PHANG NGA BAY TOUR (Day 13 - part 2)

We pulled up to Khao Phing-Kan Island and stepped out on a shell beach.

We hiked over to the middle of the island...

... and got our first view of Ko Ta Pu or James Bond Island. It's called this after being made famous by the movie "The Man With the Golden Gun" in 1974.

Ko Ta Pu (red arrow) is located in the bay of Khao Phing-Kan Island.

The center area of the island was packed full of vendors.

A giant crack in the rock

On the far side of the small beach, we were able to crawl through a narrow limestone cave. Our boat came and picked us up.

Wandering through the caverns

Loading up and heading out

For as enormous as James Bond Island may look standing alone (at 66 feet tall), it is actually quite tiny when compared to all the surrounding islands.

We returned to Panyee Village for lunch.

There was lots of chicken and shrimp but only one vegetarian dish. It was surprisingly difficult to be a vegetarian here.... not because they didn't have a zillion wonderful dishes without meat, but because of the assumption that since all tourists could AFFORD meat, naturally they all ate it... since after all they (the Thai people) would if they had the money.

We wandered a bit through the 300-year-old village. The village was built 100% on the water. It merely stood next to an island for protection and a shallower shore. It was currently low tide, so there was lots of mud (filled with mudskippers and small crabs) where there usually was water. About 1,000 people lived here.

The gift shops had many lovely things but were very pricey!

We hopped back on the boat for a 15 minute ride back.

Back at the dock, we hopped in the van and drove to Pung Chang cave (meaning Belly of the Elephant). Legend tells of how a farmer's crops were damaged by a herd of elephants. He chased them but then speared an innocent elephant owned by a neighbor instead. Hence, this mountain is shaped like elephant and the two spear wounds are the cave entrances.

We then took a one hour trip through the cave. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed so our only photo is the one they took and then sold to us.

We were given some painful green thongs to wear and then climbed into a small, wobbly yellow boat. The water was quite chilly! As we floated along, Tom, our guide, geared with a head lamp, pointed out different formations. This used to be a sea cave so there were also many fossils and shells. The cave only discovered five years ago and runs about 3/4 mile. Small bats flitted about and a monitor lizard even clung to a wall. The cave was long and narrow. Here the water was about five feet deep.

Eventually the water got lower, so we changed to a raft that our guide pushed along as he walked. Other than the sloshing of water, the cave was extremely quiet. The cave narrowed and was only just slightly bigger than the raft. We were told that lots of blind animals live here (fish, frogs). From the legend, the water is the blood of the elephant.

Finally, it was our time to also walk in the knee-high cold water. Tom told us the water levels ranges from knee- to ankle-deep. It had rained for two hours yesterday and the water level rose so quickly that one group was trapped. They had to be rescued from a ledge. We could actually see the wet, high water line from yesterday. It was chest deep. This section was a growing cave, so water dripped from above.

Eventually we made our way back, including juggling the raft and boat. We turned into a side cave and came out the other entrance.

At 3:30 pm , we headed back to Phuket island, arriving at our hotel by 5 pm. We grabbed some dinner at a restaurant in town. Then the night scene began.

return • continue