Wednesday December 10th DAY20

1) Melissa and Dale.

2) The group

3) The three of us

What a great day today. I haven't downloaded any photos yet, so I will add them some other time. Melissa, Dale and I went 'Island Hopping'. Our tour began at 8.30am when we were driven to the pier at Trang beach. There we caught a very old motor boat with 20 local Thai people. Our first stop was the Emerald Cave, so called we assume because the sea is emerald green in colour. We all climbed down into the sea and swam through about a 100 metres of cave, led by our tour guide who was holding a torch because it was so dark. The cave opened onto a secluded haven with a small beach and surrounded by the rock face, which was covered with bushes and trees. It was magic. We three "Farangs" were in the spotlight for photos with our new friends who could speak no English. Nevertheless, they made us very welcome. Once back in the boat we set off for the Islands, three in all. At each stop we snorkelled with colourful tropical fish through the coral reef which surrounded each of the Islands."Suai"-Beautiful. Food was provided-rice, of course, plus fish and chicken dishes. It was a memorable day. The Andaman Sea is so warm, its hard even for me to get out of the water.
Last night, 'Jack' took us to a local Fair. It was a cross between Malton Fair, York Market and trashy $2 stores anywhere in the world. We were the only white skinned people there, so we got lots of stares. We went because there was supposed to be some Thai dancing. There was, but it was one lone male. We tired of him after an hour, and left. A little disappointing, but interesting to see the local Thai population enjoying themselves.