Our boat from Ko Samui left at 8:00AM and the boat tour of Ko Tao, an island famous for its diving and snorkeling, left at 10AM. According to our plan we would land in Ko Phangnan at 9AM and have an hour to eat breakfast before departing again. Before we could get on the boat we had to return our mopeds and make our way to the docks. No problem, right? We woke up around 7:15 and didn't hit the road until 7:30. The ride from the pier to Green Bungalows took us about 25 minutes. Our schedule was tight but we were sure we could make it. Becky decided to grab a motor scooter taxi while Kevin and I rode with our heavy backpacks. We peeled out and jammed our accelerators to the floor. Every few minutes I would glance down at my wrist watch and check the time. As we neared the turnoff to the pier I glanced down at my watch. The time was 7:55. Holy crap, we are cutting this close, I thought. We pulled up hard right in front of the bike rental shop, traded in the bikes for Kevin' passports. I looked across to the pier and the ferry workers were waving their arms frantically at us. I think they were trying to tell us to hurry up. Becky was no where to be seen so we assumed she was already on the ferry. Kevin and I broke into a sprint but with our heavy bags and the multiple ramps leading up to the dock made it hard to cover ground. As we crested the last ramp to the ferry landing our hearts sank. The boat had already pulled away and was about 30m away. Damn, we missed it! We ran to the edge of the docks just as Becky ran to the stern of the boat. We told Becky we'd see her on Koh Phangnan and assured her we would find a way to make the boat tour at 10AM.
I looked down at my watch, and to my amazement it was only 8:30AM. The boat left exactly at 8. These Thai's ran a tight operation. The first few words out of our mouths were strings of obscenities interrupted by the occasional comment on the punctuality of Thai sea transportation. Once we had exhausted our vocubulary of four letter words it was time to make something happen. We had to get to Koh Phangnan. Kevin and I looked at each other and switched over to damage control mode. We did a 180 and walked down the now empty pier toward the ticket office. The woman behind be the ticket counter informed us the next boat departed at 11:30. Unacceptable. As we walked down the pier ramps Kevin and I noticed a row of fishing boats beached underneath the main pier. The boats belonged to the fisherman, Chao Lay, ("people of the sea") in Thai. The small fishing boats, known as longtail boats, were small wooden skiffs were large motor affixed to the stern. The motor turned a propellor located at the end of long wooden tail. The longtail boats were smaller and faster than the ferry and Kevin and I reckoned we may even be able to beat Becky back to the island. Because the Chao Ley speak a different dialect of Thai, and little to no English, we had a man from the ferry company assist us in commissioning a longtail boat. We handed over a fistfull of cash to the Chao Ley and hopped on a longtail boat. The boats are long and narrow and sit very low to the water. Kevin and I are about 90kg (185 pounds) each and the boats are designed for the smaller Chao Ley fishermen. As the motor sputtered to life I recorded the following video:
PLEASE EXCUSE THE LANGUAGE
We arrived at Becky bungalows and caught her and the members of travel group in the middle of breakfast. Kevin and walked up the beach with triumphant smiles and the look of astonishment on Becky's face made the pricey longtail boat ride worth every baht. Becky insisted we inform her how we appeared on the island so suddenly - we refused to divulge our infomration. Kevin and I scarfed down breakfast and packed our day packs for the boat trip to Koh Tao.
We boarded the boat, which was paid for by Phoebe, one of the 20 English students Becky was traveling with. The power boat took us to Koh Tao for swimming, boat jumping, snorkeling.
Our whirlwind tour of Koh Tao was great fun, especially since we didn't have to pay a penny, and on the way back I got to sit on the very bow of the boat as the captain gunned it through choppy water. Once back on Koh Phangnan we decided to hop on the night ferry and make our way to the western seaboard of Thailand. Once again, we were crammed on to a night ferry and began the 8 hour journey from Koh Phangnan.
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