Monday, March 05, 2007
4th March. Happy birthday to Jamie
If I never share another birthday with Jamie, and perhaps I never will, then we can be content that we have been together for one good day.
We left the house at half past eight and drove north until we reached the Sarasin Bridge and drove off the island of Phuket.
It is quite a long drive round to Phang Nga bay - about an hour and a half. When nearly there we stopped for a drink and a little something. Mam bought posh little biscuits and things so I went and bought a packet of crisps.
We drove to the water side and Mam negotiated a price for a long tail boat and a driver for as long as we wanted.
At this point there are creeks leading out to the open sea and at first we were chugging along between mangrove swamps, with the spectacular huge high rocky outcrops towering around us.
Most tourists are taken out on fast boats, carrying about 30 people a time. These powered past us setting up a wash, tossing our little boat over the waves.
There is a well established route - past the strange rock which is sort of shaped like a dog and past a cave where there are ancient cave paintings, which I suspect are renewed every year!
The sea is dotted with huge tall outcrops of rock, many covered with straggly trees. We can feel small and insignificant in our little boat. There are many little caves with weird sorts of stalactites dangling at the entrance. At one point a cave has broken right through under the rocky island and the boat can go from one side to the other.
Our destination was James Bond Island. Everybody goes there and there are posters and signs for people to take you there all along the road, even on Phuket. Mostly they get it right - some sign writers have heard the words and end up with invitations to Jemsbon Island!
This island is small and very tall, with caves and a little beach and is crawling with tourists.
Each tourist wants to take the same pictures.
We of course joined in with that too but also looked a little deeper and watched the stalls - crammed all along that little beach, selling tacky jewellery, shells and other nick nacks.
It is good to see the truth.
But beyond the money making there is beauty to appreciate and the children enjoyed clambering into caves.
It is a bit of a scramble up and down the narrow path (waiting for folks to come the other way) back to the jetty and our boat.
The boat man then took us to the village on stilts, Panyee, which is an island.
The idea is, for most organised parties to stop here for a smart lunch and to buy more tourist tat.
John had fallen asleep on the boat, so Jamie plonked himself down on a chair with sleeping, heavy John and they got drinks (I think). I said I would go for a walk - through the maze of stalls until I hit the real world, where people lived.
It was delightful to walk along the narrow solid path with houses on stilts on either side. Some were quite old and unkempt and others seemed quite smart. I should think many inhabitants are quite well off, with so many visitors eager to part wih their money.
There were some lovely flowers growing and bird cages hanging outside every house. I love those cages - beautiful wooden ones. Bird competitions are quite a feature of Thai life.
Outside one house a woman was ironing, using a large old iron such as are now in museums or antiques shops at home. I think her iron would fetch about 25 pounds!
I took quite a lot of photographs.
Then I got lost, taking a wrong turn in the maze of alleyways. A small girl pushed her postcards into my face which I refused, but she did ask if I wanted 'boat' and I nodded and she beckoned me on. So I gave her 20 baht, which is about 25 pence - so she did very well.
Soon we were back on the boat again. I sat more in the sun for the last part of the journey; it was easier for me to sit there than struggle onto a very low plank of wood almost on the floor.
We had been out for 4 hours.
It was decided that we wouldn't eat until we got home because Mam had some things planned.
So we sat and enjoyed a chicken piece and some steak and some potato and pork soup and left overs of prawn and vegetables - and rice of course. It was tasty and we were hungry.
Later we went to Tescos and ate ice cream in Swensons - Jamie treated himself to a triple strawberry and cream huge sundae, which was on offer; after all it was his birthday! I was satisfied with orange sherbet which I hoped would be more like a sorbet - but it was creamier than that.
I got some more money out of the 'hole in the wall' to pay for the boat trip.
Then there were some food items to buy and lots to look at for Mam.
I bought 5 packs of tasty sweet rice based cereal bars to bring home.
I was very tired in Tescos and when we got back I had to lie down for a while.
It is tiring being a grandmother - noticing things and understanding things but not saying too much - oh bite your tongue Grandma!
I didn't write this at the end of the day yesterday - it is now Monday morning. Jamie has gone to work to start again at Sunrise Divers.
Jessica is not in school because it is a holiday. Later we will drive to Karon and have lunch with him.
We left the house at half past eight and drove north until we reached the Sarasin Bridge and drove off the island of Phuket.
It is quite a long drive round to Phang Nga bay - about an hour and a half. When nearly there we stopped for a drink and a little something. Mam bought posh little biscuits and things so I went and bought a packet of crisps.
We drove to the water side and Mam negotiated a price for a long tail boat and a driver for as long as we wanted.
At this point there are creeks leading out to the open sea and at first we were chugging along between mangrove swamps, with the spectacular huge high rocky outcrops towering around us.
Most tourists are taken out on fast boats, carrying about 30 people a time. These powered past us setting up a wash, tossing our little boat over the waves.
There is a well established route - past the strange rock which is sort of shaped like a dog and past a cave where there are ancient cave paintings, which I suspect are renewed every year!
The sea is dotted with huge tall outcrops of rock, many covered with straggly trees. We can feel small and insignificant in our little boat. There are many little caves with weird sorts of stalactites dangling at the entrance. At one point a cave has broken right through under the rocky island and the boat can go from one side to the other.
Our destination was James Bond Island. Everybody goes there and there are posters and signs for people to take you there all along the road, even on Phuket. Mostly they get it right - some sign writers have heard the words and end up with invitations to Jemsbon Island!
This island is small and very tall, with caves and a little beach and is crawling with tourists.
Each tourist wants to take the same pictures.
We of course joined in with that too but also looked a little deeper and watched the stalls - crammed all along that little beach, selling tacky jewellery, shells and other nick nacks.
It is good to see the truth.
But beyond the money making there is beauty to appreciate and the children enjoyed clambering into caves.
It is a bit of a scramble up and down the narrow path (waiting for folks to come the other way) back to the jetty and our boat.
The boat man then took us to the village on stilts, Panyee, which is an island.
The idea is, for most organised parties to stop here for a smart lunch and to buy more tourist tat.
John had fallen asleep on the boat, so Jamie plonked himself down on a chair with sleeping, heavy John and they got drinks (I think). I said I would go for a walk - through the maze of stalls until I hit the real world, where people lived.
It was delightful to walk along the narrow solid path with houses on stilts on either side. Some were quite old and unkempt and others seemed quite smart. I should think many inhabitants are quite well off, with so many visitors eager to part wih their money.
There were some lovely flowers growing and bird cages hanging outside every house. I love those cages - beautiful wooden ones. Bird competitions are quite a feature of Thai life.
Outside one house a woman was ironing, using a large old iron such as are now in museums or antiques shops at home. I think her iron would fetch about 25 pounds!
I took quite a lot of photographs.
Then I got lost, taking a wrong turn in the maze of alleyways. A small girl pushed her postcards into my face which I refused, but she did ask if I wanted 'boat' and I nodded and she beckoned me on. So I gave her 20 baht, which is about 25 pence - so she did very well.
Soon we were back on the boat again. I sat more in the sun for the last part of the journey; it was easier for me to sit there than struggle onto a very low plank of wood almost on the floor.
We had been out for 4 hours.
It was decided that we wouldn't eat until we got home because Mam had some things planned.
So we sat and enjoyed a chicken piece and some steak and some potato and pork soup and left overs of prawn and vegetables - and rice of course. It was tasty and we were hungry.
Later we went to Tescos and ate ice cream in Swensons - Jamie treated himself to a triple strawberry and cream huge sundae, which was on offer; after all it was his birthday! I was satisfied with orange sherbet which I hoped would be more like a sorbet - but it was creamier than that.
I got some more money out of the 'hole in the wall' to pay for the boat trip.
Then there were some food items to buy and lots to look at for Mam.
I bought 5 packs of tasty sweet rice based cereal bars to bring home.
I was very tired in Tescos and when we got back I had to lie down for a while.
It is tiring being a grandmother - noticing things and understanding things but not saying too much - oh bite your tongue Grandma!
I didn't write this at the end of the day yesterday - it is now Monday morning. Jamie has gone to work to start again at Sunrise Divers.
Jessica is not in school because it is a holiday. Later we will drive to Karon and have lunch with him.
