The Rambling Writer Visits Thailand, part 8: Angthong Marine Park

Join Thor and me as we take a cruise from Koh Samui to the stunning islands and clear blue sea of the national marine park.

NOTE: “And now for something completely different.” Thor and I made our first trip to Asia — the beautiful country of Thailand.  We were lucky to squeak through the pandemic flight closures in January/February of 2020 as we returned from our three-week trip. Since more travel has now become a distant prospect, we hope you’ll take a virtual vacation with us in the following weeks. (This blog series started on June 13.) I’m still recuperating from surgery, so I’ll keep this post brief.

As I mentioned last week, Thor and I had hoped to scout out potential winter digs on the island of Koh Samui, but quickly realized it was way too crowded and the swimming unpleasantly murky and weed-choked, possibly from pollution due to overdevelopment. So we decided to go with the flow and just enjoy being among the tourists flocking to the former paradise. We signed up with Mr. Tu’s Cruises for a day trip to the still mostly-pristine islands of the Angthong Marine Park. These islands and waters escaped the development craze due to being the preserve of the Thai Royal Navy until recently, and there are only a few resorts. The islands and sea are stunningly beautiful.

The small longtail boats are ingeniously powered by car engines that have a propeller at the end of the drive shaft, and enterprising owners can be hired off most Thai beaches for local trips. That would have been too slow for the long cruise from Koh Samui, so we arrived in a larger motor launch filled with mostly Chinese tourists. This was in January, before the Covid-19 alarms really hit and limited travel from China.

The snorkeling was superb, with clear blue waters, layers of gorgeous corals, huge anemones, and giant purple-lipped clams. Unfortunately, Thor’s underwater camera was glitchy, and most of the photos from that day were just a blur. We got only a couple usable images.

Our favorite stop was this private islet with huge, rounded boulders and wooden walkways connecting dock and cove.

How I long to be back in that warm sea, swimming with the colorful tropic fish! For now, back to my recliner to doze with Turtle cat and let my body heal for the next adventure.

Next week: more explorations on Koh Samui.

*****

You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?”  The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com