Our first stop in southern Thailand was Khao Lak. Our resort was pretty far from town, but the beach was nice (Coconut beach). This was our first sunset for our “beach” portion of the trip.
There wasn’t much around our resort, but you could walk up and down the beach to a few local beachside bars and restaurants. This was our first dinner in Khao Lak… the beach was right on the other side.
We didn’t end up spending much time on the beach here, but it was super nice.
There were hermit crabs all over the beach at night. Wait, what are these two doing?
The town of Khao Lak. The power lines in Thailand are a crazy, jumbled mess.
A friendly Thai cat at the shop we booked our side trips from.
There are rubber plantations everywhere in southern Thailand. This was on our way from Khao Lak to the boat dock for the Similan Islands.
Our first side trip during this leg of the trip was to the Similan Islands. It’s a couple of hours by speed boat from Khao Lak to the islands.
The beach from above.
The islands are protected, and inaccessible by visitors for the most part. This was one of the larger ones, where you could climb a short trail and have a nice view of the beach below.
The water here was crystal clear.
Back in Khao Lak for another beachside dinner.
The next day, we took a trip southeast of Khao Lak. It began with a longtail boat ride out to “James Bond” island.
The boat ride out was super scenic, with views of the Phang Nga Bay.
“James Bond” island (Ko Khao Phing Kan), made famous in The Man with the Golden Gun.
These are the type of boats (longtail) that we were on.
Heading to our next stop – a kayaking tour.
The kayak was powered by a local from a floating village that we’d later visit. It was nice, but he was a little “extra”.
The “7 Eleven,” as described by our guide. This boat was selling water and fruit.
Us in our kayak.
After the kayak ride, the next stop was a floating muslim village. We saw it from a distance on our way out, so it was cool to get to visit it.
The floating village (Ko Panyi) from a distance.
We docked in the village and had a walking tour through it.
An “alley” during our walk through the village.
The mosque in the distance (this is a muslim village).
This house was waaayyy nicer than any other that we saw in this village.
This was taken on a floating soccer field at the edge of the village.
Our next stop was the monkey temple. The temple was created in a giant cave, and monkeys gather outside it where tourists feed them.
Vendors sell bags of old fruit that you can feed to the monkeys outside of the temple.
There were probably hundreds of monkeys in the area. They are free to leave… they aren’t enclosed or kept here, but they’re pretty domesticated.
A wall of monkeys.
Lisa feeding one of many monkeys.
This one put it’s foot on Lisa while it ate.
“Please ma’am, may I have another?”
This monkey obviously likes to eat.
Our last stop was a small waterfall near Khao Lak.
