Paris Hilton sunglasses, inch long gel nails, false eyelashes, designer shoes & hats with 12” ruffled brims, and snorkelers in Speedos and thong bikinis. it’s everything we are not! But we made the most of the day and took a day trip to Ang Thong National Marine Park by high-speed powerboat.
They packed us into that speedboat much like an airplane. Rows of seats with minimal legroom. No windows at eye level to see out of. First stop was snorkeling. Randy and Deana both snorkelled while I chose to just float merrily above water. They each reported a lot of colourful little fish, but the reef didn’t appear to be too terribly healthy. It’s surprising there were any fish at all, given four or five high speed boats dropped off about a hundred and fifty sunscreen-slathered people into the water to see the sea’s offerings. Repeat daily, every day of the year and it’s no wonder it wasn’t more “alive”.
Next stop…another island where you can climb steps steep enough to qualify as ladders up to see the Blue Lagoon, followed by yet another island stop for more view-seeking climbs. Randy and I chose to skip the hike to the mountain top, opting instead for the beautiful glorious powdery white sandy beach. We plunged into the waves and made like bobble heads, up and down & bouncing around the whole time, happy happy!! It was among the most beautiful swimming spots we’ve ever experienced.
We noticed a few camera snappers on the shoreline making a fuss about a tree. It was incumbent upon us to extract ourselves from the water and wander over too, camera in hand. Right in front of our eyeballs was a harem of Dusky Leaf Monkeys feeding on leaves in the trees. They were un-disturbed by our proximity just 12ft away and they just went about their biz. If you don’t see the video below, click on this link, Dusky the monkey in Ang Thong
The boat ride back to shore was, to say the least, a turbulent choppy bumpity bump blast across the big sea water waves. Surprisingly, we all survived and we didn’t lose a single person overboard. Not convinced the speedboat could have sustained all the crashing up & down without damage….
On another note, it was Deanas birthday today. At breakfast she was relaying stories about her visit to the elephant sanctuary yesterday when the resort staff produced a cake and sang Happy Birthday to her in their sweet Thai voices.
Tomorrow we escape Samui!
Happy birthday Deana!!!!! Great adventures ahead .
Good video!
It was a stroke of luck that we got that close!
Too bad about Koh Samui. When I went there in 1984 we slept in grass huts on the beach! No hotels in sight. It was hippie paradise! Now it seems to be overrun with great white tourists. Great stories Anita and of course Happy Birthday to Deana!
Someone else was telling us that it’s changed dramatically over the years as well. The main road around the island is absolutely brutal with no shoulder in many locations and cars and motorbikes drive like maniacs. We feel a little like we take our life into our hands just walking along it (which is necessary to get anywhere)
Thank you for the birthday wishes. It truly is an adventure every day!!