Yup, you read that right. Among other islands I was packaged to visit, Monkey Island was a part of them. Being an Indian, I didn't expect the sight to be too amusing, I was a wee bit wrong..
Here's the schedule, wake up at 5 in the morning. Catch our booked taxi at 6.30. Hop onto a boat by 9.
We woke up at 6.30, missed the taxi, and reached the boat beach 10 minutes before 9. And looked around to see other tourists waiting an hour earlier for the boat, and considered ourselves lucky to be lazy.
The boat's designed in a way, that the front half is V'd and open roofed, the posterior is covered by a deck. Our guide adviced that those who're braver should be seated in the front, the rest can sit behind in the shade. I walked straight ahead & caught a seat in the open air to enjoy the view. What I witnessed: a 45 minute bumpy ride, nauseaus passengers, and finally, the catastrophicly deep, uneven tan! Arrgghh.. Yeah, I did apply a sticky gooey sun-tan, nobody told me you're to do it every 30 minutes, especially if you're right under the sun! :) I loved the boat ride, it was an absolute adrenaline rush, everytime we'd crash against the waves, some would scream, I'd just laugh out of pure fun! All this while, at the center of this open shed, a couple were seated. He was Irish, and she was Australian; they had surf-board abs & toned lean bodies, and the coolest demeanour I'd ever seen. I felt like a 10 year old, while I gawked at them in silence.
Our first destination was May Island, no stopovers, just onlooking at how eccentrically mushroom-shaped, and green the place was. The next stopover was Fifi Island, famous for having had shooting of a James Bond movie, and The Beach. It was lovely, not spectacular though. White crystal sands, blue-green see-through water, tall mountainous greenery, and stinky rest-rooms!! We then stopped at Monkey Island, and were adviced not to feed them. I wondered what a waste of time this was..
What I end up seeing: monkey fights in two medium sized gang'ed groups, some others who're wooing the attention of ladies and eating bananas, some who're scaring others by climbing & screaching at them, and some tourist-monkeys taking photographs with other monkeys. What an evolution!
After this little stopover, we were halted for a coral diving session. I geared myself up, took half hr. changing into my swimsuit (It was pitch dark in the bathroom, okay! Worse yet, everytime a little sun would come in, I'd see how wet & dirty the place was), and spent 5 minutes in the water. No, I've never dived before, but I wanted to give it a shot. After I did, I clutched onto my husband, and panted for my life, even though the boat was 2 steps away from me. Lesson learnt: I was born a spectator, but I live to participate & quickly run away..
It was nearly 4 in the afternoon by now, and we were melting in the sun. This trip was to be scenic, breezy and beautiful. But after an hour, I thought to myself, enough with the scenery, give me some breeze already! Last stop, Kai Island. I devoured on every piece of watermelon I could get my hands on, whilst my husband greedily consumed 2 servings of chocolate-caramel sundae. We bumped into those idolised on-board, surf-board-ab'ed tourists. They were in love with the weather, they came from sub-zero temperatures, wanted a tan, and enjoyed the blazing heat to the hilts. I didn't idolize them no more.
Just before we were headed to our boat, we heard a Thai singer, singing mushy English songs from a bar. She had the sweetest voice ever, and everybody was drawn near hear. Even we ended up humming some tunes with her. Going up-close we figured she wasn't a she, or he sang like a she. If you know what I mean. Still it was a good job singing.
After relaxing & snoozing at my hotel, we asked for personal body masseuses. We were called to a room, only after walking there in my pyjama's; the room wasn't a room, it was a lobby by the pool, located right in-front of the lift, with uncurtained beddings ready for a massage. They were an old couple already being worked on, the man was embarrasingly-noisily-appreciative. And I was stiff out of shyness. 10 minutes onto the massage, my husband's cousin knocked off to sleep, and I began to finally relax.
