We woke up at 6:30am to loud music being played outside as the local Thai women were participating in an exercise class in a car park! An hour later our alarm went off so we sleepily got up and packed our day bag. We went downstairs for breakfast but there was nobody to cook it, so we had to wait until the Thai lady returned from her shopping trip. We didn't have much time so quickly ate before walking to the Mr. Kean office. We had to wait a little while for a songthaew to turn up to take us to the pier. He seemed to stop every minute or so along the way to pick up water, ice and a barrel of petrol. We eventually reached the pier and boarded a long-tail boat along with three other people, so it was a nice small group. We began our journey through a huge mangrove forest, which was quite eerie as we were the only boat passing through narrow channels of water. We then left the mangrove forest and saw the distinctive feature of Phang Nga Bay, that of the sheer limestone karsts that jut vertically out of the emerald green water. There are actually 42 islands in the shallow bay. It was nice to slowly travel through the bay in a long-tail boat, rather than on a larger boat. We first traveled under a cave called Khao Thalu which had stalactites and had a fairly low roof. The next thing was sea kayaking, but it was actually an inflatable along with a guide so we didn't actually have to paddle ourselves, which was a shame. The guide took us around some of the rocky outcrops where we sometimes had to lie down as they were so low. We stopped off at a tiny beach to take a photo, which is where we noticed an anchored long-tail boat selling drinks, which was totally ridiculous in such a beautiful National Marine Park. Once our kayaking was over we went to Ko Phing Kan, which literally means leaning on itself island. This is because a huge rock split like a sheet and the bottom part of one half of the rock is buried in the ground whilst the top parts lean against each other. The scenery behind Ko Phing Kan was very picturesque as Ko Tapu, otherwise known as 'James Bond Island' was in the sea in the background. It is called Ko Tapu as it looks like a nail and is so thin that you can't actually step foot on the island. It was also featured in the movie 'The Man with the Golden Gun' but I haven't seen it so it meant nothing to me! The beach was so crowded with tourists though and it was a little bit difficult to appreciate the place. However, we walked up a stairway that led to another little beach and a few little caves that you could climb into without such a crowd. 

We left 'James Bond Island' and our boat driver moored the long-tail onto a tiny beach . We all looked around confused as to why we had stopped, but he handed us a head-torch each and told us there was a cave that we could enter. It was called Tham Keaw and there was a little wooden ladder that you climbed to enter the cave that was completely pitch black! We cautiously started walking through the cave but it was really impressive with huge stalagmites and stalactites, some that sparkled as a result of the minerals that had crystallized, which was a pretty sight. It was quite a large cave, only housing a single bat, that led to an opening that looked out into an emerald green lagoon. We then had to return the same way to get out. Our next stop was lunch on a small beach before making our way to Ko Panyi. This was a small island consisting of a Muslim 'Sea Gypsy' village. They have survived for over 200 years by fishing the abundant sea around the island. The local community live precariously in wooden houses with the whole village being supported on stilts in the shallow sea around the island. The village even had a small school, a mosque and a health centre. Our final stop was the nearby Khao Khien. On the cliff above the sea, there were pre-historic paintings featuring various kinds of animals, including a monkey and a dolphin. They were apparently over 3,000 years old and were assumed to have been painted by seamen who used the place to escape from the monsoon. We returned to the pier, very tired, and got a songthaew back to the Mr. Kean Office. We chilled out in our hotel room before eating at KFC, again, then collapsing for the rest of the night.