James Bond Island - Canoe Cave tour
Our final day in Phuket before we depart tomorrow morning for a grueling plane ride. I met new friends today on our van ride over to the harbor. Selena, a 6-year-old Australian girl on holiday with her family, including her two older sisters. Today Selena and I took to the caves of Phuket via canoe boat. We were both excited and scared. The weather got a bit rough half way through when rain decided to visit us. After our first canoe/cave adventure, she turned to me and said with her cute Aussie accent, "Liza, were you scared on the canoe?" I replied "yes" and said, "especially in the dark." She said, "I was scared too in the dark, but I was more scared when we had to go under the cave...I almost pee'd my pants." I thought that was too cute!
During our boat ride I got a chance to speak to the head dude, Alan. I asked him what happens to a boat during a Tsunami? Does it sink or sail? He says it rises. He told me that during the Tsunami he and a tour group had just entered through caves into a lagoon. Imagine a lagoon to be a hallowed-out volcano with water in the middle, and only one or two ways in or out during low tide. He was with a tour group inside the lagoon when the Tsunami hit. They were trapped inside for two hours with no way out. It was severe hardship for the town after the Tsunami. He said residents who were hit hard received money from supporting countries. For Alan, personally, the Tsunami challenged his home life. Because tourism was extremely low, he was out of work. He and the old wife went through some very trying times and in the end, she ended up leaving. Now he is a single dad with two students (children) at home, a daughter who I believe is 11 and a 9-year-old son. For him a typical day starts at 4:30 a.m. when we makes food for his students before he leaves for work. He leaves some spending money for his daughter and son, just in case they want to get a treat during the day. His daughter seems to understand the hardship. She compliments him on his cooking (before the mom did all the cooking), while his son still isn't in favor of it. When Alan returns from work, his daughter will often times still have the money he gave her that morning, whereas the son's allowance was spent by noon.
At the end of our boat trip I made sure to give Alan a tip, and I told him, "Alan, this is for your daughter, but not your son." He smiled and thanked me. It's people like Alan and Patty who really make a vacation trip come alive. Their stories, knowledge of the local people, history of the land and their personal stories are what makes Thailand such a beautiful country where everyone no matter how rich or poor is "Happy" (like Buddha as Patty would say)!
Our morning started off rough.
Super-soggy froggy. It started to pour as soon as we got
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but when I've done kayak tours in Hawaii, I've never received more than a sandwich and granola bar. Check out the spread that was included with our tour. Now that's service!!!
Later than evening, we revisited Baan Rim Pa for some cocktails, and then after a short restaurant chase, we finally settled at Baan Rim Pa's newer and hipper location, Hung Fat's. The ambiance was nice. It's definitely set up for a lively music scene for hipsters, but because of the low season, we had to serenade ourselves. The food was decent, but if you're looking for better food and a mellow ambiance, I would recommend Baan Rim Pa.
Hurray to Hung Fat's for actually, really, truly being open. (We went to 2 restaurants before based of a dine guide, one I actually made a 'reservation' for, both still under construction.)
Looks more like an airport hanger than a restaurant.
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