice swim with lots of green and black striped fishes.

Next we anchor off chicken island and out comes the snorkeling equipment.  Nice snorkeling with many varieties of fish including parrot fish, moorish idol (big angel fish), tiger fish, spiky black sea urchins, and lots of coral, some colorful green and purple. Mam has never snorkled before and we could hear her giggling in delight through her snorkel! If you were too still some of the tiger fish nibbled so I kept moving!

Then we went onto chicken island for lunch.  Does this look like a chicken to you?

  Lunch was a chicken drumstick and typical stir-fried veggies and rice.  Then on to Poda Island which had nice beaches, a wooded center and monkeys.

Most of these islands are part of a National Maritime Park and there are some tent campers on Poda. Hot in the sun, but pleasant in the shade where we walked and hung out.

Back to shore and a short ride returned us to Mandawee where we swam a bit in the pool and Greg worked out at their fitness center.   Quite a rain storm came through, complete with thunder and lightning and what definitely qualified as torrential rain.

  But by 6:00 it had cleared, and we headed down the street to the dining hall.  Thai fried rice, a curry and several other choices, plus the usual pineapple and watermelon , both of which are grown locally.  We have also seen mango trees, papayas, lots of bananas as well as jack fruit and some others.

Played some Golf (cards) and had a good evening.