Islands

We took a day-long excursion to go island hopping with a speed boat.

Speedboats offer a rough and bumpy ride. There was a moment of uncertainty when both motors stopped working (they started beeping instead!) and the crew began trying to get cell phone reception. We were adrift in what seemed like the middle of the Adaman Sea. This was quickly resolved when the engines started working again. I think they just got tired.

On the second day, we were scheduled to go on another one-day trip to some other islands but the weather was looking quite misty and dark. We called the tour agency who said that eleven others confirmed going on the trip, so our decision to cancel wouldn't be damaging to them. Later in the evening we heard that a boat had flipped over in the rough waves and its occupants were dumped into the Sea. A search effort was under way (after sundown, no less) and luckily everyone was accounted for, alive and safe.

But, on to the pictures of a positive experience!

We stopped at two places to snorkel with tropical fish. It such a fantastic experience, that I didn't even have a chance to take pictures. And yes, the water really was the color you see.

Above you see Koh Kai which means Chicken Island. It is named quite appropriately, though another local name for it translates to, also appropriately, Axe Island.

We pulled up to a beach whose inhabitants were monkeys! There wasn't a chance to leave the boat and monkey around with them, but it was fun nonetheless. (See all my photos tagged with .)

The 2004 Tsunami damanged the islands enough that they are being rebuilt to this day. Tourism has suffered greatly, but foreigners are regaining confidence. Here you see the rebuilding process taking place on Koh Phi Phi.