Daytrip to James Bond Islands
For our final day, we went to the famous Bond islands. My name is Bryan. Andrew Bryan. And this is our story!
Awkward Hello, round 2!
Although not AS early as the Simba tour, 530am still came really early! We had to put all of our things at the front desk and wait for the van to pick us up. Similar to a “stalker” van, it pulled up to the hotel. We awkwardly met about 8 other people but it very early. We then avoided to get car sick as our ride literally whipped around Phuket.
Unlike the calm and relaxing Simba office, Siam Adventure World seemed like a zoo and organized chaos. We were shuffled out of the van and organized into the various groups. We were the white group! Once we stepped into the office, we realized why folks were going crazy! They offered free toast and fruit!!!!!!!! Yes, people were going ape crazy just for toast and fruit… And not even good fruit!!
White Group - For the Win
Just kidding, there was no winning in the White Group. First, we were on a similar sized boat and had a much larger crowd - about 18 people. Next, the boat was configured differently and we were very crowded and there was no room for photos. The boat ride was not as fun as our sunset ride with Simba.
Viking Caves
For our first visit, we explored the cool Viking caves! The boat dropped us off outside a small opening in these massive cliffs. As we used our iPhones as flashlights, we walked through a small little river in the cave. If we were to turn off our lights, it would have been pitch black! It was very cool exploring a cave that led to a whole new world! Apparently, at high tide, this cave and lagoon are completely underwater.
Inside the Viking Cave Lagoon, it is rather wide large lagoon surrounded by cliffs, full of quick sand, and monkeys! Although it is not true quick sand, there are certain areas of the lagoon that would suck up someone (if they stand there for 20 minutes!). After gazing at the unique rock formations, a family of monkeys joined us. It was so cool as the leader walked directly to us and just sat there - ready to pose for all sorts of pictures!
James Bond Island
For the hype, James Bond island did live up to the hype - in the right conditions! Thankfully, we were one of the first people on the island! A boat unloads the cargo - I mean — people on one side of the island and allows you to walk through the tiny island. If there were a lot of boats, I could easily see how this island is unbearable due to the limited walking space. However, we were one of the very few people on the island!
There were amazing picture opportunities throughout the island with very few crowds. We were able to see the famous cliff without any annoying tourists! Other than the fantastic views, there really is not much on the island. We saw some locals setting up some knick knack shops - but we even beat them to the island!
Private Canoe
During this trip, one of the cool features was a “private” canoe trip with some local tribes! After James Bond island, we took a short boat trip to the famous mangroves. Once we docked the boat, we were assigned a canoe with a private guide. I thought I was going to do all the heavy lifting, but the old lady would have put me to shame if I was rowing!
Once in the canoe, our guide took us on an amazing private tour of the mangroves! She pointed out the local wildlife and even gave MF a little present! Once our guide found out we detested snakes, she pointed out the very large snake skins… It was remarkable… how scared MF was that they were going to take her into the water! For the most part, they appeared to stay on land.
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Group Selfie -
MF and her new best friend
Our canoe tour was almost an hour and we went through the mangroves, little coves, and one very impressive cave! Because I sat in the front, I took loads of pictures! After all the people on the boat, it was very nice to be alone with MF (and then our guide…)
Floating Village
To this day, Thai law is very restrictive on land ownership and prohibits most foreigners from owning land. In past times, they disallowed any type of property ownership. These laws led to one of the most unique villages in the world exists near the James Bond island. One of our last stops was the famous floating village of Ko Panyi!
As I mentioned, land ownership is still very difficult, although folks can now own the property on top of the land. The floating village exists due to those laws and that all residents are Muslims in a Buddhist country. One of the main draws of this village is the remarkable mosque that outshines most of the village. In addition, there was a recent news article about their famous football pitch and team! Thus, we felt like we had to visit this unique village!
Once we arrived on the village, we realized how it “floats!” The residents keep rebuilding the stilts and reusing these giant wood planks. If we removed the unique history and sheer ingenuity of the founders, it was a rather sad village. Most of it is now a tourist trap, portraying a sad and depressed life while they play on their iPads or fancy phones in the corner. I was a little surprised, but it was distorted. We had kids following us around and trying to sell us knick knacks, but didn’t want to feed the machine. Our guide recommended not buying anything as it continued the wheel.
Those thoughts aside, walking around the village was really neat. We visited the Saudi-founded mosque, that clearly was heavily outshone the other village buildings. Next, we went to the famous school that has the really good soccer team. The fact that the school exists and floats to this day is remarkable!
Relaxing Lunch
After our visit to the floating village, we left the James Bond islands and went to a private beach for our own lunch. Similar to our tour, we had a nice lunch full of authentic Thai dishes. Our favorites were the cashew chicken and then the green curry. Once we finished eating, we were able to hangout and relax on the beach. Strangely, we were not allowed to swim… How interesting.
Rangali Island, part two
On our other tour, we loved our visit to Rangali Island as we had the beach to ourselves - until the white hoodies invaded. Today, we were among the white hoodie invaders. It was awful being on this side of the team. We wanted to be back with Simba!
Because we were one of the 1000 new boats, we knew that 1) the beach would have no available chairs and 2) Simba would be leaving eventually. Therefore, we had to wait for the Simba folks to leave to grab our chairs!
Despite grabbing chairs and having a great view, we were still there with over 10 boats or 300 folks! While the beach and views were exceptional, the people were not! Moreover, we had to contend with even more white hoodies than usual!
Quick Trip to the Hotel
Although we enjoyed the tour, we were happy to be back at the marina. Perhaps if we did not do the Simba tour, we would have appreciated this tour a little more…
James Bond Island Tour Review
In summary, I thought the activities and locations were fantastic.
- Being one of the first boats on James Bond island was well worth the slightly higher price and the views were spectacular.
- While the canoe tour was a tourist trap to a degree, the experience was incredible
- For the price, we definitely felt like we earned it!
However, in comparison to the other tour, this one did have low moments
- Too many people on the boat and the boat wasn’t as nice. The boat layout was not great to the traveler and designed for more people rather than the comfort of the person. Then again, this is one thing we would not have realized had we not done a Simba tour.
- While we enjoyed our guide, the early morning checkin process was chaotic and could have been improved. For starters, don’t say you provide breakfast when it is just slices of bread and a little bit of fruit divided by hundreds of people...
- The Rangali island is not worth the visit when it is also visited by hundreds of other boats
Because of our unique situation, we definitely were glad to see these islands via Siam Adventure World. It goes to show the beauty of Thailand!
On the Road again…
Once we departed the marina, we slowly drove back to the hotel. We wanted to layout by the pool and enjoy one last sunset if possible. However, our hotel manager recommended we leave super early for our 8pm flight as traffic is extremely unpredictable. Thus, we only had time for a quick change of clothes… and our favorite mango and passion fruit smoothie!
Our taxi ride was as boring as others! We finally saw most of Phuket in the daylight, but it was not the beaches and tourist tour! Our taxi driver was really funny and I enjoyed our small talk. Despite the warnings, we arrived at the airport really early… our flight was at 8:30pm and we arrived at 6:15pm…
Popping the Cherry
Because we arrived really early, we decided to treat ourselves on our very first Thai massage! For only $12, we could have a 30 minute massage of their upper body, legs, or fully body. We chose the neck and shoulders and boy it was interesting! First of all, I did not realize my body could contort like that in a chair! Second, watching MF in the seat next to me was really amusing so I can only imagine my facial expressions and weird body movements.
Onto Chiang Mai
After our change in plans, our flight on Air Asia to Chiang Mai was not as exciting. Similar to our European “puddle jumpers” where we cross the channel to European continent, this flight was around an hour and a half, but felt much more quick!
Our flight even landed really early at 9:45pm so we took advantage of it! From the Chiang Mai airport, it is easy to arrive in the city centre. I believe there is a bus, but the taxi was only $3…
AirBnB
We arrived early at our AirBnB and it was located in a skyrise condo building in the local, trendy area of Nimman. The flat was spectacular and our host gave us free water, soda, and snacks! Most importantly, the rental had AC, which we definitely would be using in the sweltering Chiang Mai heat! I would highly recommend this AirBnB!
