· More tours, tuk tuks and thai foodPhang Nga, Thailand · 21st Dec 2007 · Posted by Chris
So, here we are in Phang Nga, Thailand. It's a small place that requires the most complex travel route yet to get here. We had to take 5 different mini buses along the way! We jumped into the first one thinking that we could settle down and have a rest for the journey but were quickly told "You! Out here! Change van!". Sweet, no problem there although the next guy said the same thing, as did the next one ... and so on. The final stop was literally on the side of the road where we got picked up by one of those very cool pick-up trucks things that's been converted into a small public bus. They're great. :)
We consulted our Lonely Planet guide for places to stay and found a place simply called Phang Nga Inn. It's run by typically friendly locals and has free internet - perfect for geeks like us. If you ever come here I can highly recommend the Phang Nga Inn. It cost us 600 THB, about NZD$26, complete with aircon.
Anyway, there's a guy in town called Mr Kean. Mr Kean! That's gotta be the coolest name for a Thai dude that I've ever heard. He runs a tourist joint that provides, transportation and tours. He's absolutely invaluable in Phang Nga - this is backed up by the numerous testimonials stuck all over the walls of his place.
In the afternoon we hired a scooter/motorbike and headed out to look around. We found some caves but the whole place was swarming with what looked like a scooter gang (hehe) - we decided not to annoy them or the hundreds of monkeys hanging about stealing food from the tourists. Phang Nga might seem small but every afternoon the main street get packed when school lets out which makes navigating the streets by scooter quite an interesting experience.
We took Mr Kean's advice and decided to take a half day longtail boat tour out through the mangroves and to see some of the local sights. One of the stops is "James Bond Island", one of the scenes from "The Man With The Golden Gun" - neither of us have seen it but it's pretty stunning really. We met the most persistent women EVER there - she had some beads that Annie NEEDS. Her price went from 1250 THB to 200 THB but we hadn't brought much money with us so there was no deal there. Her persistence along with refusing to let go of Annie's arm was almost scary. Another stop was the town of Panyee, a fishing village built entirely on stilts over the water. We had a really nice lunch there and I managed to get a monkey handed to me. A monkey with nappies. Hmmm. Anyway, we managed to retreat before being hit with the bill for taking a photo of the monkey.
That evening we needed food but just as we went out the heavens open and we experienced the biggest rain and lightning/thunder storm either of us have ever seen. One clap of thunder was so loud that it sent us running back into our hotel. The lady running the inn spent the whole time covering her ears and looking scared! She then offered us umbrellas so we sought out a place that served nice chicken but not so nice squid. Annie decided to be adventurous but the result was less than palatable unfortunately. Oh well, you gotta try these things and sometimes find out the hard way. :)
We consulted our Lonely Planet guide for places to stay and found a place simply called Phang Nga Inn. It's run by typically friendly locals and has free internet - perfect for geeks like us. If you ever come here I can highly recommend the Phang Nga Inn. It cost us 600 THB, about NZD$26, complete with aircon.
Anyway, there's a guy in town called Mr Kean. Mr Kean! That's gotta be the coolest name for a Thai dude that I've ever heard. He runs a tourist joint that provides, transportation and tours. He's absolutely invaluable in Phang Nga - this is backed up by the numerous testimonials stuck all over the walls of his place.
In the afternoon we hired a scooter/motorbike and headed out to look around. We found some caves but the whole place was swarming with what looked like a scooter gang (hehe) - we decided not to annoy them or the hundreds of monkeys hanging about stealing food from the tourists. Phang Nga might seem small but every afternoon the main street get packed when school lets out which makes navigating the streets by scooter quite an interesting experience.
We took Mr Kean's advice and decided to take a half day longtail boat tour out through the mangroves and to see some of the local sights. One of the stops is "James Bond Island", one of the scenes from "The Man With The Golden Gun" - neither of us have seen it but it's pretty stunning really. We met the most persistent women EVER there - she had some beads that Annie NEEDS. Her price went from 1250 THB to 200 THB but we hadn't brought much money with us so there was no deal there. Her persistence along with refusing to let go of Annie's arm was almost scary. Another stop was the town of Panyee, a fishing village built entirely on stilts over the water. We had a really nice lunch there and I managed to get a monkey handed to me. A monkey with nappies. Hmmm. Anyway, we managed to retreat before being hit with the bill for taking a photo of the monkey.
That evening we needed food but just as we went out the heavens open and we experienced the biggest rain and lightning/thunder storm either of us have ever seen. One clap of thunder was so loud that it sent us running back into our hotel. The lady running the inn spent the whole time covering her ears and looking scared! She then offered us umbrellas so we sought out a place that served nice chicken but not so nice squid. Annie decided to be adventurous but the result was less than palatable unfortunately. Oh well, you gotta try these things and sometimes find out the hard way. :)
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