We were already in Phuket, last year in 2005 after the tsunami wreaked havoc to this part of the world. We liked the place so much that we decided to come back. With the same formula; a week in a hotel in Patong and a week on the clipper ship Star Flyer. We booked the Amari Coral Beach hotel, the same we had chosen last year before it was put out of operation by the tsunami. But now it had been repaired, reopened and waiting for us. Thai Airways flew us from Frankfurt to Phuket via Bangkok. A long voyage :16 hours.
Representatives of Tour East are waiting for us at the airport and bring us to the hotel. The room is nice and the view over the bay is stunning. The beach is small, and swimming in the sea is only possible at high tide. When the tide is out sharp rocks come to the surface and for several hundred meters from the beach the water is only ankle deep. That is when thais come look for shellfish and hermit crabs come crawling on the beach.
Most guests prefer to stay at one of the two pools in the hotel, close to the bar and the restaurant. Patong bay is a busy place, the typical "longboats" come and go trying to press gang tourists to take them to neighboring islands or beaches. Luxurious yachts drop anchor in the bay for the night or several days. One of them, the "Lady Christine" has a helicopter on deck.
Renters of jet skis are doing good business, not to the delight of everybody because these things make a carrying noise when they skim over the water.
The hotel is situated at the most southern point of the bay and on the slope of the hill. The entrance is at the top and the rooms and restaurants are nearer sea level. From everywhere the view over the Patong bay is fabulous. Along the sea they have made a walkway to the "jetty" a nice place to admire the sunset while sipping cocktails.
The sea water is warm, easily 25º and to snorkel at high tide is a pleasure, even close to the shore there is a lot of fish, I even spotted a small mu rene.
There are three restaurants in the hotel, one serving thai food, a famous italian one, and the "coffee shop" with buffet. The food is exquisite and the presentation refined , dishes are decorated with orchids.
A quartet takes care of the entertainment before, during and after diner. They bring a good selection of "oldies but goodies" from the sixties and seventies.
On Wednesday we have booked an excursion with a speedboat to Ko Phi Phi (Ko in thai means island) and to some smaller islands in the neighbourhood. One of them was used as setting for the film "The Beach" with diCaprio. The boats are equipped with powerful outboard motors and they bring us with great speed to our destination. There is ample opportunity to snorkel on a coral reef and you are surrounded by fish that are so bold as to come and take food out of your hand.
Patong beach is a busy place and sometimes noisy, the hotel has a shuttle bus to take you to a neighboring more quiet bay Karon beach. A wonderful beach with white sand and a turquoise sea. An umbrella and deck chairs do not cost much, cool drinks, fresh fruit like pineapple, melon, pomelo some doughnuts see us through lunch. In the afternoon the shuttle bus awaits us to take us back to the hotel.
Patong is a shoppers paradise , from real designer clothes, to real copies of designer clothes. T-shirts, shorts, jeans, watches, cd, DVDs, luggage, and every unimaginable thing are on sale somewhere. Gilberte has been bitten by the philately bug and so we head for the post office to do our shopping.
A nice sunset with a campari soda, ideal temperature, listening to the chirping of the crickets, the murmur of the sea and a tasty fish barbecue and then...suddenly, we see in the dark the clipper, illuminated like a christmas tree entering the bay and making anchorage. What an exciting view.
Saturday morning, the sun is hot, and I find a voice mail message on my mobile from the old people's home where my mother stays. The news is alarming. She has pneumonia. It is 02h30 in Belgium when I hear the message and it is a long and painful wait until it is a reasonable hour for me to phone them and ask for more details. Fortunately, they tell us not to worry, it not dramatic and everything is under control. Quite a relief , but nevertheless the pleasure of boarding the clipper has been dealt a blow.
A tender takes us to the ship. All luggage is being loaded separately, and will be delivered to our cabin. Reception on board is very warm because we happen to know some of the crew from previous cruises and they greet us like friends-long-time-no-see. The ship is not full, there are 106 passengers on a total capacity of 170. Perfect.
At 22h the sails are hoisted and Star Flyer sets course to Ko Butang on the magical tune of "Conquest of Paradise" from Vangelis. Ko Butang is a small group of islands 100 miles to the southwest and close to Malaysia.
The sea is calm and at 10am we have the usual "life boat drill". It is a routine we are familiar with followed by the presentation of the officers and members of the crew. We arrive at Ko Butang around noon for a few hours of beach fun. But I, with my brand new dive certificate report to the dive master. There are quite a number of divers on board. A canadian has more then 480 dives and when I tell him that between the two of us we have 490 dives, it takes a few moments before he gets the joke. Our dive is at 13h30 not to far from where Star Flyer has dropped anchor. Visibility is not optimal but there is a multitude of fish and the dive master points to a crevice where 2 young sharks are hiding. At 17h30 everybody is back on board and we set course for Penang in Malaysia. Having diner on the clipper is always a treat (in as far you are not suffering from seasickness) and now they have also engaged a thai cook who prepares delicious but spicy thai dishes. After diner the sport steam presents the Star Flyer fashion show with all the stuff you can find in the sloop shop. Good simple fun.
Around 8am we arrive in Georgetown, the port of the Island Penang. Many colonial buildings dating from victorian times remind us that the british ruled here for a long time. We join an excursion to explore the island. We visit a beautiful buddhist temple , a farm for tropical butterflies and a tropical agro farm where they experiment with the cultivation of all kinds of tropical fruit. There is ample time for tasting. The excursion concludes with a ride in a trishaw back to the ship. A somewhat frightening experience being driven through the hectic city traffic in low-to-the-ground kind of carrier tricycle by an old man thin as a rail. At 17h Star Flyer sets sail to Ko Lipe.
We will arrive not before noon, and that leaves us with enough time to enjoy the mast climbing and " making knots" with Sergey. Ko Lipe is one of those small paradise like islands but I opt again for the underwater scenery. Here is more coral and lots of fish, no idea what kind but they come in all sizes and colours but no big specimen like sharks. For lunch we are having a barbecue on deck with sucking pig . Too soon it is 18h, and time to hoist the sails again direction Ko Khai Nok. During day time it is very hot and windstil, and it seems as if the wind waits until sails are set to start blowing. It affords a blissful temperature combined with a beautiful sunset .
An excursion by speedboat is scheduled for today to go to the James Bond island where the film "The man with the golden gun" was made. We have had our experience with speedboats and do not join. This island is close to Phuket and as such a favorite destination for a day trip with a longboat. That means many people and so I go once again for the underwater scene. It is a wall dive, a small rock like island some 20 minutes away by zodiac. Gilberte settles on the sun deck with a book. 02h30, sails are set for Ao Phang Nga, but first we make a small detour to Phuket harbour. Tonight after diner there will be a show by a thai folklore dance group. After the show they are put back ashore and Star Flyer departs for Ao Phang Nga.
Ao Phang Nga is a national park consisting of some 40 small islands. Mostly uninhabited, many of them have picturesque inlets . The rocks are made of limestone and have been carved by the sea and the wind into fantastic shapes . Tenders and zodiacs are put to sea for the photo safari of the Star Flyer with al 16 sails set . Never fails to impress . In the evening we have captain's diner, and yes we are invited. The captain is russian, was for several years captain on one of their training ships, the "Tovaritsch" and is a great storyteller, till it is time for the "crew talent show".
At 10am Star Flyer drops anchor before the coast of Ko Similan, a group of islands that are part of a National Maritime Park. A favorite destination for divers and snorkelers, white beach, water clear as in a swimming pool and declared one of the best diving sites in the world. I am not disappointed. It is like swimming in an aquarium. Visibility is excellent, fish of all size and colour is abundant and the coral is the cherry on the cake. I really regret that I do not have an underwater camera. A slight current makes you float effortlessly between the fish and the coral until the shortage of air makes and end to this underwater excursion.
Everybody back on board and at 18h Flyer under full sail sets course back to Phuket.
That is it, time to make plans for the next...
