Messing about in boats

Good evening everyone. It’s Leila guest blogging for Ange again as we spend our last night on Koh Samui. Tomorrow we head for a night in Krabi on the mainland and from thence to different distant parts of the globe the following morning.

We have had a very boaty kind of a day. We were picked up at the hotel by a minibus at 7.30 this morning and driven to Bangkrak Pier to catch a small tour boat to the Ang Thong National Marine park. On arriving near to the archipelago we decanted into kayaks and paddled round to a pretty beach with a staircase up to the Emerald Lagoon viewpoint. Spectacular. Had a coffee and then back to the boat for a delicious curry lunch followed by fresh watermelon and pineapple. In the afternoon we visited a second island and were ferried ashore on low long-tailed Thai boats by skilled and sprightly boatmen. We decided not to climb the 500m staircase to the viewpoint on account of the heat, inappropriate footwear, laziness and the pleasantness of the beach. Which became even more delightful when we discovered a group of Dusky Leaf Monkeys in some trees while exploring at the edges of the sands. Ange got some great photos.

The boat was really fun, full of people of many nationalities: Russian, Dutch, German, Danish, French, Thai, Bangladeshi, Irish...Great for people watching and enjoying the sounds of language.

Ange has fallen asleep and I guess we’ve got a pretty busy day tomorrow so I will turn in now too. It has been lovely spending time with Ange in Thailand. Night night all.