Hong by Starlight

My kayak trip was recommended by Zannie, the girl I met in Singapore. The company is called John Gray Sea Canoe, and was started by an American living in Phuket who discovered these amazing caves.

I was picked up at noon in a van and taken to the pier on the other side of Phuket Island. There were 4 other passengers (there were many vans picking people up), two from Australia and two from the US. It turned out the couple from the US were from Chicago and live just down the street from me! Small world. I may bump into them again back home, as it turns out we frequent a lot of the same places.

We were the last to arrive at the boat and so took off shortly after arriving. There were about 30 passengers total, mostly Americans and Australians. I think I met more Americans that day than in the previous 2 1/2 months together! We took off for another island known for the sea caves and stopped for an incredibly yummy lunch of spring rolls, noodles and fruit. This trip was by far the most expensive, in relative terms, as it was over $100 - in Thailand! It's amazing what you get when you get away from the budget track. Everything was so lovely! After lunch we headed into the first cave. I was paired up with an older woman from Oklahoma. We got in our inflatable canoe with our guide paddling at the back. He paddled us over to the cave, where our job was to shine the flashlight and lie down, as the caves have very, very low ceilings. After about 100 yards we came out into what they call a hong, an open lagoon. On both sides were sheer cliffs up hundreds of feet in a perfect circle. Sometimes you can see monkeys there, but we didn't manage to that day. The hongs are so still and quiet except for the birdsong. The water is only a few inches deep. The time we enter the caves is selected by the tides, as during high tide the water fills the caves completely and at low tide there is no water at all. The second cave we entered is called Diamond Cave, and the walls glitter. Quite spectacular.

A picture from John Gray's Sea Canoe website - my wimpy camera couldn't take shots in here

Then back onto the boat (loading and unloading us was quite a feat!) and off to two more caves, Bat Cave and Oyster Cave. The names are very simple and easy to remember. Unfortunately we were notified that we would not see Batman, as he was busy in Hollywood, but we did see hundreds (actually probably thousands) of insect bats hanging above us. After exploring both caves and their hongs, we had dinner on the boat of cashew chicken, sweet and sour chicken, tempura vegetables and all sorts of other yummy treats. Then we were taught how to make katongs, the offerings that float in the waters. I was glad to see the center is made up of a slice of banana tree trunk, as it had looked like non-biodegradable styrofoam to me. We were taught to fold the banana leaves just so and include orchids and marigolds (for prosperity), three incense sticks and a few candles. Once night had fallen completely, we headed back into Oyster Cave with our katongs. Once all the kayaks were in the cave, the guides lit the katongs and we were to make a wish and place them in the water. When all the katongs were lit, the light in the cave was unbelievable - words definitely wouldn't do it justice. Unfortunately for us, we released our katong near the back of our kayak and then immediately ran over it, knocking it over and dousing the candles and incense. What do you suppose that means for our wishes? Can't be good.

The people on the trip were great. I talked to a few Australian women (partially about the Australian election where John Howard was replaced as prime minister, after over 10 years I think), to an adventure tour guide about his job, to a woman who is a graphic designer at Nike and taking some time off to reevaluate her career (I can relate!), a stereotypical, but very nice Jewish couple from New Jersey, and to my kayak partner. She and her husband take a 4 month cruise around the world every year! They go different routes, such as New Zealand up the east coast of Australia to Asia or NZ up the west coast of Australia to India, etc. They've been just about everywhere - and only had to unpack once! Apparently the boat holds 700 and 300 of them do it every year, so they meet the same friends over and over. I'm not a big cruise person, but it sounds amazing to me!

We dropped off a few people and guides who were staying overnight and headed back to the pier. I got back to my hotel around 10:30, tired but happy. Pictures to come soon!