Location: Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand

Annie, Sanni and I woke up late this morning, after having collectively agreed not to set alarms because we all needed a good long sleep. So at eleven-thirty (which is unheard of for travel me) we half-rushed around to get ready for an island tour we had booked for the rest of the day. I did have time to grab breakfast but there was only western food on the menu of the café, so I ate my first ‘regular’ breakfast since coming here. Let me tell you something…

I hated it.

It was heavy and fatty and basically flavourless compared to Thai food. How am I going to eat when I get home! Note to self: must find out what Thai people eat for breakfast.

We were picked up for our tour and taken to a pier at Hat Noppharat Thara National Park to hop on a longtail boat. Thankfully this boat was bigger than yesterdays and seemed like it would manage choppy water a little more reasonably! Maybe we won’t get totally drenched today?

In every direction out onto the horizon, islands dotted the sea and looked like massive jungle-backed turtles or some kind of mythical sleeping giant sea monsters. It was sprinkling rain but the water was warm and we stopped at half a dozen islands (one of which looked like an actual chicken) to walk along the secluded beaches or snorkel with bright stripy fish.

We stopped at Koh Poda for a fresh BBQ and to watch the sunset pass down behind the islands. With all the rain clouds it didn’t really so much as ‘set’ but rather just suddenly get dark… but it was a beautiful spot to relax in the sand and poke around for seashells for my niece and nephew.

It was about to get properly dark dark and real rain clouds were rolling in, so the guides quickly packed us into the boat to head to our last stop. We were going to see bioluminescent plankton (!!!), which I affectionately refer to as sea fireflies. Cute right?

I’ve only seen them once before in my life, maybe 13 ish years ago, and I was so eager to see them again. We hopped out into the knee deep water, but because of the weather there were’t many around. Basically they are little tiny organisms that light up when you disturb them so when you run your hand through the water it looks like a bunch of teeny tiny stars light up around where you swiped your hand, or where you walk or kick water or whatever. Because there were so few of them tonight we were splashing around pretty crazily and would get a few ‘blinks’ here and there, but nothing intense. It didn’t lower my excitement in the slightest. It was so dark and we were splashing so much water around that we couldn’t take any photos, and even if we had I’m not sure it could accurately capture the tiny lights anyway. We squealed with excitement every time we saw one, but had to leave pretty quickly because of the incoming rain. I’m happy to say we made it home more dry than expected!

Sanni split off to pack up her stuff, as she leaves tomorrow for the islands on the east side. Annie and I scouted out some Thai food and ended up at a little homey place called Hom Mali, where I got some spicy coconut soup which is one of my favourites I think, based solely on how often I order it. Both of us were feeling pretty sore after the swimming and stiff boat seats today, so we had a massage and then strolled lazily down the road towards Ao Nang beach, grabbing some chocolate Thai pancakes on the way. Thai pancakes are just thin fried dough with different toppings basically. Sign me up. Annie was saying how she loves that basically every culture in the world has their own version of ‘fried dough with stuff’ on it, and I couldn’t agree more. It seems like you could make a travel game out of it or something: find and eat the fried dough dessert of whatever country you’re in. We sat on the stairs at the beach, chatting for awhile and looking out at the eerie soft green lights dotting the horizon. We looked it up and apparently the fishing boats here will light up the water around themselves to attract more micro-organisms, which bring in more squid at night. To me it looks like a bunch of ghost ships, and I kind of like that idea better so I’m sticking with it. Suddenly it was almost midnight somehow and we were both exhausted!

We said a quick sleepy little goodbye to Sanni, which was sad but also I’m so happy she is heading east. The western islands have been very rainy and I think she is one of those people who’s mood shifts with the weather and seasons, so this is the right call. Fingers crossed I might run into her when I head that way eventually! I love the rain, and am happily sitting listening to it and writing away on the covered balcony at the hostel. If it weren’t for bugs I could probably stay here all night!

Sav