Kayaks, Caves and Hongs

AHOY!

Greetings from Thailand!! We are currently in Phuket, Thailand. This is an Island off the southwest coast of Thailand in the Adman Sea. The island is close enough to have a bridge connect it to the mainland. There is little wind so Blaze motor sails to the Phi Phi Island Group, east of Phuket. Our first destination is the Ko PiPi Leh, the smaller of the three islands in the group. The island is uninhabited and home to stunning Maya Bay. The powder white sand beach was used in the movie The Beach, with Leonardo DiCapprio. (never saw that one). It is described as the“ perfect beach”. The turquoise blue water only adds to the splendor of Maya Bay. Dramatic limestone cliffs explode from the water and underwater caves invite the brave. Ko Phi Phi Leh is known for cliff diving, coral reefs and the usual black tip shark, box fish and turtles. We sailed Blaze around the island and could see the huge Viking Cave. The locals protect the cave by not allowing tourists inside. The attraction is the highly prized swallows nest. They reach the nests by climbing up precarious bamboo scaffolding connected with rope. Some of the scaffolding reaches to around 80 feet. The nests sell for around $100 a piece. We dropped anchor in Tonsai Bay in PiPi Don for the night. The air was hot and humid and the sky filled with spectacular lightning for over 2 hours. Around 2am the rain came down in epic proportions. (Time to get the ark! ) We pulled in all the cushions; shut hatches ... sealed everything up. 45 minutes later it was so hot and muggy in the boat it was hard to sleep. We were clammy and sticky despite our small fans whirling on high.

Ko Phi Phi Leh is popular with day trippers from the mainland. They arrive by ferry or speed boats.  In December of 2004 this was the site  of a devastating tsunami. The entire village was  destroyed and thousands lost their lives. The town has rebuilt itself. The village is packed during the day and in the evening returns to the quiet laid back village it use to be. The bay is noisy with the putt putt of the long boats used by the locals. The boats are a narrow canoe type hull up to 90 feet long. These are a mode of transportation for most locals and and for the adventurous tourists. The locals also use them for fishing. We went ashore in the early morning and had the village to ourselves. There are no roads. Only pathways for walking, bicycles and the push carts. Everything must be ferried in to the island including water, food, clothing etc. Tonsai village is a strip of trinket and tacky t-shirt shops lining a dusty path. They sell sarongs, flip flops, tshirts, hats, cheap jewelry and beach toys. Shop after shop all carry the same items. We explored the back streets of the town and found the local vegetable, fruit and fish markets. There were also some wonderful bakery shops. We were planning on getting some fish but they were covered with flies. Not too appetizing. And they did not look to fresh.

We spend our days aboard Blaze
enjoying the chance to eat dinner up top and stare silently at the majestic limestone cliffs. At Krabi the formations were particularly incredible. These gigantic rocks look like they have exploded skyward out of the ocean. Massive stalactites hang from the cliffs looking like limestone icicles. Some are as much as 200 feet long and hang out over the water. The orange, black, and grey rock outcroppings are home to hidden caves, underwater tunnels, and lagoons. A perfect setting for pirates! We have enjoyed dramatic sunsets reflecting all the colors in the limestone. There is not a breath of air so Blaze has become our motor boat.

The next days are spent exploring Chicken Head, Ko Hong, Bamboo Beach, and Krabi. One afternoon a long boat arrived with a fisherman and what I suspect were his wife a small little boy. They were definitely a working family. They were dressed in well worn tshirts and looked tired. They had probably been fishing since early morning. Fish and blue crab filled the bottom of their boat. Still moving about waiting for their demise!

The woman sat with her bare feet to the side of the pile. The little boy was shy and sat perched up on the carved bow of the boat. I had my eye on some very small crabs with blue pinchers. I had never had this variety before so we loaded up. Aboard their dilapidated boat they had a rusted scale.They stacked the crabs and weighed them for our price. Luiz proceeded to barter the price down.Ann handed me a bucket and we filled it. They really are quite beautiful. Dinner would be a feast tonight!

Our daily schedule is “challenging” with kayaking in hongs, swimming and paddle boarding. John never quite mastered the paddle board but was excellent at floating on his back.

As we sailed north we stopped at Ko Phanak. Here there is a long tunnel that leads to a Hong. (a Hong is a lagoon in the middle of a massive rock formations. Hong means room in Thai.) The tunnel is about 60 yards long.

You need to time your visit with the tides so you don’t get stuck inside. When we arrived the tide was just about to turn. (tide was coming in.) Armed with Paddles and flashlight John, Peter and I headed in. The tunnel was about 6 feet at the widest point and narrowed down to 4 feet in some sections. The ceiling was low and varied depending upon the tide. Oh and don’t forget this is home to a bat colony! All went great until we hit a very narrow section. We had to let Peter paddle alone from the rear since there was no space for paddle on the sides of the canoe. I was in charge of the flashlight and being pitch black we were glad to have it.

In some areas the limestone ceiling dropped so low we found ourselves leaning back in each others’ lap to avoid hitting the jagged rock. Hoping not to skin our foreheads! The tunnel twisted and using our hands on the ceiling we were able to navigate some sections. About half way through John informs us he is claustrophobic! (John, shut your eyes!)We came to a very small section and met a kayak that was leaving. We had to paddle ourselves back to a wider section so they could get by. At last we saw daylight ahead of us.

We had reached the lagoon surrounded by sheer rock walls.The sky peaking in from above. (John now you can open your eyes!) We stayed a short while. The tide was starting to flush into the cave. We worked our way out feeling much more comfortable. But still cautious of“head knockers”awaiting us on the rising tide.It was a unsettling exploit. And one I do not need to repeat!
Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather.
Selamant Jalan!

Captain Molly and 1st Mate Peter