We started this challenging day with an excellent meal in the hotel's dining room. A buffet with a rich selection just a few meters from the sea, what more could you ask for?
We finished eating, and set off for the 4 islands trip. A tour where you see 4 islands next to each other, one of which was filmed for a James Bond movie. Turn the island into a nature reserve - and the prices to enter it, accordingly - but we'll get to that later.
If you go on this tour from Phuket, it is a pick up from the hotel, then arrival by speedboat to the islands. When it's with children, there are some who enjoy the journey less and we saw that it is possible to do it differently.
A short wander on Google led us to Hannah, with whom I corresponded through the chat option on Google MAPS and we closed on renting a boat for 2000 baht, and that they would take us on the tour in question. A normal price from Phuket for all of us costs about 10,000 baht. What am I suspecting? I didn't suspect.
We set off, which was long and winding in part (within reasonable limits) and after about an hour and a half of driving which included refueling and taking out cash, we arrived at the pier, quite dilapidated, with 2 cats.
It was raining so we waited a minute in the car, and Hana approached us. Nice Muslim but local. We asked her how we would go on the tour if it rained, and she told us that it would stop in a few minutes. Indeed, in less than 3 minutes the rain stopped, we took our things and moved towards the pier, where a LONGTAIL boat with an extremely loud engine was waiting for us.
At this point Hana turned to me and asked me to pay now and not at the end of the tour.
No, I didn't suspect yet.
We got on the boat and set off with the boat driver, who knew 3-4 words in English. We sailed in the stunning tributaries that go out from the pier, towards the sea. At this point, we were still smiling…
We went out into the open sea and after cruising for a few minutes, the driver turned off the engine so we could enjoy the view, so I took a picture...
I thought it was really nice of him to let us enjoy the silence, but then I looked at him, and he was on top of me, and then he picked something up off the floor.
The engine belt was torn.
Oh Yes.
The engine belt was torn.
Then, in freezing silence, with no one around, he started trying to disassemble the engine
For ten minutes he tries to disassemble the screws to replace the strap, while we try to keep a cool head in front of the kids, and I wonder if the travel insurance we bought covers rescue from the sea, and how much water we have left...
I pulled out the phone and saw that I had no reception. So I kept looking at him trying to fix the engine.
And so, for almost ten minutes we sit in thunderous silence and move among the waves, while there is no other boat in sight. Then he got up, straightened up, took out a phone and called.
And indeed, within 5 minutes we saw a similar boat coming from the direction of the horizon. He waved his hands at her and she came to us, full of... Muslims.
At this point I was wondering if the insurance would cover it too...
They approached us, and three of them started to help repair the engine.
At this time, the boat, which was full of village elders, was next to us. One of them opened and asked:
"Where are you from?"
Since I knew they had already heard the children speaking in Hebrew, I had no choice but to answer : "Israel"
"Aww Israel!!!" They said happily and continued to talk among themselves...
A few more minutes later the engine was fixed and a boat full of nice Muslims was waiting to make sure we were all right and could set off safely.
We continued from there by sailing to the first island, where we saw a palace and a lot of people living there selling their wares.
As soon as we got to the island it started to rain like crazy, so we waited there and as soon as it stopped. We continued to the next island.
We arrived at an island near which there was a large raft, where they charged us about 1200 baht for a kayak cruise. We got 2 kayaks and two kayak paddlers who really worked hard and paddled for about half an hour throughout this tour.
It was really nice!
During the cruise you pass through several caves filled with water
In some parts of the tour it is necessary to bend well so as not to hit a rock on the head...
In the end, we managed to arrive with the kayak back to the Beach. and from there to get back on our rickety boat...
And immediately we continued to the next island, James Bond's island!
As soon as we got off the boat, I was directed to the pay stand, because it turns out that this island has become a national nature reserve or something like that. From there, I parted with another 1200 baht. We went up quite a few stairs, went down a few more, and took some pictures.
This coconut purchased there at an exorbitant price of 100 baht (!) starred in our Instagram photos and pretty much recouped its cost, finally.
Tired and broken but with a new belt for the engine, we set off again, and this time with the intention of stepping on solid ground...
By the way, we came to the island with swimsuits because there was talk that it was a great place to get in the water and wade around a bit. Maybe because of the weather or the time... we didn't see anyone in the water...
When we returned back to the shore we saw that the next boat was already being built. We didn't see Hana there, so we said hello to the cats and left back on the way to the hotel.
In the evening we dined to our heart's content at the OLIVE restaurant located in the hotel complex. You should reserve places for her in advance.
The cost is relatively expensive and it cost us about three times more than a normal restaurant in the city (roughly the price of a restaurant in Israel...)
We decided to end this day with a tour of the local market which was really "buzzing" with life.
Since it is important to support small and local businesses, we bought ice cream there...
Right before we left the market, one of the sellers caught Alon expressing interest in the snacks that were there, so he gave us one as a gift, sprayed something unclear on it and told us - bon appetit!
We didn't eat it... instead we continued back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep, not knowing what military incident we would be involved in the next day....
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