It was hazy warm morningwhen we arrived in Andaman Sea of Thailand.
Ship anchored in south of Patong Beach, Phuket Island.
Countless colorful beach parasols and deck chairs are packed in Patong beach as we were getting close to the tender pier set up on the beach.
It seems that there has not been much of change since my last visit 15 years ago.
Few developments of hotel and resort can be spotted on hill side slopes, though.
Tour guide Ton said that Phuket has the highest rent in Thailand as it has been booming with national and international tourists which attracted population increase.
Soon, we were on a tall tour bus and heading to mainland in north.
We booked a 7 hour tour that includes Buddhist temple, James Bond Island in Phang Nga Bay, floating village and lunch.
It reached 35C even before noon with near 100% humidity.
According to Ton, April is the hottest month of the year with temperature soaring well over 40C.
How could local people cope with it!
I have no idea!
There are lots of rubber tree farms alongside the roads.
A tiny seed smuggled into from Malaysia a century ago has been thriving into tens of thousands in this region now.
Buddhist temple translated for Golden Chamber Temple was our first stop after one and half hour drive.
Monks moved away to quieter place for their meditation and study as it became too popular with tourists and their frequent visits daily.
Cave with lay down golden Buddha inside is naturally built on a tall cliff.
There must be still local Buddhists visiting this well-maintained temple for worshiping as donation boxes and burning incent are placed in front of Buddha.
Hundreds of monkeys are roaming around the temple, trees and rocks.
Many tourists were buying small local bananas and handing over to monkeys.
Fortunately, monkeys here are not as naughty and cumbersome as can be found elsewhere on other part of the earth.
Air condition in the bus and sea breeze into our small boat were trying hard to keep us cool down.
Taboo Islandin Phang Nga Bay was our next stop.
Roger Moore in 007movie, Man with golden gun made this island world’s famous and it has been known as James Bond Island ever since.
Our boat engine broke down right after we left James Bond Island but people were so exhausted in heat and did not seem to care much.
Three quarters of an hour with help of battery from other boat, we were so happy that we were on move again.
It was nearly 3pm when we saw our lunch buffet in Phang Nga Bay Resort.
There is no Thai in the selections of food displayed as they were all deep-fried tacky Chinese style food.
Even the extreme hunger failed to turn these into gourmet dish!
Finger size local bananas and pineapple were so sweet and juicy and they saved lunch!
I was shocked to learn that few fellow passengers actually thought they were fantastic food.
How different people developed their taste buds or not at all!
We were so glad to see our ship still anchored and tender boat waiting for us when we returned to Patong beach about one and half hour late to its schedule!
That is one of good reasons to book ship’s tour.
Ship would have not waited for us if it was individual tour!
Patong beach, Phuket Island
Golden Chamber Temple with monkeys around
Beautiful lime stone islands in Phang Nga Bay.
Canoeing is fun for some tourists!
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