After the rather dull
scenery further south the limestone of northern Malaysia and Thailand is
stunning. This photo was taken at a pass known as the Fiord for obvious reasons.
We spent a quiet night here surrounded by these impressive hills with just the
odd gust of wind and the plaintive cries of sea eagles to disturb the
peace.
We spent some nights
in a marina in Langkawi and as usual had a busy time shopping, sight-seeing and
generally catching up with a few jobs.
We also both had glasses made as we were both on our last rickety pairs
and prices here are relatively cheap with a service as good as at home. We were
unable to spend too long however, as Hattie was due to arrive in Phuket so we
were soon off across the border to Thailand. We had one day of no wind motoring for
12 hours followed by a slightly shorter day with a perfect sailing wind for a
change.
Phuket is an important
sailing centre with many yachts here chartering, racing and cruising. It is a
bit of a full stop for many cruising boats with the way to the Red Sea now
blocked by pirates. We know of no
one who is going to risk it but have already met 2 owners who are shipping their
boats, at huge expense, to the Med. Many cruisers stop here for a few years
anyway as cost of living is cheap and there are good opportunities for land
travel to inland attractions and to
the countries more difficult to visit by yacht such as Vietnam or Cambodia,
risky ones such as the Philippines or those that have no coast like
Laos.
Hattie arrived after a
long journey from the UK and soon made herself at home as we visited some of the
spectacular island scenery around Phuket.
Some of these
locations including Phi Phi Don, the beautiful island with the isthmus, were
very badly damaged and many lives lost during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami but it
is hard to see any evidence of it today. Phi Phi is thriving with crowded alleys
full of very white people showing a bit too much white for their own health or
the pleasure of the onlooker.
Phi Phi Don is a
tourist hotspot and it feels strange for us to be in such a touristy location
after the remote islands of Indonesia. The profusion of these odd longtail boats
means that even some hidden coves have their fair share of sightseers trying to
get away from it all. Some come to see the magnificent locations like Phi Phi Le
where films such as “The Beach” were made:
And
there is even an island that has been renamed “James Bond
Island”.
