Phang nga Bay (James Bond Island) 15.02.10

Phang nga Bay is a national park round the coastline from Phuket Province, which comprises many small islands made of karst limestone. It's a very dramatic place because of the striking shapes of the craggy islands dominating the horizon in every direction. It's nice to be out on a boat and looking back to shorelines which aren't covered in development. The area is protected so there is only mangrove and rainforest greenery, no towns or villages. Our tour for the day comprises three trips off the main ferry boat by guided canoe to get closer to the impressive islands and cave scenery.

We are paddled by our guide through a cave tunnel at the bottom of a huge monolith of limestone, which is called Ko Hong, and into a secret sea lagoon in the middle of the island, invisible from the outside. We have to lie flat as we sail through the cave because the stalagmites and barnacle encrusted rocks are very close to our heads. If the tidal level had increased any more we wouldn't have been able to get out. In the middle of the secret lagoon, which was surrounded on all sides by steep, craggy walls, mangrove trees were growing, splaying out their interesting roots into the muddy waters.

It was a magical place- well, it would've been more so, if there hadn't been a traffic jam of kayaks ferrying tourists in and out again. Hey ho, we're getting used to it. It was very impressive to see how the sea water had eaten away at the bases of these giant cliffs and how huge stalagmites had formed in the vacated space, dripping down forming odd rock mutations. The whole area was formed from the remains of ancient sea coral and the calcium carbonate skeletons of mollusca and other sea creatures, similar to the limestone caves of Waitomo (New Zealand). The rock was pressurised under great earth movements and pushed up and pulled down to create a dramatic scene. The highlight of our tour through the bay is a visit to Ko Khao Phing Kan, otherwise known as James Bond Island because it was used as the setting for The Man with the Golden Gun with Roger Moore when he comes to the Orient in search of the villian Scaramanga. The single sheer rock in the island's opposite bay is where the secret weaponwas hidden. It certainly is a stunning location. Overhanging cliff faces with giant stalagmites hanging from them and a gigantic split in the rockface are dramatic examples of extreme geological formations. Love it! On our way back to port we enjoy watching the sun setting over the pretty islands. Hopefully we'll be able to sleep a little on the night bus we've booked to take us to the bright lights of Bangkok.