Phuket, Thailand - day 2a

Our second day in Phuket was also long and hot but it was a fun day as well. We were taken by bus (approximately 1 hour 45 minutes) to Phang Nga Bay. This bay is in the Andaman Sea between the island of Phuket and the mainland of the Kra Isthmus of southern Thailand.

But before I tell you about our day, I will say that the public toilets in some places we visit, especially in some of the Asian countries, are not always optimal. That's a nice way of saying that they are a memorable experience - but not in a good way. Insignia's way of warning us is to say that they are "not up to Western standards." I think one reason that I accidentally allowed myself to get dehydrated was that I wasn't drinking enough water while away the ship in an effort to avoid having to use public toilets. That wasn't really a good thing to do, especially on these all-day excursions when it's really hot and we're sweating a lot.

All of that to say that this week I've made a bigger effort to hydrate myself and that means - you guessed it - having to use public restrooms. So I'm posting a couple of photos I snapped in different ladies rooms that I've visited in the recent past. I remember the first time I saw a sign like this. I couldn't for the life of me imagine why someone would stand on a commode seat!?! Now that we've traveled in some of the Asian countries, I get it.

 

 

But back to Phang Nga Bay, the subject of this post. After our arrival, we donned life jackets and climbed into Thai longtail boats that carried us through a mangrove swamp and grotto cave. We also cruised to Ko Tapu, also known as James Bond Island where “The Man with the Golden Gun” was filmed back in the 70’s. Our boat driver slowed the boat so that we could take photos of the island.

 

Welcome to Phang Nga Bay

limestone formations jutting out of the sea

a ride through the mangrove swamp

 

a cave we sailed through (video above)

 

 

the site of "007" and killer Scaramanga's final dual (rock in the middle)

Ko Tapu, also known as James Bond Island

limestone rock formations in Phang Nga Bay - Andaman Sea

houses on stilts

more Koh Panyee village houses

 

After cruising through the mangrove swamp and seeing James Bond Island, we were taken to the Koh Panyee Village Restaurant which also sits over the water. It was a beautiful restaurant where we enjoyed an authentic Thai lunch, served buffet style. I will admit that it’s a bit disconcerting to look down and see water moving (through the boards) beneath your feet. Of course there were shops there with locally made items, clothes, purses, magnets – the usual touristy stuff. 

Koh Panyee Village Restaurant

 

lunch buffet

view from dock

Here’s some information I found that explains more about Panyee Village.

“Koh Panyee is mostly made up of huge and almost vertical limestone cliffs. The hundreds of huts, shacks, restaurants and houses where the villagers live are built on stilts over the surrounding shallow sea. No one seems quite sure how many wooden and concrete piles hold up this extraordinary community, but it's certainly a fascinating and unique feat of informal engineering. The village has a school, a mosque, a health center, lots of small souvenir shops, and a handful of large restaurants facing the Andaman Sea. There are even bungalows offering overnight accommodations. Worth seeing is the floating soccer pitch, built by the village children using old scraps of wood and fishing rafts. It helped Panyee Football Club become one of the most successful youth soccer teams in Southern Thailand.” Additionally, it said “Note that this a Muslim community, so women shouldn't wear short skirts or shorts. T-shirts and jeans are acceptable but anything that exposes too much flesh could risk getting a cold shoulder from the usually welcoming locals.”

An interesting side note about the Panyee “football club” – back in 1986, a group of young football (soccer to us) fans on the island wanted to start their own team. There was no open space for them to play on their rocky island, so the children collected scrap wood and built a floating dock in the water to serve as their field (see photo below).

 

"football" field is flat blue area (see red and white goals)

 

Our guide told us that one person is stationed on each of the corners to try to keep the ball from going into the water. If it does, he/she simply jumps in and retrieves it and the game continues.

After lunch, we re-boarded the boats and returned to the Phang Nga jetty. The boats held 3 persons per bench and I was on the end (good for taking photos). However, the guy driving the boat took us a different way back and he drove so fast that water splashed up into the bouncing boat so some of us (myself included) were pretty wet by the time we returned to the jetty. (Ronnie and I were the last ones to board so we weren’t sitting together; otherwise I could have switched places and sat in the middle.) Anyway, the wind helped with the stifling heat. As we boarded the bus for the long drive back to the port, we were offered chilled disposable hand towels along with bottles of cold water which we gladly accepted!

 

Frozen treats for sale where the longtail boats were unloading. We're all familiar with flavors like pineapple, coconut, grape, mango, orange and lemon. But what about one of these - red beans, green beans, corn, durian, jack fruit, passion fruit or mangosteen? (I can attest that mangosteens are delicious! I can also that durians are TERRIBLE!!!)

YES!!!!