I looked out the window after waking up with trepidation. Today I had an all-day island hopping tour booked and the weather folks said it was supposed to be raining and storming. Well imagine my delight when they were wrong again (seriously not one day has been what they forecaste aside from the heat) and the sun was out and shining. So I caffeined up, put on my bathing suit, doused myself in sunscreen and bug spray and headed down the street to meet my tour guide. The tour group I went with was called GR Tours and our guide Mung was excellent. He was professional, courteous, and the whole boat team took great care of us. It even included a buffet lunch on Phi Phi Don, which was pretty nice. Our first stop on the island hopping tour was Bamboo Island, and since our group had everyone arrive early we were able to leave early and get there about 15 minutes before the mass influx of other tourists. We all practically jumped off the boat to get photos before the 100+ other folks arrived. After an hour admiring the crystal clear water, we got back on the boat and went to the Phileh Lagoon, a shallow water cove with warm water where you could just float and relax in the shade of the surrounding cliffs. I met a very nice woman from Nepal in our group who was worried about floating, so I took her hand and we floated together for most of the time. The boat went around the corner a little to Viking Cave, but that area is off limits for bird nesting, so we went next to it and snorkeled for a bit. Honestly though the waves were really rocky and after accidentally inhaling the saltiest sea water I’ve ever tasted I started to feel icky so I didn’t stay out too long. Next stop was Maya Beach, another gorgeous location that was used in The Cove movie and had to be shut down to tourists because of all the damage people like us were causing to the coral.
Then we headed to Monkey Beach where wild monkeys run around. Now, I’ve had a LOT of experience with wild monkeys in my travels, and I’ve learned to have a very healthy respect for them and keep my distance. I know that monkeys are thieves, that they are fast and strong with big teeth and irritable temperaments and can turn on you in a split second. I don’t trust monkeys, at all. I did get off the boat, but mostly because I was starting to feel a little sea sick, otherwise I kept my distance and watched the rest of the tourists doing EVERYTHING the guides told them not to do. People were feeding them, trying to pet them, splashing them with water, getting super close for that Instagram photo, and I saw two people get attacked within minutes of getting onto the island. One person not in our group got bit on the leg, another person in our group got bit really bad on her arm. On the flip side, other people were having the time of their lives mostly with the babies crawling on their shoulders and hanging out. It was weird to see the two sides, and I admit I freaked out a little and yelled at a guy who tried to physically grab a baby monkey on his shoulder and set him down like a cat and the baby kept opening his mouth just waiting for the hand to get close enough to bite. Plus when you’re dealing with baby monkeys, you gotta know where mama is. The monkeys kept (justifiably) biting people and the people were too many and too dumb so we only stayed about 15 minutes then headed to Phi Phi Don, the main big island.
There we ate at the buffet, and had a little over an hour to wander and shop or do whatever. I mostly just walked the market a bit then sat in the shade on the beach until it was time to go. The trip back was uneventful, and far less bumpy than the way in. After they dropped us back off at Aonang I took my stuff back to the hotel and then headed out to the beach. I stopped by the massage place that had kindly let me take shelter during the heavy rain a couple days ago, and got a relaxing massage while waiting for sunset. Then I sat on the beach until the sun went down (3 for 3 on gorgeous sunsets here!) and got some food at that Family restaurant again (they knew who I was instantly, is that weird? I hope I made a good impression and that’s why they remembered.) Tomorrow I head off to Phuket, but to be honest I could have spent another week here just relaxing.
