Asian Finale --- "Hong By Starlight"

Phuket, as many of you know, is the largest of all Thai islands. It is HUGE and something The Prancers really had no interest in tackling in the first place. But, after the miserable 21-hour cattle herd we endured getting from Bangkok to the islands, the overly expensive airline tickets back to Bangkok didn't seem so expensive anymore. To fly back we needed to go through Phuket, so we spent our last couple of days there immediately turned off by the crowded dirty expensive scene amongst us. See a pattern here???? Gulf Islands: Koh Wai was PARADISE, Koh Chang was MISERABLE. South Islands: Koh Lanta was MAGICAL, Phuket was DISGUSTING. The small remote islands are the WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!! But we like to see it all and take in all experiences..........

Our Asian Finale took place in Phang Nga Bay, an hour boat ride from Phuket. We booked the "Hong By Starlight" sea kayak tour, in hopes that the large expense would be encapsulated by romantic memories that would serve as an endcap to over 3 months in SE Asia. And that is exactly the case!

We boarded a large boat off the eastern docks of Phuket with 25 other passengers and many thai guides to make sure our trip was ever pleasant. No details are left out and "John Gray Sea Canoe Adventure" thinks of everything. We set out in the afternoon, a special way to do the trip, since most of the other tour boats are beginning to come back to Phuket in the afternoon. We would enter the "hongs", 100~300 meter high limestone islands with interior caves cut out after the ice age, people can enter during low tide and experience the lagoon-like inside during the afternoon and then after dark when most of the tourists are back onland already. First of all, the lunch on the way was magnificient! With full bellies, beautiful views from the boat, and great travelers to converse with, we were happy as could be, and anxiously awaiting our first hong exploration. Each couple entered the sea via their own blow-up kayak and guide. Our guide paddled us into the hongs through VERY narrow passageways where we had to lay flat down in the kayak and watch the overhead limestone stalagtites nearly brushed our toes and nose. Sometimes it was a quick entry, sometimes for minutes we would lay in silence as our guide brushed our kayak through small, pitch-black crevices. The hongs are only accessible at certain times of day, depending on the tides. So, when the tide is low, small kayaks can enter, but only for a short time, before the tide starts to rise again. It is all quite facinating!

Then you actually enter the opening inside! Wow, a whole new type of ecosystem to capture and breathe in. Our guide paddled us around this lagoon setting quietly, making sure not to disturb the cliff-encapsulated world comprised of mangrove trees, muddy waters, vines, sharp rocks, and many types of living creatures inhabiting here. The sharp edges of the limestone rocks (which were covered in oyster shells towards the water line) were dangerous and we were told not to touch them as they could cut us easily. Once again, the point and click camera doesn't do any of this trip justice, but we do include a couple of pictures to give you an idea of the amazing sights we took in that day.

After an afternoon of hong exploration, the sun began to set and each couple made their own krathongs. If you remember from our time in Chiang Mai, we experienced the 2nd largest annual festival in Thailand: Loy Krathong. We got to make our 2nd krathong here on the boat and cast our yearly sins into the water, also making wishes for the upcoming year, and praising the water for all that it provides us. Following the sunset, we would re-enter a hong in the dark, light our krathong, make our wish, and hope for good luck in the upcoming year...

The winds began to pick up after sunset, and the dark storm clouds rolled in. Lightening and thunder were drawing near, which seemed to be pretty typical in the islands. As we cast our kayak in the water one last time and started to paddle towards the limestone cliff, we realized the possible danger in store. Quickly finding a place where we could actually light our candles (after many attempts in the strong winds), we cast our floating bamboo/flower/incense creation into the sea. THEN the storm set in, the sky turned pitch black and the waters began to rage. All of the guides began to paddle full speed back towards our hidden boat around the bend. The Prancers became extremely scared and tried to keep cool as the mighty violent waters rocked our tiny kayak back and forth. LUCKILY we all made it back to the boat as the rain and heavy storm set in, just like in any typical movie scene :) We grabbed our towels, put on some dry clothes and as the rains poured down we were served a GIANT thai feast!!! Oh, my goodness! As most of you know, The Prancers are FOOD LOVERS and boy were we ready for what was spread out in front of us! Fresh whole spicy fish, chicken and cashews, brown rice pilaf, spicy prawn soup (tom yum), stir fried veggies, sweet and sour veggies with pineapple, tempura veggies/shrimp/pineapple, and as always LOADS of FRESH SWEET PINEAPPLE FOR DESSERT!!! We stuffed ourselves silly, always being the first AND last to dine. Hey, we like to get the most out of our money!! :):):)

The rain continued to pour as we traveled back to shore, watching the mulitple magic and comedy acts the guides provided us. Arriving back to the pier around 9pm, the rain continued to fall. Since the tide was low we had to transfer back to shore on "longtail boats" with no overhang to make it onto the pier. This was another scene from a movie: 27 people packed onto a tiny wooden boat soaking wet, a few small flashlights, guides holding our hands to show us the way, walking along a dilapidated pier with no shoes..... you get the picture! A perfect finale to a fun-filled memorable day that will stick with us forever.

So, now we are in Bangkok (again). Spending our last 2 days in Asia in the big city. We fly to New Zealand tomorrow (Feb. 20th)! We can't believe it!!!!! Hopefully someday we will be able to sit down with each and every one of you and have the chance to fill you in on the details of these last few months in crazy Asia and show you slideshows of our thousands of pictures. There are things that we love about this land and there are things we are ready to put behind us. But, wow, what a journey, what a ride! What a way to create the first chapter of a book filled with journeys to last a lifetime.......