Today is January 26th and the wind (breeze) moves us at 3,5 knots toward Phuket island. We did travel an interesting route towards Burma when we left Ban Thap Lamu (08.34.027 - 098.13.146) two weeks ago. We chose to sail between islands and mainland although dark clouds made the GPS not quite as reliable as usual.
It was rewarding to go this route and reminded us quite a bit of the Panama Canal trip, we got through unscathed and set anchor close to Ko Ra (09.13.876 - 098.18.638) well before dusk. This is a wonderful quiet place and we hope to come there again, stop a few days and maybe explore ashore a little.
But this time we were off again at dawn heading towards Ko Phayam (09.43.561 - 098.23.140), we wound up motoring the 31 mile but that was forgiven when we arrived at this gem of the world where we found old friends that we last saw at Terengganu.

We were delighted to meet the couple on Lady U again and they informed us that Ko Phayam is one of their favourite places hereabouts, we do quite understand that after our short visit. We would have loved to have more time to spend there, where the only cars we ever saw were two tractors. But if we had not preferred to walk, we could easily change our mind any time and hire a taxi on a motorbike. They were there in profusion (young people on small bikes), also there were firms that rented bikes which seemed to be quite popular with the tourists.
It was easy to walk everywhere and we preferred that after being cooped up on the boat for days. Cashew nut trees and rubber trees in abundance gave good shade and we learned that one should not pick a Cashew nut from the tree and eat it. The nut is inside a fruit like housing which is not healthy to bite into and also one is advised to roast the nut - we left the fruits on the trees...
The beach where we were anchored is absolutely the best I have experienced in a long time. The sand there is so fine that walking on it reminds one of a snow in a very cool climate. It creeks as one steps on it and the beach is so clean that it does not hurt the feet at all jogging along the 2,5km long beach barefoot.
The ocean is so clean there that it is irresistible to go swimming - yes, I quite understand why the crew on Lady U loves this place.

I would have loved to stay there a good while longer, but our visa forbade that and if we wanted (and we did want) to visit Surin and Similan we better get going.
Although we did leave this early, we never got to visit Surin and Similan. The day before departure I came down with a flu - I am still scratching my head wondering how the heck I managed to catch a flu while practically in isolation ?
It is a very long time since I have been this ill, I more or less slept for three days and by the time I got up, Kári had got the mean thing - I spent the next three days nursing him - sniff!

We would probably still have gone to Surin if the wind had agreed. But since the wind was not co-operating we decided to go the same way back as we came, knowing that Kári would likely suffer the flu also and it could be costly if we did not sign out of the country at the right time.
In the end we spent five days with Ban Thap Lamu and while Kári lay sneezing and couching I cleaned the boat, washed laundry and cared for the patient. After three such days I was seriously starting to feel the boat closing in on me and gratefully accepted the offer for a ride from the french couple who were anchored close by when they went ashore.

The town is small, but still there is a 7/11 there and also a small market. I started by visiting the market in order to get some fresh fruit and veggies. As I stepped into the shade I saw a movement on the floor, looking down I expected to see a rat or a cat, but actually saw a fish (Catfish) trying to find the ocean again. As I looked closer I saw that two fishes had managed to climb out of the basin and were lively moving towards the shallow gutter close by.
But I did see the animated tail of the expected rat or mouse when I was choosing my veggies he,he!

The wind/breeze is gone now and I can hear Kári's frustrated growl from the cockpit - he does not like to need Mr. Perkins :D