15 Feb 2011
I woke up at 6am! I went for shower before waking Nel up for his turn after that. I’ve packed stuff that we need… most importantly.. sunblock and my 'first aid kit' (at least got some panadols.. platers..etc)
We went for breakfast at almost 7am (breakfast started at 6.30am at the hotel). While eating, we kept a look out for any drivers.. who might be the person who’ll be picking us up for the tour.
After breakfast, we went to the front desk to loan some towels (we can loan 2 for a day / room). Yuen got 2 towels and when I asked for it, the guy at the front desk said he only has one left.. unless I want to wait till 8.30am for more towels. I obviously can’t wait till so late.. so, I took the last towel. Guess I’ll have to share that with Nel. We also left some of our valuables at the front desk, to be put in the security box. The guy at the tour counter at the airport told us that we don’t need to bring much.. long as we got towels, sunblock.. cameras… and since lunch will be provided, we don’t even need to bring money.
The driver came with a 11 seater van
We waited for the driver at the lobby. We saw a driver picking up some guests and we showed him our flyer. And Yeps.. he’s the one who’s picking us up. Other than the 4 of us, there’re 2 couples who also joined the same tour. The driver also stopped to pick up another couple along the way. The whole journey to Rassada Harbour is about an hour.
Once at the port, we saw a lot of other tourists who’re joining the tour… most of them were Mat Sallehs.
Name of the tour company - Friendship Sea Tour Co Ltd... Each of us were given this sticker to stick on our shirt
The ship that we'll be boarding...
We boarded the ship at about 9am and departure at about 9.15am. We were first told that the whole tour will have 70 people in the ship. Looks like it.. cuz’ the ship looks full. Most of the Mat Sallehs occupied the open deck.. for some sun... and here we are.. trying to avoid the sun as much as possible :p
The ‘Captain’ made an announcement, introducing himself and the rules ie. To follow instruction, time, putting on life jacket etc.. We were served with hot tea / coffee with some cookies.
We've finished the cookies before I snapped the pic :p
In the ship.. waiting for departure. We also shared the table with a Mat Salleh with his little son. They were playing UNO. I asked the rest.. how it's like if we're to playing Jengga? LOL!
We bought some bread (to feed fish) from one of the staff and also paid 100baht deposit for a locker, to put our stuff in. Yuen has the key tied on his (water-proof) watch.
The first destination is Khai Island. The journey is about 30 minutes. As the ship is big, it has to stop somewhere near the island and all of us will need to be transferred into long boats.
The long boat..
Once at the island, there were a lot of benches with umbrellas. We were told that we need to pay if we want to use the bench.
But we were only given 1 hour’s time on this island.. who would have time to use the bench? :p We took our snorkeling masks and headed to one of the rocks, to put our stuff on.
The sand is not so smooth on this island and also has quite a lot of rocks. The island was very crowded and a lot of people were snorkeling and feeding the fishes. I can’t swim (still can’t swim after so long :p) so, I didn’t go far while the rest went further a bit. Managed to have some close encounter with some fishes. There were quite a lot of left over bread floating on the water.. so er, we just picked those up and feed the fish :p I hold the bread and let the fishes swim by and started to eat the bread.. occasionally getting some pecks on my fingers by the fishes. Yuen said he saw a baby shark too! And with all the rocks there, Yuen got a cut on his foot and it was bleeding. I remember bringing along some Hansaplast but it’s in the locker. So, told him to wash the wound and put on a plaster later.
Sure enough, after 1 hour, we were called back to the ship.. :/ Time flies especially when you’re having a good time. Sigh.. We were transported back to the big ship by long boats.
Once back at the ship (at almost 12noon), we were served with lunch. I just realized that I didn’t take any pictures of the food :p It’s just a simple lunch with rice, fried fish fillet, vege and some fruits (pineapples! and watermelons). We have free flow of water and soft drinks.
The next destination is Maya Bay.. and the journey will be about 1 hour. I took a nap, resting my head on the table. The sea was quite rough at that moment and the poor brothers got sea sick. It’s good thing that the staff gave everybody a plastic bag.. just in case :p And it came in useful lol. Maybe it’s good thing that I was asleep.. otherwise… I would join in to puke :p (I’m the type of person who will puke too if I see other people puke).
We have 2 options while at Maya Bay ie. Snorkeling around the ship, or be transported to the beach by long boat. We chose beach instead… tho’ we can see the fishes swimming around in the very crystal clear water.
We were only given 30 minutes here.
The sand is so smooth on this island :) I only dipped in up to above knee levels cuz’ I was carrying my cameras. While the rest were having fun in the water, I went around snapping pictures.
We also found some sea cucumbers… and Yuen ‘rescued’ them by gently moving them into deeper waters so that they won’t be washed off to the shore.. dried up.. and die.. :p I tried to touch it a bit.. it’s kinda geli.
Saw a lady who actually 'packed' some sand in a plastic bag to be brought back. The Captain found out.. and confiscated the bag of sand :p .. poured the sand out and threw away the plastic bag.
30 minutes passed very fast. Sigh… but some of the inconsiderate people actually held up the whole schedule as we were waiting for this family to board the boat. The Captain sounded them, as they made the rest of the people waited for them.
Maybe next time can opt for this.. smaller group.. no need to wait so long
Next will be just sight seeing around Phi Phi Lay Island, Ao Loh Samah, Ao Bi-leh and Viking cave. Saw the cave where all the bird nests came from.
After about 45 minutes, we reached Phi Phi Don Island. Each of us need to pay 20baht, as a fee for them to clean the island. Both Nel and I didn’t bring any cash … and it’s good thing that Yuen brought along his pouch :p Otherwise, we won’t have money to pay them :p
It’s just free and easy in the island. There were a lot of stalls selling souvenirs. Since we didn’t bring money…. can ‘han fan’ :p We were given 1 hour to spend on this island (I wish we could spend more time at Maya Bay and less time on Phi Phi Don). We were told to be back to the ship at 4pm.
Once back at the ship, we realised that we were still holding on to the bread that we bought earlier. So er.. we just tear them into small pieces and threw them into the sea.. to feed the fish. Suddenly one bugger threw in a watermelon skin... "-_- Feel like scolding the fellar.
And this will be our last stop. And guess what? The journey from Phi Phi Don back to Phuket will take more than 2 hours @_@
The 'crew' - taking their shower at the back of the ship... they were not holding on to anything :s
And this time, instead of sitting in the ship with air cond, we chose to sit outside instead for some wind and enjoy the view. The journey is like taking forever! At one point, the ship stopped. We were worried if the ship got any problem. Skali, the Captain came up and asked all the people sitting on one side of the ship to move.. cuz' it's making the ship unbalance :p (cuz' 1 side is shaded while the other side is under the hot sun lol).
Can blow dry my hair too :p
Perhaps if we’re to go for such activities again, we can opt for speed boat instead (tho’ rate will be more expensive). Cuz’ for a big ship, we spent most of the time waiting for other passengers and also waiting to be transported by long boat while the speedboat will be good enough to go near to the beach and it can accommodate to only a small group of people. So, less waiting time. It is also faster in terms of speed. I think for the whole tour, we spent more time for the journey instead of having fun at the islands.
It was about 6.30pm when we reached Rassada harbour and the driver sent us back to our hotel.
Our ride..
We were extremely hungry (especially for the brothers… after they puke their lunch :p). We were in a hurry too cuz’ our booking at Let’s Relax is at 8.30pm. It will take almost an hour to reach our hotel.
Once back at the hotel, I tried my luck again for a hair dryer and again, the reply from front desk was ‘no have’. We returned the towels and got back our stuff from the security box. We rushed to our room and cleaned up. We survived with just some chips that we bought yesterday as we got no time for dinner yet.
Instead of walking to Let’s Relax, we stopped a Tuk Tuk and we managed to reach there at about 8.15pm … phew!
Terror ride in a Tuk Tuk :p
We made the payment by credit card before the treatment. The service was very good and the staff attended to us with friendly smile. One of the staff brought slippers for us to change and then we have to go to the basin area to get our feet washed.
The 3 will be doing a 2 hours Thai massage, while I opt for a package which includes foot and hand reflexology and shoulder/back massage for 1 hour 30 minutes. All the sessions are 700baht per person (RM70 for 2 hours.. ok wert?).
I was escorted to the upper floor and got seated at one of those single sofas. It feels great to get some massage especially after such a tiring day at the sea. But the massage style is slightly different from what I got yesterday. It’s my first time doing hand reflexology (for 15 mins). It’s quite good. Then it’s time for my back/shoulder massage. I have to sit at another chair, designed for back massage. I didn’t quite enjoy this session tho’. Again, it’s kinda painful!
Once done, I went to the lobby to wait for the rest. I was served with hot tea and 2 cashew nut cookies. Just nice as I was so hungry! They served the same to the rest once they’re done with the massage. Nel said it was a good session…
By the time we’re ready to leave Let’s Relax, it was already 11pm. We were hoping to grab some food at Banzaan again but it was too late.. most stalls were closed already. Jungceylon was closed too. We dropped by a Family Mart again for more water and also bought a pack of chips. At least something to munch first. As we walked, we get to see the night life around that area.
I suggested McD as I saw the sign nearby. At that point.. anything will do as we were so hungry!!
McThai sounds like 'Mrs Mac' in Cantonese
It is no wonder that an article I read some time back, said that our Big Mac is the cheapest in the world :p Cuz’ as we looked at the combo, everything cost around 160baht. While everything is similar to what we have here, something caught my eyes and I knew Nel would love this. I saw ‘Samurai Pork Burger’! in the menu! All of us ordered that. Can’t believe it that McD meals for 4 = 628baht!
But the burger was really really good…. It’s been a long time since McD in Malaysia served Samurai burger (chicken instead of pork).
We like the big plastic cups too.. and brought them back with us. Nel didn’t allow us to eat so much of fries (don’t want us to get too heaty especially with such hot weather).. so we gave them up… and left.
We walked back to the hotel… and went to bed after cleaning up…. (after makan straight away sleep :p).
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