Our lunch stop for the day was at Panyi Island. This is a small fishing village that is built in the sea. Its an odd sight seeing a Karst rock jutting out of the sea with hundreds of houses on stilts attached to it. The Islands population is dominated by Muslim Thai’s, as is much of the region. The Mosque visible in the centre of the town adds to the bizarreness of the scene.
Panyi Village.
Mosque seen in background.
Panyi Village.
Mosque seen in background.
Our lunch was another Thai buffet style affair. The Thai Green curry diluted for our Farang tongues. It was still spicy enough for me. After lunch we were invited to explore the town at our leisure. The first problem was finding the place. The exit of the restaurant was harder to find than one in a Las Vegas casino. No signs anywhere. The exit was a strange doorway that looked like it was a door to a private house.
Immediately on finding the door we wished we hadn’t. We were accosted by a Kathoey armed with a monkey. Its (Don’t know if I should use "he" or "she"?) accomplice was one step behind with another monkey. Before Monica could utter a word they had placed the monkeys on her shoulder. "Baby Monkey feed him" the Kathoey demanded as it/he/she thrust a baby’s milk bottle in her hand. The poor monkey,complete with disposable nappy, looked as bemused as Monica. They encouraged me to take photos before I was there next victim. Then came the demand for money, 200 Baht. You must be joking. I handed over twenty baht. "Two Monkey 200 Baht!". It seemed rude to tell a Kathoey to piss off so I held back and offered a polite "No" with a "hell will freeze over first before I give you a baht more" look. They took the hint and stormed off in search for their next victim.
Monica with baby monkey.
The rest of the village was a similar depressing experience. You could not stand still for two seconds without a street vendor haranguing you for money. Is this the norm for Muslim Thai’s? Or is it the fact that they live on a remote island and see every tourist only as a walking wallet that needs draining of every baht? Whatever, it is an unwelcome change to the typical Thai welcome you receive elsewhere. We headed back to the safety of the Restaurant passing by the unlucky German couple who had just been nabbed by the Kathoey gang.
Back on the boat and we headed back to the main pier. Our next stop would be a visit to the Monkey caves on the mainland. When we arrived Bill warned us not to leave any valuables on display or bags open as we walked amongst the monkeys. They have been known to thieve things that attract them. I was more concerned about any Kathoe gangs and vendors hanging around.
The caves had plenty of monkeys roaming around outside that kept the tourists amused. Inside the cave was a temple, Wat Tham Suwankhuha, or the Heaven Grotto Temple. It features a large reclining Buddha along with other equally impressive statues on display, the best being a golden statue of a Monk up a steep stairway near the reclining Buddha. The back of the caves you can see various spirit flags, the royal seals of many Thai Kings including Rama V, and several hundred bats clinging to the cavern roof.
The reclining Buddha.
Beautiful Monk statue looks so real.
After our visit to the temple it was a short ride up the road to the Raman Forest Park. This is where we could enjoy a refreshing dip in one of the many pools created by the falls along the river. It would have been refreshing too if the weather was nice. Sadly, the rains came pretty much as soon as the van parked up. Not to be deterred we still went for a dip. After a quick change it was time to head back to Ao Nang in a strange mixture of rain and shine.
Enjoying a shower in the rain.
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