Bit blowy but sunny. Went ashore at 11 and walked to the middle of the beach where a cement path went up. There are no roads, just wide footpaths and no cars only motorbikes. People are taken to their rooms by motorbike taxi. It was a beautiful walk with a few shops/stores along the way and we noticed lots of cashew nut trees. The nut grows at the end of a fruit. Peter tried to bite the cashew out if its shell but his mouth started burning - we have since found out that they are poisonous! We saw the nuts laid out to dry and then we came across a lady who was shelling them with a machine operated by foot pedal. There are lots of large solar panels everywhere. Also a lot of rubber trees. We walked about 5 km. Stopped at halfway and had a wonderful pineapple shake - lots of ice - which helped soother Peter's lips!!! There are two piers at the village - one has a Bhuddist temple at the end of it and the other is where the tour boats come in. We had a lovely lunch and could see a squirrel in a cage in the street - next thing the people took it down and were kicking it around with the poor little squirrel in it - looked terribly cruel. Then they poured water over it. Seems that it had got covered in green ants and they were trying to get them off - sadly the poor little thing died - was horrible. We took another footpath back - not so well used by bikes and no shops but very interesting - lots of huts where people lived and the odd mansion and we came back out on to the beach at the other end. Came back with a few beer stops and ended up at the Hornbill again where we sat and watched the sun set and shared a couple of appetisers which thankfully were huge. We were sitting on plastic chairs and James got his caught in a crack in the floor and he went over flat on his back! We adjourned to the Froggy restaurant where we were warned that there would be a bit of a wait as they were serving about six people on another table. To cut a long story short we waited 1 ½ hrs watching the other table get heaps of food. When we finally got ours it was very small and one of the worst meals we have ever had. And it was also expensive. The crispy tuna salad appeared to be the dregs that float on the top of the fryer and was totally inedible. The cat even ran away! So our early night ended up very late and was a disappointing finish to a wonderful day.
Sunday 13 Feb - Koh Phayam
Had a very late start to the day then Mandolin Wind called us up on the radio so we waited till they and Braveheart got in. Saw something spiralling towards the water from a great height and were amazed to see it was two eagles joined together just spiralling down. When they were almost at the water they pulled apart and flew away. We went ashore at 2pm. Sandra and Dell walked to the shops up the footpath and bought some sandles, cakes and cashewnuts while the boys settled into a bar. It was a lot hotter today. We walked back to our dinghies and had a swim. At 6.30 we collected Cilantro and met up with Braveheart and Mandolin Wind so all went to the Hornbill restaurant and another English couple joined us. We are amazed at how people actually find these wonderful little out of the way places. It is by no means crowded but all the little huts and units seem to be full. It is a really laid back place. We had a lovely night. As we were coming out in Bob the only wave for the day broke over us and Sandra and Dell got soaked. But a lovely day.
Monday 14 Feb - Koh Phayam
Moved around to Buffalo Bay just around the corner. It is really pretty and is more protected with rocks at the back. Nimbus, Jellyfish and Alpha Centauri are all here. Apparently there had been a village here but it got wiped out by the tsunami so the Government built the village over the other side of the bay and the beach is now laid back little resorts and cabins. The hippy bar has been build out of scraps of wood from the sea. While we were hanging the washing we started hearing shouts for help. We could see a girl pushing through the water to shore and there was a snorkeller behind her. Then we heard what she was saying - help my boyfriend has disappeared and has not come up. So all the dinghies from all the yachts came and we were doing a bit of a grid search. The girl came out in a Thai boat from shore and one of the lads jumped in so we gave him our snorkel. It was becoming pretty clear by now that we were searching for a body and it was the most awful feeling and then there was a shout from out in the bay and there he was on a kayak. The girl was in the most awful case of shock and had cut her feet up pretty badly. When we went ashore a bit later to the hippy bar they turned up to buy us all a beer. Turned out he had followed a snorkeller to shore thinking it was her and when he found it wasn't he had gone to get the kayak to look for her. She meanwhile had followed someone else and when she realised it wasn't him and couldn't find him she panicked. Anyway alls well that ends well and we were all much relieved to see him. We joined Cilantro and Nimbus for dinner at Mr Goa's which was very pleasant indeed. While we walked along the beach a few dogs started howling and being very vocal then dogs came from everywhere and they all had a dog convention all howling for about five minutes and then they appeared happy and dispersed! Very strange.
Tuesday 15 Feb - Koh Phayam
We went to shore at 10.30 and together with Cilantro followed a hard dirt track through the jungle over the saddle in the hill. The jungle was very cool and we saw some monkeys but they ran away - seemed afraid of man. We came out on another beautiful beach with a restaurant and some cabins. One cabin was built on the rocks at the end of the beach - what a perfect spot! We walked the beach then had a swim. The water got deep rather quickly and while we were talking a big pike fish leapt out of the water behind James and Sandra startling all of us including the fish. We adjourned to the restaurant and had a lovely lunch then walked back up through the jungle. There were lots of little offshoot tracks leading down to the various resorts and restaurants. We walked till the track turned into a concrete road and then headed in to the Concept restaurant which was perched on the top of a cliff. It was very rocky offshore here. It was so lovely and cool so we had a drink then went down the stairs and walked around the headland on the rocks along the beach back to our dinghies where we had another swim and then joined Braveheart in a restaurant for a sundowner. We all adjourned back to our boats and met ashore for dinner with Cilantro, Braveheart and Mandolin Wind. Another pleasant evening.
Wednesday 16 Feb - Koh Phaya
Met Cilantro ashore at 1 and walked to the village to buy some fruit for the next section of our journey. We managed to get some warm bread rolls then walked back via the temple jetty. Sandra and James took their supplies back to their boat while we walked down to the Australian's shop to get information re Koh Chang which is the next island up. Unfortunatley they were closed so walked back and met Cilantro and Alpha Centauri at the restaurant. We had a lovely meal and saw the biggest gecko - red spots all over him. They feed him chicken and we didn't have the camera!!! He makes a very loud ge-ko sound.
Thursday 17 Feb - Koh Phayam to Koh Chang
09°50.846N 098°26.347E
We left at 10am and headed 5miles further up to Koh Chang. This is only 2 1/2miles from the Burmese border. We passed a Thai destroyer on the way. We went in between the marked rocks and the beach and it suddenly went very shallow. We think the rocks must continue to the beach. Got back into 7 metres and anchored quite close to the beach. The sand was black and not as nice as Phayam but very laid back. Restaurants and cabins on the beach. We decided to go for a walk but had trouble locating the path. Walked to a dam and instead of tracing our steps we went on and fournd the pier but there were no further footpaths. Suffice to say we walked for four hours - found the gypsy village down a little dirt track through jungle - we didn't mean to find it!!!! Anyway we eventually found our way back to the beach - saw some hornbill birds. Had a beer in three different restaurants - we were gasping and then went back to the first one to eat. Had a lovely meal then an early night!!
Friday 18 Feb - Koh Chang to Surins
Left at 7am and headed out and followed the red line of the border with Burma on the chartplotter. Caused a bit of a dog leg but though it was better to be safe than sorry!! Motored all day- light winds but not in the right direction. Peter actually caught his first fish in 18 months - an 81cm Spanish mackerel. Fish for dinner! We arrived at the Surin Islands (3 clustered islands) at 3.30. Cilantro picked up a big yellow buoy and we went to the other side of the bay and picked up a red buoy not too far from the beach so we are in a top spot.
Hoping you are all well - missing you
Calm seas but a bit of wind would be good
Dell and Peter
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