Happy Birthday Judy!!  She is now  ???? years old.  We’re celebrating with a boat trip into the Phang Nga Bay National Park area.  The tour title is “James Bond Island” and canoe trip.  We are picked up early at the hotel, and transported to Royal Phuket Marina for the tour.

We’re split into groups, based on language for our guide.  Our guide also speaks Russian, so we get to hear all the descriptions and instructions in Russian.   There are about 30 in our group.  I saw a group of Chinese headed off, and also a group of Spanish speakers.

We load onto a big speedboat with three Yamaha 225 outboard motors and head out into the Andaman Sea.  It takes about 40 minutes to arrive at our first destination.  The ride is pretty bouncy for the first half.  I’m worried that Judy’s proclivity for seasickness will come into play, but she has no problems.

The islands seem to grow straight up out of the water.  We pull up to a small little inlet and begin unloading in pairs into inflatable canoes, each with a guide.  We’ve been told we’ll canoe into a cave, and ultimately into the Mangrove Lagoon.  Because the water level is up, we have to lie down as we move through the cave.  We get to a point where several canoes are stopped, and people have climbed out into the water, while others just backed out of the cave.  It makes for a really interesting time as the boats pass each other in the narrow confines.  Our guide asks us if we want to swim?  Huh?  I thought we were going to canoe to this lagoon.  Apparently the water is too high to continue in the canoe.  We climb out, a little confused about what is happening, but others have done it, so why not us?  We swim the remaining 50 yards or so to the end of the cave and come out into the sun.  It’s a gorgeous scene, so quiet and undisturbed.  The water is absolutely glass.  There are only 8 or 9 other people with us, and everyone is awestruck at the beauty.  The walls are sheer, and must be 200 or more feet high.  The only entrance is the cave we swam in thru.  Amazing! 

Headed toward the cave.

About to swim back to our canoe thru the cave.

We swim out, find our canoe, climb back in, and head out to another cave/lagoon.  This one requires climbing a ladder and walking through a dark cave, dealing with very uneven surfaces, lit only by our guide’s headlamp.  The view at the end is really peaceful and gorgeous, but our access is limited to only a small opening to peer through.  We make our way back through the cave, working very hard not to sprain an ankle, or worse.  Outside, we get back in the canoe and paddle back to the speedboat.

Next stop is another big island with canoeing around some small caves, and then a little open water.  The views are breath-taking.  It’s kinda like Monument Valley, Utah, with water.  After another short jaunt we arrive at James Bond Island.  It’s the island where some scenes for “Man With the Golden Gun” were filmed.  There is a small beach area and several viewing points of the memorable island (see below).  After this island, we move to an island with a floating gypsy village, where we are served a really nice buffet lunch.

It’s hard for us to believe we’re in Thailand! These are sights I never expected to see in person!

This is the familiar island as seen in “Man With The Golden Gun.”

On our way back to the marina, we notice the tide is out, and the boat is staying very close to the channel markings.  The channel is really narrow.  As we near the marina, we pass another of the tour speedboats that has run aground.  I wonder if that group had to pay extra for the extra special experience they had (or will have).  It was going to be interesting getting those 30 or so people off that boat at low tide with all the mud.  I’m really glad it wasn’t us.

Back at the marina we are led to our van for the half-hour trip back to the Renaissance.  We’re home about 5:30.  It has been a fun but long day, and we’re both beat.  15 minutes after we walk in, there is a knock on the door, and the hotel delivers a birthday cake for Judy.  I guess they had noted it from her passport.  It was a perfect topper to the day. 

Happy Birthday!!!

Special preparations are going on below in the restaurant for the big Chinese New Year celebration.  There are lots of colorful decorations.  At 7:30, fireworks kick off the evening.  There was supposed to be a big drum performance at some point, but we were both asleep when, and if it occurred.