Chase That Dish: wildlife

Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Ko Ngai

This was my favourite island on this trip. Pronounced as Ko Hai. You arrive at an Island with beautiful turquoise coloured water, dense tropical forest, rocky headlands, and a beautiful white sand beach. This Island has no roads and is approximately 4 km long and 2 km wide. It has approximately 10 resorts, with 9 of them lined up across the beach on the east side of the island. There is one exception with one resort located on the southern beach.

This is one of the more relaxed islands. It is not too large and therefore the crowds are minimum. There are no day trippers so it feels like an actual holiday without intrusion here. The hotels are cheap and the costs on the island for restaurants are cheap with the option to go even cheaper outside the hotel. There is no cash machine so bring about ฿300-900 for each day if you eating out. You will need money for the private non hotel excursions which costs ฿400-500. So bring cash, mosquito repellent, and snacks. Definitely a great stay that is better than some of the bigger Islands.

Here are my top 10 tips for Ko Ngai:

1. Use the Speedboat: The island is a 45 minute speedboat ride from Koh Lanta. It is the middle point for travellers going further towards Koh Lipe, Koh Muk, and Koh Kradan. The speedboat pulls up to the front of one of the resorts to let all the passengers and luggage off. A long tail boat then comes to pick up the luggage and passengers. Most of the visitors choose to walk to the resort since it is so close and the beach is awesome.

Arriving to the beach landing spot

Arrival to Ko Ngai island

2. Accommodation options: They have a range of accommodation from the Hill side Villas to the beach from villas. There is also couple of camping sites. I chose Koh Ngai fantasy resort for my 3 night stay. Try to get one of the beach front villas or a family villa which is just behind the beach front villas with partial views to the ocean and a quick 1 minute walk to the beach. Accommodation prices vary from backpackers to hotels. Hotels are roughly ฿5000per night with breakfast.

3. Be Prepared for the wildlife photography: The island has a dense tropical forest and there are all kinds of wild animals and insects present here. I saw some bugs that I have not seen on Discovery channel on hangover Sunday. The main fear is once again mosquitoes so use a lot of repellant. (Recommend citronella which is very effective) There are snakes, spiders and monkeys in the tropical forest here so any hikes would require proper shoes and not flip flops (jandals, thongs).

Bug John Doe

Dragon Fly

Horn Bill Birds

Bats

4. Things to do on the Island: The Island is small and day time activity would include tanning, swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving, PADI scuba courses, and just long walks on the beach. There are two hiking paths on the island, one goes to the south of the island to a sunset viewing point. The other goes west of the island to another view point from the west of the Island. I set out on the west end view point but took a wrong turn and ended at the southern point which was pretty good. Chilling on the beach at night time is fun and if you lucky you might see some shooting stars.

Tanning and Enjoying the view

Ocean Time

5. Excursion to Ko Maa & Ko Chuaek :There are two islands in front of the beach. They are Koh Ma and Koh Cheuk. Most of the excursions have a snorkeling trip which visits these two islands with 2 additional spots. The 3rd spot on the excursions is the Emerald cave (Morakot cave) located on Koh Muk. The final spot is usually the beach on Koh Muk where you can visit one of the resort restaurants for lunch. Koh Ma and Koh Cheuk offers nice snorkeling spots where there is a lot of fish and they are not shy swimming all around you. The reef is quite colorful and alive. On the rocky cliffs you can see hundreds of bats chilling in the sun (not by choice).

6. Excursion to Emerald Cave: This was quite an experience. The boat operator anchored the boat a good 30 meters away from the cave. He did not speak good English and gave our group of 6 a touch and pointed to a hole in the rock. We assumed this was the cave and just jumped in. Once we got to the entrance of the cave it was a 70 meter swim to the beach on the other side. Approximately 30 meters of this swim is through the caves is in pitch black hence the touch. Our touch worked for 30 seconds and then we followed the sounds of people on the other side. At this point I was thinking of all my equipment back at the hotel like my touch and the Rambo glow sticks. There is the occasional chain gang tourists in life jackets in groups of 10-20 swimming through in a line formation through the caves. The beach on the other side is amazing and worth the effort in the darkness.

Inside the cave where there is still some sunlight

Exiting the cave after some Pitch black action

Enjoying the moment after exiting the cave

At the Hidden Beach

Cave Exit to the Beach

The Chain Gangs of Tourists

7. Where to Eat: Food is relatively cheap outside the hotel and will cost ฿200-400 a day. At the hotels you can double this cost. Water is expensive with big bottles 1.5 litres trading at ฿60. Beer is about ฿80 and cocktails can range from ฿180 to ฿400.So head next door to the Thai restaurants on the beach for some fresh seafood at really cheap prices. The service is fantastic and the food is representative of the island.

8. Hotel Services: Some of the resorts on the island are under foreign ownership and this kills the vibe for the resorts. Fantasy resort for example is under Chinese ownership and the services are focused on making money from tourists without much concern of the staff. This removes some of the traditional Thai friendly hospitality. A lot of the staff were from Burma and Philippines here. All hotel bills have a 10% service charge (tips) but some investigation led to the discovery that this money goes to the owners and not to the staff who deserve the tips. So get to know the staff and tip them privately with the secret handshake. The resort food is okay but too international with burgers, pasta etc.

9. Medical Emergencies: : There is no medical center on the island so emergencies will require a boat visit to the east towards the Trang district on mainland. Our group had one case of dental emergency and had to take a 2 hour boat ride to Trang and a private taxi to the hospital dentist. The quotation from the Chinese owner for this trip was ฿5000 for the trip including the taxi. Speaking to locals the same trip was done for ฿1600.

10. Watch out for Hidden costs: As mentioned the hotels have lots of mark up on all products and services for normal Thailand prices. Excursions can be purchased for 50% less from the local tour operator at the beach. Same with restaurants outside the hotels which are 50% cheaper and quality of food is better.

Similar Thailand articles of Interest:

THAILAND USEFUL TIPS

13 useful tips that will help you understand the Thai culture and the way things are done there. Best advice one can get to save time, money, and ones sanity.

PHUKET

Considered as the HUB of South Island, this is an overview of Phuket Island. The places to stay, things to do, and things to avoid.

RAILAY BAY

The hidden treasure of this Region.An overview of Railay Bay. The places to stay, things to do, and things to avoid.

KO PHI PHI

The most visited spot in South Thailand due to the Movie "The Beach". An overview Ko Phi PhIsland. The places to stay, things to do, and things to avoid.

Monday, 19 January 2015

South Thailand: 13 Useful tips

This European winter I decided to take an 18 day vacation in South Thailand. Not being a big fan of the cold weather, some relaxing time in the sun was my Christmas gift to myself for 2014.

The itinerary set for my trip was taking the flight from Oslo with Qatar Airways to Hamad International airport in Doha for a 13 hour layover, followed by a direct flight to Phuket. From Phuket the plan was to do some Island hoping in this order: Phuket ► Krabi ► Railay Beach ► Koh Lanta ► Koh Ngai ► Ko Phi Phi ► Phuket

I had never been to South Thailand before so this itinerary was purely based on light research, and my adventurous ambition to discover new holiday spots. Having New Year’s Eve in Phuket would be the kickoff for my Thailand adventure. After the short layover in Doha, I arrived in Phuket at 1830 on the 31st December 2014.

Now there are several key important tips one most know before traveling to Thailand:

1. Same Same but different:
This goes for pretty much everything in the country. So if you have a ferry travelling from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi, tourist agencies will print different pamphlets with different prices. However the actual ferry is the same ferry used by all the agencies. The same goes for organized excursions, transfers, and services. So buying online tickets is not recommended for any service oriented activity as it is a marked up price. The best procedure here is to buy on location when you are in the country.

2. Always bargain:
So continuing from above when purchasing on location, always bargain. The vender or service provider like a tuk tuk driver will throw you a price, and you counter offer that price till you reach agreement. Supply of services exceed demand in most service areas here so you will have the bargaining power. For example petrol cost is 40 Bhats per litre, so paying 100 Bhats for a short taxi ride is okay but you can get away with paying half of that. All product purchases can be negotiated and you can get 20-50% off on the price.

3. Everything runs on Island time including International Airline flights:
Don’t expect anything to run on time. Take a scheduled time for an event and add an extra 15-30 minutes if you are lucky. This is how it operates in most islands across the globe, growing up on Fiji I know all about Island time so relax and just go with the flow.

4. Lose your normal accent and switch to Thai accent:
English is not the main language here so a fast speaking American accent, or strong British or French accent will do very little for your communication. So adapt to speaking “Thai-glish”. How to learn this? Observe and imitate.

5. Always repeat the keywords in a sentence:
So if you want the taxi driver to wait for you, you would say in Europe or America: “Please keep the meter running, I will be back shortly”. In Thailand you will say, “Wait wait, I come back fast fast.”

6. Learn the Key Words:
Like any foreign country learning the keywords such as “Thank You”, “Hello”, and “How are you?” among others helps break the ice and makes the locals appreciate your effort of trying.

7. Insect Repellant:
The wildlife is quite beautiful here and if you are lucky you might see some spiders, snakes, scorpions, and some exotic birds. The guaranteed sightings will always be monkeys and mosquitoes. The Mosquitoes are all over the place and love the tourists. So invest in a repellant. Local organic product Citronella is a good choice which you can purchase there.

8. Carry Cash:
Cash is king. When doing a cash out, go big and take out 20k bhats while you at it instead several small transactions along the way. Most stores as modern as they look may not cater for cards so cash is needed. Once you in the smaller islands good luck finding an ATM. Carry cash with you and lock it in the safe, so you take what you need on each outing.

9. Hit and Miss:
This is the theme of South Thailand with all services. For example a Thai restaurant at a 5 star resort will serve the worst Thai food you would have on your tour because it is run by Non Thai cooks. A foot reflexology massage ends with your shoulders being massaged. You order one dish and you get something else. So communication and following recommendations here are important.

10. Keep it private:
All excursions and transfers are best kept to a small group. Island transfers are best done in speedboats or private long tail boats depending on distance. Avoid large ferries and groups as this is a disaster waiting to happen. Overcrowding on such ferries is common and makes for a very uncomfortable ride. So spend the extra dollars and go private.

11.Stay clear of the day trippers:
The day trippers are common around the world when it comes to locations with beautiful Islands. They will stay on a bigger island with resorts where comfort is guaranteed and wildlife is at a minimum, hospitals are close by, translators and tour guides are with them, and hotel staff are there to help in all kinds of small emergencies. Good on them for travelling and discovering the world, however they are quite annoying as they often travel in packs. Their objective is to see locations and the tour guides mission is to throw them on boats and get them out there. Information such as sea sickness, what to wear is not discussed so expect to see them throwing up in the ferries, and running around in denim when the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius. They are prone to appear in tourist trap locations and are guaranteed photo bombers in your background. Stick to rule 10 and avoid them in boats. As for locations such as Maya bay in Phi Phi, you will need to get there earlier than the big boat loads of tourists.

12.Lady Boys (Kathoey):
Lady Boys (Kathoey): This term refers to either a transgender woman or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. They are also known as the third gender. Anyway they have Cabaret shows in the bigger cities and can be found all over Thailand. They are living life as normal individuals and you can refer to them as females when communicating. There is no need to fear them as they are friendly just like any Thai person you meet there.

13. Pollution:
Unfortunately in this paradise rubbish dumping has become common practice. Walking along beaches you will find lots of plastic bags, plastic bottles and other sort of Rubbish washed up on the beach. Now our travel group made an effort to clean up several beaches but this is a much larger job than several individuals. So try to educate someone not to throw rubbish into the ocean and hopefully the Thailand government starts a campaign to help clean up the beaches. Tourist and locals are equally guilty in this dumping of rubbish into the ocean as witnessed on this trip.