Adn then taken to Nang An Pier
Where we board this speedboat
It’s not very diverse, I’m the only white dude on the boat
The speedboat is really fast, I deliberately chose the speedboat for this trip as I want to spend most my time on the islands, not the boat
Though these boats can be quite fast as well
No OSH issues for Thai
The first of four islands that we stop at
Which turns out not to be an island at all, it’s simply East Railay Bay Beach
But hey, there are monkeys
Friendly looking monkeys
Like this one
That’s carrying her baby
We walk south towards Princess Cave
Interesting rocks here
I’m surprised to find a tent here, can you camp here?
Rock climbers
Princess Cave, a shrine to penises! You don’t see them here anymore (don’t know why?) but they definitely used to be here
Ko Rang Beach and Ko Rang Nok
Me
It’s high tide, we have to wade through the water to get to the other side of the beach, there’s some Bat Cave there but we are not allowed enough time to visit there, I’m already on my way back and just made it back in time to the boat
Then we go to ‘Chicken Island‘, it’s called that way because this rock in the photo looks so incredibly much like a chicken… We don’t stop here, it’s just to have a look
Then it’s off to Ko Thap (this is looking to my left)
Otherwise known as Tup (looking to my right), two tiny islands (but they are considered to be one island) with a land bridge between them when the tide is low, if the tide is really low you can even walk to Chicken Island from here
These boats do look great, don’t they?
Lovely warm water
Tide has gone out even more now, the land bridge is dry
There is a little area here where we can swim (where the boats aren’t allowed to come)
And after a short visit it’s off to the next island
Where I enjoy a small lunch on my fantastic Dahab towel, I actually had a second lunch, they had some spares
The big rock is Ko Ma Tang Ming
The island is rather big and everyone seems to come here to have their lunch
We spend a few hours here
Lots of fishies in the water
And reminders of the devastating tsunami of 2004
Choices, choices
The local pub
And we’re back at Nang An Pier, what to do next?
To the start of the trail where this monkey is enjoying some peanuts, good choice!
And this one trying to bite through a coconut, good luck with that!
Awww
They are so used to humans they are just sitting on the steps we walk on
They’re all around us, I wonder what the white stuff is, is it plastic? Or some fabric? How did it get there? Did the cheeky monkeys ‘find’ it somewhere?
On the other side of track is another beach
You can’t even come here by car so these are fancy luxury hotels/resorts here
There’s a long pier made of floating plastic blocks
Some hotel guests were being dropped off
I wouldn’t like be on here when the sea is rough
More of these sand balls the crabs here make, this one is trying to fool us by making the pattern look like crop circles!
There’s even a wedding here. Hello!
I think I was ruining their view as I was asked to move on
Are we going to get another great sunset tonight?
Before the sun sets I first need to walk the tail again, back to Ao Nang beach. The monkeys are getting ready to watch the sunset as well
And soaking up some sunlight
Awww, a baby monkey
Shared use of the steps and railings
Serious monkey
Playful monkey
Descending on to Ao Nang beach again
I like the silhouettes
For how many thousands of years will people have gathered on this very beach to watch the sunset?
Sunsets have something magical, like watching a (camp) fire, you just have to look
The local mosque
Lots of stalls here, just like in Khao Lak, with affordable food, I like!
And smoothies!
Once they saw my camera they were like ‘Strike a pose there’s nothing to it’
No thanks. I’ve had enough for today, I get on my scooter and drive back to my hotel (that’s way outside of Ao Nang)
A little video of today