The islands of Thailand

The most exotic part of our journey – the islands – has begun. Thailand is extremely rich in paradise places and easily you can spend a few weeks just by walking on different islands. Since it was November, and the weather on the east coast is traditionally still rainy and the good weather is from mid-December onwards, we decided to head to the west coast of the Andaman Sea. We wanted to avoid the crowds of tourists as much as possible, so we decided not to go down to Krabi or Phuket and to exclude Phi Phi and James Bond islands as possible destinations. We stopped at Khao Lak, which is about an hour and a half away by city bus from Khao Sok. The town is touristy, but there were no crowds and is a good starting point for some of the most beautiful islands in Thailand – Similan and Surin.

Similan

Khao Lak

We spent the first day in Khao Lak itself, where the beaches are also great – huge shores, no umbrellas and bars, palm trees and a beautiful sea everywhere. If we hadn’t set out for the islands, we could have had a wonderful vacation there as well.
Kao Lak is also a place of contrasts. On the streets of the resort is the traditional noise – many restaurants, bars, food on the road, shops, simple and daily. When you descend only a hundred meters to the side, you come across fabulous complexes, where the bungalows are hidden in the jungle itself, and beautiful paths lead to them, all dotted with bright lanterns in the evening. You go out to the beach promenade and there you find the bungalows on the first line of the sea, a large veranda, a glass wall so you can wake up and see the sea. The restaurants here are refined and romantic, with sea views. The visitors are mostly elderly Russians and Western Europeans. The attitude of employees and waiters is completely different. Everyone is polite, but we feel that it is not for us here. It looks exactly like these places from the commercials for Thailand, a lot of luxury and splendor. In the evening we walked around these complexes, a little lucky to mix with the visitors, because in principle it is forbidden for outsiders.

From the Similan cliffs

We pass a bungalow. An elderly man smokes slowly and with dignity on the porch and looks out to sea. Inside a leather sofa, four-poster bed. An elderly lady, probably his wife, is reading in her bed, wearing enchanting white pajamas. They fulfill my idea of ​​English aristocrats, maybe they are..

Every night we ate at different restaurants, trying some big grilled fish and a huge squid. Each came out about 300-400 baht in total for both of us.
There were a few more interesting places to visit in the area – a nature park with several waterfalls and a few more exotic beaches, but unfortunately, my friend stepped on a nail sticking out of the ground and we spent the next few days with 20 thousand steps a day only. Along with this not so pleasant incident, we met the Thai Dr. Quinn – Chusak. Extremely beautiful, educated and successful woman, I was very impressed, looking at the pictures and letters from her satisfied customers and her photos on the walls from literally all over the world. I imagine what an achievement it is to be in Thailand, where poverty peeks everywhere, and to be a woman, a doctor, to have your own clinic and to help people with such a smile and skill. She had exactly the noble posture of Dr. Quinn from the series in my childhood, it is no coincidence that I call her that.

Trip to Surin

The next day we went on an organized trip to Surin with Greenview. They are 5 islands, and Surin is one of them. It falls a little further and is not such a target for the groups from Phuket and Krabi, which is why it is not so commercial. On the other hand, it is recognized as one of the most beautiful places for diving in the world. We were loaded with Decathlon masks and carefully kept them for ten days, waiting for this moment.

Our guide’s name was Fares, he doesn’t speak much English, but he works hard and with pleasure. We were a small group of 10 people, us, an elderly Englishwoman wandering the world alone, and her husband drinking tea at home, a Thai couple and a French family with their three sons. Fares delicately always accommodated us in the best places, and we arrived on the islands just before a large group poured in so that we could enjoy the beauty around us in peace and solitude.

They let us on 3 coral reefs for 40 minutes each. They handed out fins and masks. I am very sorry that I do not have a waterproof camera to capture the splendor that was revealed to us below. Just like in the movies and commercials! We saw all kinds of colorful fish, squid and coral. We swam in the passages, then dived to see a bright coral close. In the three places, although they were quite close to each other, we saw different fish and corals. There was a low tide and it was very shallow, they were not more than 2 meters deep. We saw all the fish from Finding Nemo, along with Nemo himself, his mother, his father and his whole family. We had a rich lunch on the island of Surin. There we walked around the island, I could not believe that I was in such a place, just like the cards. It was extremely calm and beautiful, people were resting, nobody so focused on the pose and photos. It was like Greece on the blue water, but unlike there there were huge empty beaches, not like Thassos or Lefkada, where you are lucky if you take a picture without 200 people for a background. There were also tent camps and bungalows on this island, so if I were there again, I would gladly stay overnight. The place is quite wild and I imagine an evening on such a beach.

The pleasure of being alone at the beach

Visiting the Mokens

Moken village

Then we visited an island of the Moken tribe, who are their gypsies, as they lead a nomadic life on the islands. They build houses on the water or on the shore and move from island to island with the woman, the children and all the furniture on the boat. They were like coming out of an article in National Geographic. They are engaged in fishing and jewelry making. We walked around the village and watched the children run and play, and the mothers breastfed the babies in the hammocks. Such a different world!

Little Mokens

Trip to Similan

The next day we made a trip to Similan. It is an archipelago, as we visited four of the islands and dived past them. It is a world-famous location for scuba diving. Here again the corals and fish were very beautiful, but I personally liked Surin’s more. On the other hand, the islands here were more beautiful because they had huge rocks on which we could climb and look at the island from above. The place was much fuller with tourists, but still had the opportunity to enjoy the beauty. We went down to one of the islands for lunch and a walk. Our lunch was in the company of a few lizards, which roamed around the tables like dogs, hoping to throw them a crumb. There were also some of their traditional shaggy pigeons, which fluttered their colorful collars.

Like a postcard

They have made an eco trail on the island, which climbs to two points with a beautiful view over the island and the sea. Also about 15 minutes through the jungle is a second, more secluded beach, which was guarded by a dozen ladies for the picture of their lives, and their poor men ran around to catch them from every possible angle. If you have not seen a woman with professional evening make-up and an airy swimsuit who has never touched water, this is the place. I liked this island the most because, apart from being the most beautiful and with a jungle track and a view from above, there were rocks about 50 meters inland, along which there were again all kinds of colorful fish and there I saw my first huge squid, it was bigger than a basketball. It is forbidden to spend the night here because it is a national park, but if I could, I would stay with the greatest pleasure.

The jungle track leads to thee stones

Ten seconds after we entered the jungle, a flock of mosquitoes had begun to gnaw at us, but we responded with a cloud of repellent. In Thailand, you should always be prepared with decent clothes for temples, water and repellent!

The view from the stones

The sand of all the beaches we visited is incredibly fine and delicate, as if you were stepping in plaster. It is very white, which makes the water bright blue. The water is warm and pleasant, the corals are deeper, the perfect place for a sea holiday. Surin and the Similans were definitely the most exotic place I’ve ever been to. I was amazed by the natural resources of this country. I am already planning my next trip, concentrated on the islands, yet the whole west coast awaits us.

The Moken village