The two countries of Thailand are North and South. Part 13
Part 13. In which we didn't see a bay, but we saw a cave. And a flock of wild monkeys!
November 30, Friday. Phang Nga
Plan for the day:
- Phang Nga Bay cruise
- Phung Chang Cave
At 5:30 we were served breakfast. Because at 6 in the morning a small pickup truck came for us.
It rained all night, because of this, there was a large puddle in the back, wet life jackets lay in it. The driver insistently offered us to get into this puddle, but my husband strongly opposed this.
After a short altercation, we were put into the cockpit. There was enough space.
We stopped by for two more couples, they lived in the same hotel, so it took a little time. The driver found somewhere thick cardboard, threw it into a wet body and put people there.
Somewhere at half past six we were at the pier. Exactly where I planned to take a private boat.
Cruise on Phang Nga Bay. 900 baht
Once again I repeat - you do not need to buy a tour at a travel agency. You need to take a private owner at the pier.
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And it's not that there are a lot of people. When there are only 6 people on the boat, it's almost like a private tour. No one bothered anyone, the atmosphere was pleasant and relaxed.
The point is how the tour is built. In fact, there were simply no tours.
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Having plunged into the boat, we went to the bay. Beautiful rocks were visible in the distance. I was looking forward to the pleasure of this day, because I have already been in a similar place - in Halong Bay.
From a distance it looks very similar.
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Our captain appears to be a thirteen-year-old child. But with a mustache)
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Very quickly we approach the most famous island - James Bond. The island is actually called Khao-Phing Kan, and the rock is Tapu, but in wide circles the complex is known under this name.
Entrance here is paid, but not at this earlier time. Now there is simply no one to collect money. There are no people, or rather, we do not see them. In addition to ours, two more boats are at the pier.
The rock for which everyone comes here is actually small. I want to get closer to her, I go into the sea and walk on the water for quite a long time. finely. Low tide.
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We were brought here so early so that we would not have to pay the entrance fee and so that other tourists would not interfere with enjoying the view. In another hour there will be nowhere for the apple to fall. But there is one major downside to visiting the island so early in the morning. A thick shadow hides the bay. There is so little light that you can only get beautiful pictures with a very good camera. It is impossible to shoot normally with our telephone cameras, in such lighting conditions.
The husband tries to go a little deeper into the cave, but it is small and there is nothing interesting in it.
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The whole island is indented by the tides, as if someone had chewed these rocks. In some places, multi-colored rocks create bizarre pictures.
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I can't say that we were disappointed with this place, but the expected "Ah" did not happen. Once upon a time, when I had never been anywhere, I saw a photo of this rock, on the top there was (with the help of Photoshop) some kind of housing
Then I saw another option
Oh, how I longed then to see the rock with my own eyes! It seemed to me an unattainable dream, the end of the world, and it was the most cherished desire.
And here I am.
Well, rock.
So what? ))
If I knew Photoshop, I would also draw a waterfall in the pictures, which would fall right from under the house, flow over the moss-covered stones and would certainly churn the sea in the place where it poured.
Yes! Wet moss is a must! ! Or lichen!
Idea for photo wallpapers) 
We get into the boat and, in anticipation of other miracles, we sail to the gypsy village on the water - Koh Panyee.
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We dock at the restaurant.
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Well . . gypsies, there are gypsies)
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We move on to the market. The prices are outrageous, things are banal. Let's go even further. And the further into the forest, the more firewood it was already a real disappointment! ! Stink, dirt, general oppressive atmosphere. How can I unsee all this now? )
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We do not linger on this strange island, we sail on.
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Mangroves. Trees "on heels")
A few more minutes and we are back at the pier. 10 a. m. The tour is over.
Here's the most beautiful thing we've seen:
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What? ?
Where are the caves?
Where is the bathing?
Where, in fact, is Phang Nga Bay itself?
Where are the magnificent views, rocks, islands?
What did we pay 1800 baht for?
All these questions were rhetorical. Finita la comedy. We are loaded into a pickup truck, according to the purchased tickets - we are in the cab, the youth in the body.
We leave near Big C to cheer ourselves up with egg natives. My husband goes to order cakes and cocoa, and I go to the toilet to change out of my bathing suit. Yes, I put on my swimsuit in the morning to swim all day in the turquoise waters of Phang Nga Bay. I saw in my dreams how they landed us on a desert island, and we swim in clear water, and under us colorful fish frolic...
Internet photo
Well, we didn’t have to swim on the gypsy island) We’re not lucky with swimming somehow.
Walking in a one-piece swimsuit in the heat, even in a dry one, is unpleasant. Better change your clothes as soon as possible.
In general, the topic of changing clothes in the toilets is little covered on the forum. But it's very convenient. The main thing is to get used to taking off and putting on clothes without touching the walls and floor. I'm already an ace in this business. It is especially convenient to do this in toilets for the disabled.
Do you change clothes on the road? In the toilet? Or are there other places I don't know about?
The question - why not take a free pickup to your hotel and do it in your room, and then, in your car, come to lunch at the mall - please don't ask. I still can't understand the logic of that day)
Well fed up with delicious treats, we went home. Well, how did you go. With acceleration. Faster and faster we walked. Races ran, you might say. Cocoa splashed in us, raising a wave of three points. And the storm promised to intensify.
In such a case, we have a first aid kit. The most effective drug, in my opinion, is nifuroxazide. I even solder my cat, when it is stormy, with nifuroxazide.
From that day on, nifuroxazide was constantly in my purse. South, after all)
When the heat subsided a bit, in every sense of the word, we finally used the rented car and drove to the Elephant Cave.
Phung Chang Cave. 500 baht.
If you are in Phang Nga, be sure to visit this cave.
We were lucky - the bus with tourists was just leaving. Besides us, there were only two Chinese girls. Four of us were taken by a guide and two guides, and we began a fantastic journey.
I used to think that I didn't like caves. Then I thought that I only love huge caves with underground rivers. However, there was a river. But the narrow, low arches did not attract me after the huge, multi-colored halls that I happened to see in China. There was no light in the cave here. Only our headlamps. And yet, now I know that I love all caves! ) Because every time it is a different world, unique, as if we went through a portal and ended up on another planet.
Dark.
Almost silently, we float through a narrow tunnel, sitting on our bottoms in puddles of wet, rubber canoes. Guides walk on water. The narrow, dim beams of headlamps skim the wet stone walls. Somewhere, water is dripping. I want to take my husband by the hand. Not that scary. But somewhat uncomfortable. We sit one after another, I am the first in the chain and I can’t reach my husband. The blackness ahead becomes physically unpleasant. I did not have time to reach the state of “stop the earth” only for a split second. The light shot up, we automatically raised our heads, involuntarily illuminating the ceiling with our flashlights. On the ceiling sat, or rather, hung in beautiful clusters, bats. The Chinese women breathed in with a whistle. Hysteria matured, trembled in the air and promised to overwhelm us generously.
Photo from the Internet.
- Laoshu - loudly, in Chinese, the guide said - yum-yum.
Everyone laughed.
-Mish - repeated the guide for us - yum-yum.
The situation defused. The guide turned out to be a polyglot, turned on four languages at once and did not stop talking for a minute. Here and there various animals appeared, but not real ones. We looked at them cheerfully, slowly moving along the narrow corridor.
-Crocodile - he spoke in Russian, Chinese and English. Together we highlighted another ledge in the wall and there really was a crocodile! Stone).
And so we moored to a small wooden bridge. Next you need to transfer to the raft. Right on the bottom. Right on the raft. The shorts are already wet, so no options. Although, there would still be no options, even in dry shorts. My husband tried to sit on his knees for a while, it's even harder than just on a raft.
You can't hold onto the edge with your hands. The cave narrows and sharp ledges sometimes scrape along the side of the raft. The guide repeats all the time to take your hands off the sides.
The pictures on the walls and ceiling continue, but the physical tension scatters our attention. Finally, we approach another bridge. Further only on foot. We jump into the water, the water is knee-deep. The water is cool, but quite comfortable temperature, the feet do not get cold. We go along the river, the level decreases all the time. In some places we go ankle-deep, in some places the depth is even shallower, until we come to a large, very high cave.
We all turn off the lights.
Quiet.
Scary.
The warm hand of my husband reminds me that I am not lost in space, but just standing in a dark cave. When the eyes begin to get used to the dark, turn on the light. At the command of the guide, we highlight his beam high on the ceiling.
On the way, we saw a lot of stalactites interspersed with some kind of brilliant crystals; when illuminated, such clusters look very fabulous. But the most important fairy tale is here - on the ceiling there is a big white elephant. The guide swears that the elephant is real, that is, natural, and none of the people had a hand in it.
You can't take pictures in the cave, so the photo is from the Internet:
This place has religious significance. Not a temple, but something nearby. Monks come here to meditate. There is a legend according to which the elephant protected its owner from enemies. And when they killed the elephant, ripped open his stomach, he turned into a huge mountain, with a cave in place of the wound. According to another version, the elephant was killed by a neighbor of its owner, treacherously attacking the defenseless. I like the first version better. Why worship an elephant that is not a hero? ) It is better to worship a hero who, at the cost of his life, saved the owner, and even better - the whole city, from enemy invaders.
On the way back, we are shown some more figures, but everyone is already tired. I want air.
Here you need to say about the shoes in which you need to go to this cave. Best of all, of course, are bathing slippers. I was wearing sports sandals, nothing happened to them, but it was comfortable both in the water and on land. Husband wore flip flops. I immediately said that it was convenient. And then he lost one when he boarded a raft. The guides, my husband and our guide ran hunched over in the water and caught slippers. My husband almost caught a big fish instead of a slipper and then told me in a loud whisper:
-Vooot such crap swam past, almost knocked down. It's good you didn't see it.
In addition to the cave itself, there is something else here. And it doesn't cost a dime. These are the monkeys that live here.
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They are quite bold and not particularly arrogant. But, nevertheless, all small, and especially valuable things, need to be hidden. Lots of monkeys. Some come close to people, some sit on a mountain or in trees and just watch.
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We looked at them for a long time, filmed them, until the largest monkey ran up to us with a growl, baring his teeth, as if saying - go away, since you don’t give anything. And we left the car on the main road and we didn’t have anything edible with us. Hand-feeding wild monkeys is always dangerous. If you really want to give them food, then it's better to leave it on the ground, otherwise they can grab a finger from the giving hand)
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Next to the cave is a small installation of an elephant family
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and a beautiful temple
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with a small amount of different cheddi.
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Nearby is an elephant with offerings and sticks. This is the elephant whose stomach we just swam into.
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At the very track - the figure of a black monk. Behind him is a mountain, into which the deceased heroelephant has turned.
Around small fountains and golden figures. Beautiful.
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The rock opposite is also nothing)
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This city of Phang Nga is beautiful! Although, in some places it looks like a village.
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The day was drawing to a close, and we hadn't had dinner yet, you might say. Cocoa and tarts don't count now. We needed real food and we knew where to find it. As in any city, Phang Nga has its own night market. I don’t know how it is there at night, but at half past four in the evening it was crowded and satisfying. And cheap! Prices did not differ or even in some places were lower than in the north! It's just a gem, not a city! It is a pity that without the sea. But I think that by taking a car for a thousand a day, or two mopeds for 300 per brother (a car is definitely better, it has a roof), you can live for $ 17 and go to any sea places. Or hot springs, which are very close. But Phang Nga is the real Thailand. Soulful, honest, not pretentious, not greedy, cheap and atmospheric.
At home, we settled on the terrace, bathed in mosquito spray (for some reason, I didn’t see spirals in any hotel in Thailand) and had a delicious, delicious dinner. The most delicious was mushroom soup, which was poured directly into a plastic bag. I did not want to give it to my husband, fearing problems with his pancreas, but he took a couple of spoons from me. Everybody is alive.
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At some point, I asked my husband:
-Go buy a Coca-Cola from the owner.
The sign of our hotel says that we sell Coca-Cola.
Husband whined, but went.
He comes all upset and tells the story:
The owner did not have Coca-Cola on sale, he was embarrassed, pulled out the keys to the motorcycle from his pocket and invited Sasha to go to the store himself. Sasha refused, why would he need a motorcycle if he never sat on it, especially since we have a car under the windows. He did not want Coca-Cola so much to go somewhere. Therefore, he simply turned around and went to our house. At this time, the owner decided that it was not worth dinner for guests without Coca-Cola, that now it was a matter of honor for him, jumped on a motorcycle and rushed off to the store. Sasha tried to stop him, to persuade him - but where is it! Coca-Cola has become the main task, the cornerstone.
In general, in ten minutes we had a two-liter cola and an ice pack. The owner flatly refused to take the money. That's the situation. Now we have to donate blood for him, in which case, we just have to tell you what a good person he is. And the hotel is just amazing. Jokes aside, great place to stay! Only $17 per night, with breakfast included. Cola for free.
At night, I opened the window from the side of the mountain, hoping to wake up in the morning to see beautiful mountains, and not a mess in the roomjust a curtain.
And don't switch!
