Four Islands And A Sunset

 

Continuing our adventures of our epic trip to Thailand, day five of our trip found us on day two in the beautiful town of Ao Nang in Krabi province. On this day we were booked for the popular “4 islands tour”. Even though Krabi province isn’t an island, it’s surrounded by dozens of tiny islands; some flat, sandy paradises and others tall, limestone megaliths rising out of the water, covered in dense jungle, giving one an ominous sense of being in Jurassic Park. We started out with the tour group taking a van to the boat launch where we boarded a large speed boat. The morning was beautiful and temperate, but a large portion of the group was less than thrilled about the “early” morning due to the late night partying they’d done the night before (present company excluded). Visiting any of these islands costs a “national park fee” which our tour cost covered, however, if you were to book a private tour, the fee is quite reasonable and in line with Thai prices.

 

 

 

 

 

Our first “island” was a 20 minute boat ride from the Ao Nang area we were staying in. Phra Nang beach is still part of the Krabi mainland, but further south from Railay beach where we originally stopped on arrival at Krabi. This beach is simply stunning. When our boat arrived on the white, sugar sand beach, the immense limestone cliffs rising into the sky above the island demanded our immediate attention.

Pockmarked and covered in caves and vegetation, they are nothing short of a wonder of nature. The surrounding bay had the most crystal clear water and was so calm we could see tiny fishes swimming in the shallows. We were only given about 50 minutes of time to explore the area so we headed off in the direction of the cliffs, enchanted by their majesty. A short walk later we arrived at Phra Nang cave. Not having done any research about this particular cave, you might imagine my surprise when we found it to be brimming with phalluses. Phra Nang cave, or “Princess” cave is a small cave with a soft, sandy floor. Taking up a large portion of the cave were all manner of penis; big, small, wooden, plastic, carved, painted, and some adorned with ribbons and cloth.

Towards the back of the cave was a spirit house, which is a more usual sight to come across in Thailand. I had a hard time not reacting in some way to the sheer number of (say it with me now…) penises in the cave. In some areas they were placed erect in the sand, in farther corners of the cave, stacked in corners and up to the ceiling. I did my best to be respectful and close my gaping mouth as this cave is a spiritual place to the Thai people, and just because it was shocking to me, didn’t mean it should be treated as a joke.

According to legend, the cave is the home of a mythical sea princess and since ancient times, fisherman have made offerings of the symbolic phalluses. The offerings are believed to bring successful fishing trips and protect people from danger. The phallic offerings in the cave from more recent times are placed here as offerings in hopes of achieving fertility. After exploring the cave and collecting ourselves, we headed a bit farther south down the beach and followed some trails back into the cavernous limestone rocks. We didn’t have time to explore it, but there is a secret lagoon near here (I’ve searched it on maps) and it looks like an absolute paradise, if you have the chance to hike there.

We walked back through the cool, clear water, watched the fishes swim around our feet and collected some shells before heading back to the boat. As we pulled away from the shore, our tour guide pointed out the tiny island slightly south of Phra Nang beach that is literally covered in gold leaf. For the Thailand biennial celebration of 2018, artists were commissioned make an art piece and hammered one kilogram of gold leaf around the base of the tiny island. If you’re planning to visit Thailand and Ao Nang is on your list, definitely visit Phra Nang beach early in the morning as the crowds get very heavy from mid-morning on.

Island number two on the tour was an actual island (finally). Koh Tup, attached to Koh Mor, is a tiny, flat island. By the time we arrived here it was nearing noon and the sun was so bright on the soft, snow white sand that the glare and heat were nearly unbearable. While Tup is absolutely paradise to behold, there was little shade and it was oppressively hot.

We re-applied sunscreen, and tried to find some shade and stay hydrated, but the island was extremely crowded by this point in the day. We walked entirely around the island and over the tiny land bridge to Koh Mor in the 45 minutes we were able to spend here. There was a tiny, crowded snack bar, but we spent most of our time beach combing and being entertained by nervous crabs skittering around the rocky shore. This island would definitely be a gem if not so inundated with tourists. Again, if you want to book this privately, go early in the morning to avoid crowds and the hottest part of the day.

Island three: The tour guide admitted that the limestone rock formation that creates the “head” of Chicken Island, looks much more like a turkey, but explained that they don’t have turkeys in Thailand, hence Chicken Island.

We didn’t actually step foot on Chicken but we had a brief snorkel here. I say brief, as we were given 45 minutes to snorkel, but Shawn and I were called back to the boat after about 15. Worried that something had gone wrong, we rushed back only to be told that nearly everyone on our boat wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to snorkel. The majority of the tour group were insanely hung over from the previous night’s festivities and I won’t lie, even with the less than stellar snorkeling conditions at this location (the water was quite cloudy and deep here), I was really upset to have had the time cut short; this was our vacation too. We’d traveled 17 hours by plane, over 11,000 kilometers and saved up for nearly two years to get here so I was pretty angry that some hungover 20-somethings were taking away from our experience.

By the time we got to our last island, Koh Poda, I was fit to be tied. We stopped here and begrudgingly joined our group for a quaint lunch provided by the day tour group. We had two hours to spend here, and I was pretty done with the group at this point and had a hard time actually relaxing. Shawn and I wandered around through the unique feathery trees of the island, grateful at least for some shade as a respite from the heat. I floated in the ocean, watched a far off storm brewing and collected a few more shells while waiting for our ride back to the mainland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That evening, back in Ao Nang and still being annoyed with the tour group, Shawn and I headed out alone and found ourselves at Ao Nang beach to explore the town and find dinner. The beach was certainly not the stellar white sand found at some of the other beaches in the area; more of a yellow-ish sand and certainly not the cleanest beach I’ve ever been at, but the view was stunning as we watched the sunset over the ocean and a lightning storm off in the distance.

We found an ocean-side seafood restaurant for dinner and slowly explored the main street area afterwards. We lounged at a rooftop patio bar, did a bit of shopping, found the highly recommended “rolled ice cream” I’d been anticipating and enjoyed the lighter crowds.

Despite the quieter and more laid back essence of Ao Nang, I was disheartened by the amount of garbage we walked by on the sidewalks, literally spilling out of over-full garbage cans. Thailand is an insanely beautiful country with amazing culture but it has a long way to go in reigning in tourists when it comes to littering and looking at solutions for copious amounts of waste and eliminating single use plastics. Despite the difficulties of the day, I still found Krabi and Ao Nang to be a gorgeous, laid back respite from the culture shock of Thailand and it gave me a real sense of finally being on vacation in a tropical paradise. I was sad to leave Krabi the next morning, but I was told the best was yet to come…. Ko Phi Phi!

Thanks for stopping by to read. Feel free to ask questions, share or comment. Until next time, safe and happy travels!

-L