Tall Sights

Pang Na is a great place to go if you want to see towering cliffs of limestone and sheer pinnacles jutting skyward for hundreds of meters out of the sea. Also featured are mangrove forests and a quaint Muslim stilt fishing village. The topography of this place is mind boggling. Pang Na the city is not actually coastal so one of the sights nearby was a cave Wat with monkeys! The cave was not that impressive and when we went in there were no monkeys to be seen. But when we got out, they were everywhere. We spent more than an hour watching, photographing and feeding the monkeys bananas and peanuts.


So cute!


more monkeys


Mmmmmm... monkey like banana


but monkey like peanuts more! I loved the little ones, though the older ones would usually try to steal or take from them, then beat them up if they didn't obey! Sounds like my childhood... lol


This is my favorite picture of the cave
For more monkey business go here

To see the bay we took an all day and overnight boat tour staying at the Muslim village for the night and it was neat to see up-close the limestone formations. First we went through mangrove forest to the sea then to several islands and we explored a few small caves. Some caves we were able to go through on the boat and other islands had turquoise lagoons in them. The most popular island by far was "James Bond Island" where the movie "Man with a golden gun" was partly shot. The famous 'pinnacle in the bay' picture is from here, which is very impressive but the popularity of the island has convinced many vendors to set up here, very aggressive vendors! 'havea look' 'special price for you' 'it very nice you buy' 'OK OK, discount'- all when I have not even said anything yet! They will even take Jewelry and try to put it on you to get you to buy it. These people make me nervous and I usually don't end up buying anything when they approach me this way. The village where we spent the night was quite impressive, about 2000 people live cramped together on stilt houses. Fishing and fish farms are the main income earners while the women inside try to sell goods to tourists. What was cool was that there was a storm last night and we were able to watch the lightening and hear the thunder close by. The stormy weather combined with the prayers coming from the mosque created a unique goose-bump atmosphere. The islands in Pang Na bay were amazing to see but our snorkeling gear is getting dry so today we are heading to Railey in Karabi province where rock-climbing, snorkeling and fabulous beaches await.

Boat tour pictures:

mangrove forest


Tham Lod or 'through cave'


Pretty cool eh?


Huge I know!


So many islands


So Beautiful


One of the lagoons from inside a cave


We saw some neat things


James Bond Island


And again
More great pictures


Muslim fishing village




Locals


Abandoned-for good reason


Fish farm


Pretty


Happy Valentine's day everyone! I got a rose fortunately for a fraction of the price any of you would have had to pay; a whole 10 baht or 25 cents each!

In other news, we are already half-way through our travels! Crazy right? But maybe time goes a bit more slowly when you are at home. I really don't think that I am homesick but there are a few things I miss:
Family and friend bonding time or having fun. I feel like I'm missing a lot in not seeing my nephews grow. I miss you soo much Cabe and Cale!

A big juicy medium-rare steak
Sushi!
Good Pizza
Cereal; frosted mini-wheats or honey nut cheerios
CHEESE! My god do I miss cheese, (anything but processed)
Butter chicken and nan bread from Himalaya sweets and restaurant
Watching movies at home on a comfy couch
A glass of skim milk and cookie dough
Driving my own car... although if it runs when I get back I will be surprised!
Knowing my surroundings
Eating a dinner with family that doesn't burn my mouth with chilies

All back in three months, I'm sure that will be all too soon.