The structure on the right is Steve's house. The giant green blob behind it is a limestone cliff.
Approximately a two minute drive from the center of town is this...
And views like this.
The roads around Phang-nga are dotted with a multitude of different kinds of trees lined in perfect rows.
A cow on the side of the road literally had laurel branches around its horns...could it get anymore idyllic?
The outskirts of Phang-nga are pretty much natural perfection.
After wandering the hills of Phang-nga, our trusty motorbike took us to a park called the Heaven-Hell Park, which is essentially Thailand's version of Dante's Inferno. Enormous sculptures of bodies distorted in torture dot the "park" (not exactly a spot for relaxing) and each punishment apparently coincides with the specific sin. The dragon in the background of this picture is actually a long, covered (bats and all), winding walkway that is probably the most terrifying tunnel in the world.
Now, onto something more delightful: coffee. The coffee shop in which I decided to stake my claim for morning caffeine and reading was called Cafe Amazon. It is inconspicuously located in the back of a gas station's parking lot (a rather unassuming location for a cafe of note). I should preface my description of Cafe Amazon by explaining that most/all of the coffee places I've encountered in Southern Thailand serve pretty miserable black coffee with packets of powdered milk and something called "coffee sugar" (the packet reads "color of the taste"...some Thai literary synesthesia for you).
I am accustomed to coffee beverages with skim milk and a Splenda or two so, needless to say, it's taking a while for me to love the concept of powdered dairy. The first plus of Cafe Amazon is that it serves a real cappuccino (steamed milk and all). The second plus is its location, or rather the location of its outdoor seating. "Outdoor seating" refers to this:
The tables are on the bank of a very small river across from which is a shrimp farm...
Just like Starbucks, right?
Aside from the limestone cliffs and the coffee shop next to a shrimp farm, the other incredible (as in, I-don't-believe-this-is-a-real-place) thing about Phang-nga is the Somdej Phra Srinakarin Park.
The entrance to the park.
If sitting on a bench by the lake doesn't satiate you, then how about wandering over the walkways that go through the limestone cliffs?
The vines are usually covered in monkeys.
Speaking of monkeys...there I was, enjoying my book lakeside and trying not to be scorched by the Thai sun when a pack of about 30 monkeys decided it was high time to make a trek across the park and directly by me.
The monkey is shielding a baby monkey, hidden between her legs.
Absolutely adorable.
Monkeys on the run!
Look closely, how many monkeys do you see?
Along with monkeys, the park offers a plethora of other absolutely gorgeous sights.
After spending my afternoon in the monkey/cave/butterfly park, I explored one of the Buddhist monuments in the town of Phang-nga.
The monument also offers some pretty fantastic views of the town of Phang-nga.
Later that afternoon, we hopped back on the motorbike in an attempt to find an ashram in the mountains. We ended up getting lost and not finding the ashram but we found this instead...
A floating fishing village right off the road.
Another afternoon trek was to a nearby waterfall park, but "park" should be taken lightly here as it was more of a jungle than a park.
One of the many awesome bridges in the park.
The best way to walk across a body of water containing a water snake (as this river did) is definitely to cross on two wobbly tree trunks.
Fantastic, and lots of fun to read! EJP
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