ko similan

the similan islands belong to thailand and are situated over 50 miles from the west coast of phuket. once we cleared customs and immigration and officially left thailnd we headed towards the similans to spend a few days on our way to sri lanka. the islands are a national park and there are park moorings everywhere. we picked up one of them and stayed there for a couple of days. the water was the most clear since the pacific. there were plenty of fish and beautiful spots to snorkel. the beaches had a very soft white sand and in general the sights were very beautiful. and to top it all, we had the most amazing weather. it was so wonderful that it was hard to leave knowing we had a long crossing ahead… but he had to and after a wonderful stop of beach sun and swimming all around we dropped the humongous buoy and set sail towards the west.

good bye thailand

after sailing in thai waters around several islands we went back to phuket to get ready for the indian ocean crossing. We stopped at the ao po marina several miles north of phuket town. We did not do any sightseeing this time and only focused on preparing the boat. Turns out we enjoyed a lot being in this area far away from tourism.

In the marina we met great new friends and also had a very pleasant visit from my cousin Adriana and Philip. We went to a nearby waterfall with only local tourist and the local market. We had so much fun in the last days in the marina and the country side that we found it very hard to leave. We postponed our departure day after day.
Among the usual preparations we cleaned the boat in and out, over and under; filled up on water and diesel, oil and other supplies; aligned the engine.

we met a local welder who helped us immensely. we only communicated with him by signs and body language and rather well as he did everything we needed to perfection. our days in this remote area of the island were a perfect ending to our exciting days in thailand. we leave sad and hope to come back soon.

the latest in marine craft design

the ingenuity of the thais at its best. the long tail boat for example, is a piece of art. a very traditional wooden canoe propelled by a peculiar engine. The motor can be of any type (auto, generator, even lawnmower) as long as it is NOT marine. This engine is then mounted onto a pivoting system with a long shaft (of at least 15 feet) where the propeller lies at the end. maneuvering these boats can get quite tricky and you should definitely keep away from them when they are turning unless you want to meet the flying out of the water and spinning blades. in addition to all this mechanical ingenuity, the boats are decorated with flowers, ribbons and bright colors. they are loud and go fast and the names of these boats as well as other types are just out of this world!!

location, location, location

isn’t this the key to any business? well in thailand this is not the exception and we found the best business ever. in the middle of a maze of mangroves after entering a mountain through a cave and very far from civilization, in the middle of the heat… the only refreshment boat stand: with fresh coconut to quench the thirst!!!! Ahh…!

phang-nga bay

this bay is full of very pretty islands and islets. many of the islands have "hongs" which are collapsed cave systems accessible from the sea at low tide. we entered some of them. it was like going through a whole, then a cave and finally seeing the sky again on the other side, but inside the mountain!!! forming and enclosed lagoon. this was rather impressive. certainly something we had never seen.

some other caves have no open end and they are long dark tunnels. we entered some of them with the dinghy as far as 200 meters and with a flashlight. we could only see and even smell the hundreds of bats hanging upside down the cave ceilings. every island in this bay has at least a few caves so there was enough to explore for as long as we stayed there. the shapes of the islands are so different to what we are used to. tall limestone pinnacles covered in jungle and surrounded by green waters.

the currents ran strong in the bay because of the many rivers to the north. even with winds over 15 knots the bow was not pointing to the wind, ever. It was sideways or even against it. the boat was awkwardly being pushed by the current all the time. Once again the place was a bit crowded but this time we found it a great advantage. sometimes when we could not locate the entrances to the caves we would just follow the kayak tours and voila!! there they were, breathtakingly beautiful all the time.

good to cook with pum

what a better way to start the year. a cooking class in thailand, to learn to cook thai food of course!! bonnie was the teacher and ilienia the other student. an unforgettable afternoon of cooking and eating afterwards. i really cant’ get enough of this thai food.

priceless!!

+ new shirt and fishermen pants typical from thailand bought just for the occasion ($....very inexpensive);
+ a favorite in my family (at least my dad): white veal sausage bought at the local supermarket with potatoes ($$ …. also inexpensive);
+ a not so inexpensive champagne from argentina bought in phuket ($$$$ rather pricy)
+ …… the most wonderful place to say good bye to the best year of our lives and welcome the next: in phi phi island on board Puerto Seguro…. That is priceless, of course!!!!!!!!!

and the story which we later realized…:
we have one clock on board which we adjusted to the correct time back in malaysia, or at least we thought. at midnight on the clock we eat some grapes but could not make a champagne toast because we had finished the bottle some 30 minutes before. we were a bit impressed of how quiet it was on land. after having seen so many people in phi phi we expected fireworks and loud screams at about midnight… but nothing. so we welcomed our new year quietly and called it a night at about 12:40. a few days later we found out our clock was an hour ahead. we quickly realized we actually missed the midnight celebration in thailand. we had a big laugh…!!

even though it was an hour before, it was still one of the best new year’s we have ever had!

phi phi islands

The phi phi islands are spectacular. one of them has been the center of a movie called ‘the beach” and therefore it is very visited. we anchored of the big island to the north for new year’s eve and stayed a few days while visiting by dingui the southern island and around the different bays. the beaches and water are pristine. the monkeys are wild and will take the food form your hands. esteban was thrilled about this and every afternoon we had to go to feed them. I went along, mostly to take the pictures.

in the southern island there is a beautiful cove almost completely enclosed by dramatic rocks and in the center there is only sand and turquoise water. we had never seen anything quite like it. we both agreed it was the pretties island we have been to so far.



the northern island has a town in the isthmus between two great bays. the town was full of restaurants, bars, stores, hotels, thai massage, and everything we could possibly think of. We loved walking into the crowded and small streets and buying the famous thai pancakes to go while strolling through the town checking out all the stores…. This after a long day of sun and beach and dingui around the islands!

not your everyday traffic

… the pictures are worth more than any words… only in thailand!

phuket

we entered thailand in phuket and sailed around the nearby islands. all beautiful places; some with no inhabitants, other with extraordinary beaches, others with lots of sailboats and other local tourist boats; and others like phuket, with a little bit of everything. we found this part of thailand to be a bit crowded but we know why: the place is so pretty that everyone visits. luckily with the sailboat we managed to anchor in not so crowded places and were able to visit some of the most visited islands in the mornings or late afternoons after all the day tourists had left.

for me thailand was the best country (by far) when it comes to food. I love coconut and curries and spices….! I could not stop eating and trying out the different dishes. For esteban it was different. lets just say hamburgers are still on the top of his food list. as in other countries in south east asia, the low prices allowed us eat out a lot and do all sorts of other fun stuff like renting bikes and generally going everywhere and stopping for beers or at local stores ... a lot!


We really enjoyed this place and most of all absolutely loved thai people. eheir english was not the best but we were grateful for every word because our thai is a disaster. and they were specially friendly and happy all the time. Each person that we met made us feel very welcome and for that, we will leave with a great impression of their country.



As far as temples, we did not visit that many, but they are hard to miss. there is a temple everywhere so every time we went someplace we passed one temple or mosque or a monument or beautiful and historic buildings. Again the mixture of religions and cultures and architecture gives the cities a particular and wonderful charm.