Decided on a tour today

read lots of reviews and picked this Mu Ang Thong Marine National Park

taxi picks you up at 8:30am . Adds more people along the way to the pier

get to the boat and load up . About 30 people 

I was really worried last night about the weather , really didn't want a rough ride , or any queasy 

stomache.


it is a 90 min ride to the National park. 

Very misty and you can't see the islands, really hoping this will clear off for some pictures.

55 ft tour boat built maybe 1950 , 50 ft scorpion tail cruiser .

hoping its sea worthy. Amazing the difference pictures make verses the real thing.


    


so first stop is snorkeling . He took us to a really nice bay. 


Snorkels on and jump in.

we only see small tiger fish. A few with a yellow belly. And I saw one about One foot long with

  sharp tail fins. 

The coral alto not bright colors was beautiful,

just to be able to look under 10 ft of water and see all this life from a new perspective .

amazing,, there was brain coral, elephant tusk, stagshorn, plate coral and flower coral.

the water of the gulf of Thailand is very rich and provides a valuable resource where animals 

and plants are able to thrive.

they receive about 2000 mm of rain thru the year .

There are 42 islands. We just went on a day trip and went to 3 of them. 

Snorkeled end for about an hour. Then they served us a typical Thai lunch.

rice and two different dishes one Thai spicy. And one chicken and vegetable dish. All really great 

as well as fresh carrots, cucumbers tomatoes. Plus soft drinks

then on to kayaking. 

We go to another island and load into tandem kayaks. 

The guide takes us along some high limestone cliffs , the water has eaten away at the bottoms

  of these so you weave in and out of sharp rock protrusions .

you can go underneath these eaten out sections , some form small caves. 

One was interesting as there was a hole that went all the way to the top of the mountain

maybe 60 or more feet high . It was still cloudy so we didn't get to see it but the guide said when

  the sun shines thru the whole, it ricochets back and forth from wall to wall, But no sun.


we unload at the beach and there is a view point Really beautiful . 467 steps up..Emerald

 Lake sits at the bottom , 467 steps down the opposite side of the hill.

Very, very lovely.

Then back on the boat , to another island 

This had three options

1. Hike to the top of the mountain for some fantastic views
2 Short hike
3 Stay on the beach

 1.This one the hike is one dandy hike.

It starts basically going straight up and got worse from there .

No trail , its over rocks i a jungle setting . It is a 1800 ft climb and I do mean climb.

We are use to switch backs in the states Thais figure straight from point A to B is shortest.

So they use ropes to help you over the rough spots. There were lots of ropes! Like all the way

  from bottom to top!

But once at the top it is so worth the effort. It is fantastic!

Then begins the climb down. You had to come down slow and position every step so as not to 

twist an ankle or knee.

Then to the beach to cool down a quick swim and a Chang for Roy.

Back to the boat and sandwiches.

We are standing in line to get our meal and you go up one side fill your plate turn to the other 

side and pick up soft drinks or water and head down a narrow aisle to go back to your seat .

Well one of the girls had her plate full as she was heading to her seat ,the boat tipped and all 

her lettuce, tomatoes and onions fell off her sandwich. A tall blonde was headed up to get her 

food and when the boat tipped her reflex action was to grab. She put out her hand the food fell 

into it and everyone stood in shock for a second then started to laugh. The blonde held up the 

food and the little gals laughs shrugs her shoulders the blonde tips her hand over the bread 

bun , dumps the vegetable back on , and everyone just continues on. Fast reflexes ,not one 

thing hit the floor. She just laughs and says" I hate to see food go to wasted".

Now for the journey home .

We are are suppose to have 90 min to just eat relax and visit.

About an half hour out there are big black clouds forming behind us. 

The captain starts talking to the crew and they start closing all the windows 

The wind starts picking up . Thankfully we have a tail wind. We are hoping we can stay ahead 

of the storm.

  The waves start to really build .

They had everyone from the top deck go down to the bottom, For more secure seating in

the bottom of the boat.

Guess what , we didn't stay ahead of the storm. The last 30 min 10 ft 12 foot waves with 

2 to 3 ft chops. Its a spooking feeling when the water pushes us up and the motors are not in t

the water and its total silence . You look out the window and the water is close to the top of the 

boat. and the boat tips that way. It really makes you day when the wave flattens out the 

 motors starts running again, 

As we pull into the port sllding between sharp rocks we can tell its not the first time this boat 

and crew have been in rough water and bad weather .

Safe at last in the harbor, mark this one up to clean living and lots of prayer.

For the journey home''''''''' no top on our taxi''''''' 

In Thailand you always ride in the back of the pickup. This one had no top.

In Arizona they say its 'Hot , but its a dry heat. 

In Thailand they say its " Rain but its a warm rain"

So ends a full rich day in the life of " Thriftydrifters"