Day 11: The Sun and the Sand

Island hopping along the Andaman Sea

8am

Similar to my last day in Croatia, on our last full day of Thailand, we decide to go island-hopping. When there’s a morning activity planned, I’m less inclined to have a big breakfast. My last Nature’s Bakery fig bar saves me.

Morning

What a chill day thus far. Despite the lull during our wait at Nang An Pier, we board a long-tail boat to four different sites: Pranang Cave Beach, Tup Islets, Chicken Island, and then Poda Island. The clear water and limestone cliffs rising high in the water are magnificent, and it’s refreshing being in the ocean. At Pranang, the Princess Cave is nothing short of a spectacle, with differently sized and colored phalluses jutting out of the sand. At Chicken Island, the rock formation truly resembles the head of a chicken. While it’s nice being able to fit in so many of the Phi Phi Islands, it feels restrictive when we have such a short period of time to actually experience and appreciate the site.

12:45pm

Lunch is finally served! I was very much starving, and the orange juice provided by the tour company and my parent’s dried mangos were definitely my saving grace. At Poda Island, we queue for our lunches like school kids and the only thing that seemed vegan was the pickled veggies with rice. It was surprisingly decent! We had pickled carrots, onions, and cucumbers in a fish-like sauce. After we board for the final time on the boat, we are served watermelon and pineapple.

4pm

We arrive back to the mainland a little after 3pm. Stopping by 7-Eleven, we pick up a couple of snacks: sriracha-flavored soybeans and sugared tamarind (my childhood favorite snack). ฿103

6pm

Given the variety of options at Govinda’s, we return for a second night. This time, we opt for the buffet which has more vegan than non-vegan options. Best decision ever.

My plate looks like a color board of different types of food: jeera rice (rice with cumin), bindi masala (fried okra), aloo jeera (potatoes), chickpea masala, Thai red curry, and chow mein. I go back twice for masala to accompany the fresh naan. It was as if our dinner was compensating for our subpar lunch and overall island-hopping experience.

Dessert includes watermelon, chocolate chip mini-muffins, and seviyan, a traditional Indian dessert with roasted vermicelli in coconut cream (delicious!). As a cherry on top, we also chatted with the server who served us last night. We talked about his cultural background (a Burmese national of Indian descent) and experience living and working in Thailand. All in all, what a great dinner! ฿300

฿403