More Thai Delights
Back in Phuket, Andy and I met up with Dave and Darwin from D.C. It was great to see those guys for the first time since last June. I think we all agreed that the highlight of our four days in Phuket was when we rented a speedboat for the day to take us out to Phang Nga National Park, an amazing cluster of islands and limestone rock formations.
Dave, Andy and Darwin enjoying the sights
One of our stops was at Khao Phing Kan, also known as James Bond Island. Does this look familiar?
It’s Scaramanga’s island hideout from the Man with the Golden Gun. Can you picture Scaramanga’s laser weapon, powered by the Solex Agitator, popping up from the top of that rock formation and firing on 007’s sea plane?
Doing our best 007 impersonations. Dave and I swam out to the rock and tried to climb on it for posterity’s sake. That didn’t happen, but it was fun trying. Maybe you need a third nipple to succeed.
We also stopped at Koh Khai Nok, a tiny little island that is full of day trippers
Andy and I got in a pretty good snorkel around the island, saw some barracuda and some really unique corals.
The Captain let Andy take the helm for most of the ride back to Phuket
Thanks to a giant bag of ice compliments of the Captain, all beverages were ice cold until the end
If you feel like watching a quick little video from the day, click on this link. It may take a minute to load:
http://chroniclesofleisure.com/links/phangnga1.AVI
Back in Phuket, we hit one of my favorite places for sunset, After Beach Bar up on the cliffs between Kata and Nai Harn Beach. You can’t beat the view
The other days in Phuket were spent pretty lazily at the various beaches in the area, or around the pool. As far as the nights went, well, you know…
Andy left straight from Phuket to head back to London, and Dave, Darwin and I went up to Bangkok for a few days before they headed home.
The sports bar across the road from our Bangkok hotel serving our new favorite beer
Ironically, a tasty bottle of Phuket Beer can be enjoyed in Bangkok, but was nowhere to be found in Phuket. And of course, no bar in Bangkok is complete without a posse of women trying to get you in the door, and then trying to keep you drinking
Bangkok is a crazy city, where very little seems off limits. I found this sticker on the bathroom wall of a bar and had to have it. It certainly sums up how many people must feel as they leave Bangkok
As for me, well, I feel pretty good. Heading up to the north of Thailand next to have a look around.