Wholesome breakfast of omelette, meats, toast, fruits and coffee
At the pool
As it was still early, we rode to Noppharat Thara beach for a morning walk on the exposed mudflats (as it was low tide again). We were trying to catch some fiddler crabs at the knolls but Slug cut his sole against the protuding rocks there and started bleeding. We hurried back to our hotel and as I requested for some alcohol and cotton from the lobby, the bellboy joked to Slug good-naturedly, "Why, you not happy with the stone?", and to which we laughed.
The two knolls on an early morning
After cleaning his wound, the bleeding stopped and we proceeded to the lobby to wait for the minivan that would come at 8.30am to pick us up for our excursion. It turned out to be a pickup instead, which took us to a pier near Noppharat Thara beach. Together with two farang families and some Thai nationals, we were ushered up a long-tail boat which would take us to the first island, Tup Island.
On the pick-up
On the long-tail boat
Approaching 4 Islands
Approaching Tup Island
After 30 minutes, we arrived at Tup Island and we were given 40 minutes to laze around on its beach. As the tide was low, a sandbar that connected two islets there was somehow exposed, making it possible to walk to and from these islets. As I was walking along the sandbar and wading through the water, I had fun gazing at the shoals of huge alligator fishes and other fishes swimming around. Poor Slug did not want to enter the water because of the cut on his sole, so he sat all by himself on a boulder.
The beach on Tup Island
People wading across to the other islet
As I was exploring the fishes, I caught sight of a Singaporean father who disgusted me with his fake Caucasian accent. He was guiding his son, who seemed to be about 4-years-old, in snorkelling. While helping his son stay afloat and paddle, he was rattling away, "Joshua, paddle your feet ... This is how you swim ... You breathe through this tube ... This is called snorkelling ... Oh, do you see that, Joshua ... that is a big yellow fish ... Do you know where the fishes live? ... At these rocks ... Oh, Joshua, don't drink the waaahhdder ... the waaahdder is sorrteeee ... sorrrteee, sorrrteee ...." Give that guy a break, he is only 4-years-old! And the way he spoke (with that fake accent) seriously induced goosebumps all over my scalp.
After that, we left Tup Island for Khai (Thai for 'chicken') Island. Why Chicken Island? Because it is shaped like a chicken. Slug felt that it should be named Turkey Island instead.
Leaving Tup Island
Khai Island
Our boat anchored itself a few metres away from the island, allowing us to plunge into the waters and snorkel. Some went ahead and some stayed on board to feed the fishes. The waters were so clear that I could see sea urchins at the bottom of the sea.
Stopping at this cove
Feeding the fishes
Our guide dived into the water and started to catch the fishes with his bare hands. How he did it: he spit into the water, and the fishes, mistaking his white spit to be bread, swam towards to nibble it and his fingers, and he would instinctively clamp his fingers over the unfortunate fish.
Slug was impressed with such a skill of his, but I was starting to get worried because the guide just threw his catch onto the boat and left them there under the sun. I tried to house those fishes in a bread plastic bag filled with water but it started leaking. In the end, I was so frustrated that I released them all back into the sea. Luckily the guide did not mention anything about the fishes when he came on board.
We were then brought to Poda Island for lunch. We could not believe our eyes when we were handed packed lunch, because we were expecting lunch at restaurants!
Just rice with pork and omelette
So we sat at a nearby restaurant to enjoy our miserable lunch, and then we walked around the beach. We watched in amusement as a group of monkeys appeared from nowhere and started ransacking the bags of two sunbathers, who shrieked at them. Slug and I ran forward to take a closer look at them.
That was a close look, wasn't it? Soon, a few of us started crowding around this pack of monkeys, and a Thai woman even fed them some mee siam. As Slug was staring at it, it suddenly lunged towards Slug and wanted to snatch the bottle of mineral water he was holding. Slug was so stunned that he stood rooted to the ground until a farang came over and scared them away.
The monkeys scampered away ...
A limestone outcrop off Poda Island
Then we were taken to the last 'island': Railey beach. Yah, it is actually a beach separated from Ao Nang beach by a hill, so it cannot really be considered an island, but god-knows-why it is part of this itinerary.
On the way to Railey beach
This small secluded stretch of beach (which can only be reached by long-tail boats and not by land transport) was quite crowded with many sunbathers, and we were not impressed with the cleanliness of this beach. We were then taken to the Phra Nang Cave (the Cave of the Holy Princess) to pay a visit to the shrine.
On Railey beach
Phra Nang Cave
The shrine which houses the spirit of the Holy Princess
We explored the beach by walking towards the back, on a path that would take us to the Viewpoint. We passed by the stalactites and stalagmites at the base of the huge limestone hill, and finally came to the path up the hill that would lead to the Viewpoint.
Hanging stalactites formed by water eroding the limestone
Erm, yes, that is the path up to the Viewpoint. Slug and I stared at it in disbelief. There was a ragged rope that you can hold on to while scaling the steep slope, but the steepness was too forbidding. A farang couple came down the slope (with ease) and they told us that we should try to get to the top, because there were two paths that we could take. One would lead to the Viewpoint that offers a scenic view of Railey beach, while the other path would lead to a cavern with a beautiful lagoon. I was tempted and started to climb up the slope, but Slug the weakling complained about his foot and sat there watching me. Within ten steps, fear started to grip me, dirt started to go under my fingernails and I started to whine. My ascent promptly stopped there.
So we walked back to the beach to board our boat back to Ao Nang. As the boat bounced up and down the waves, everyone on board was splashed and drenched by the waves. It was cooling and irritating at the same time.
Shielding ourselves from the waves
We were brought back to our hotel, where we washed up and took a short comfortable nap.
On the balcony
When evening came, we woke up and rode to Noppharat Thara beach. It was low tide again and we made more discoveries. The best discovery I made: my flip-flops were stolen. I was extremely upset because those were my favourite Nokia rubber flip-flops that I bought from the Student Advisory Centre!
Another crab scurrying away
Slug collected a handful of clams
A baby horseshoe crab
After that, we rode to an open-air compound of tze char restaurants near our hotel for dinner. We saw a table of three disgusting Singaporeans giving us the head-to-toe stares and we were instantly pissed.
The tze char restaurant that we patronized
We felt that it should be a credible dining venue as we saw scores of farangs there. We ordered tempura prawns and squid, fried chicken and tofu and minced pork soup, and topped off the dinner with refreshing coconut juice.
Dinner
As we were eating away, suddenly someone tapped me on my shoulder and grinned, "Hey, remember me?". I could only stare at her, nonplussed, not knowing what to say. "I am the guide this morning, to 4 Islands," she continued, and Slug and I breathed a relieved "Ooooh". We were awestruck by the transformation our guide underwent: during the day she was hidden behind a pair of shades and her hair tucked into a cap; now she let her hair down and looked more feminine. No wonder we could not recognise her. We took a picture together, and Slug and I secretly agreed between ourselves that she looks like Michael Jackson (and that's not a compliment).
The guide, Eve, and I
After dinner, we walked around the shops that fronted Ao Nang beach and browsed through the pirated DVDs (they even had Hostel 2!) and beach apparel. Slug and I bought slippers quite cheaply.
At the shops at Ao Nang beach
Harassing a stray cat
After walking around and snacking on tidbits and hotdogs from 7-Eleven, we returned to our room. To our horror, we realised a Singaporean couple had moved into the room next to ours (we could hear their distinguishable voices and accents from next door), and their TV was on all the way past midnight. Assholes.
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