Vacation...part 2

Alright, I believe I left you last time anticipating the Emerald cave boat trip. We arrived on the beach as planned at 9 the next morning only to find the boat anchored about 200 feet out with the captain on board gesturing for us to come on out. Now, you must understand that 200 feet of ocean is very different than 200 feet of Big Bay de Noc. We quickly surmised that he was not about to bring the boat further in, and we would have to swim out to him. The waves were probably 4 to 5 feet at the time, so there was no way we would be able to keep our bags dry. After quick consultation we agreed to leave all of our valuables and electronics at the resort apart from one girl’s point-and-shoot camera. 

We ventured into the waves with visions of Indiana Jones dancing through our heads, and were soon into the deep water, fighting waves and looking ridiculous trying to swim while holding our bags over our heads. It was one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever done. I kept thinking “there is no way this would ever fly in America…this is not safe”. But somehow that added to the appeal of the whole situation. It’s raw, it’s unsterilized, it’s real. Okay, that may be a bit over dramatic, but I think it’s appropriate given the situation. Anyway, we all made it to the boat without drowning (although the captain did have to jump out and bring a life preserver to the British guy who was gallantly attempting to carry both his own bag and the bag of one of the Swedish girls...no one ever said gallantry included wisdom). 

Once we were all in the boat and sitting securely on the benches we saw that the captain had met every request by bringing with him a huge case of beer, cigarettes, some drinking water, a watermelon and pineapple, and a pair of flip-flops for the Australian lady whose own shoes had broken the day before. Brittany and I ended up paying significantly less than everyone else because we were exempt from the cost of the cigarettes, beer, and shoes. 

Our first destination was a neighboring island with good snorkeling even during the off season. It was my first snorkeling experience, and it was phenomenal! I am amazed by the colors and shapes and textures of the coral as well as the variety of fish and animals that live in and around it. Brittany and I spent pretty much the entire two and a half hours we were there in the water while the rest of the group retired to the beach to drink beer and smoke (their favorite pastime). Right about the time we started assembling to leave, a storm rolled in and the captain decided it would be best to wait it out there. Brittany with her characteristic personality and her Thai language skills struck up conversation with the captain while I talked to the Colombian man. Everyone else retreated to a restaurant somewhere to…you guessed it…drink beer and smoke. I think they wanted to keep out of the rain. Anyway, once the worst of the rain stopped, we took off for Emerald cave. The water was pretty choppy, and there were moments when we doubted the captain’s decision to leave just then. But, he’s been doing this 5-6 times every week for his whole life, so I’m pretty sure he knows better than we.

Emerald cave is situated on Koh Mook, the island where we stayed, and it’s actually just around the corner from our beach. As we approached, all we could see was giant sheer cliffs with very large and intimidating waves crashing against them. Pretty soon we saw a small dark opening at the base of one and a sign indicating that it was, in fact, Emerald cave. When the captain stopped the boat and tied it off to a buoy our apprehensions about the cave experience intensified. Brittany asked, and he indicated that we were to swim from the boat into the cave. At first we thought he was just going to point us in the right direction, but he ended up going with us. We all donned life preservers and the captain produced a flashlight in a zip-lock bag. We jumped off and began swimming directly toward where the waves seemed to be trying to break another hole in the cliff. 

As it turned out, the swimming wasn’t that bad. It looked far more intimidating than it actually was, and the current pretty much deposited us safely within the confines of the cave. No one was bashed against the rocks. We swam into the cave, made some turns and were soon in the pitch dark with only the echoing sounds of the waves outside and our voices. It was then that I began to feel panic rising. Somehow swimming through giant waves is thrilling, but swimming through calm water in the dark is scary. The captain kept his light where we could see it, so we all followed obediently. We swam for maybe five minutes maximum, turned a corner, and were confronted with an amazing view! The water lapped up on a white sandy beach about 40 feet wide. Beyond the beach was a tropical paradise, surrounded on all sides with sheer cliffs soaring probably 200 feet about our heads and covered in trees and vines. The interior of the “cave” was also covered in tropical vegetation. The whole area was probably 60 feet from one end to the other. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!  I literally scrambled up onto the beach, dropped my life jacket on the sand and my jaw on the ground and spun in a circle making amazed noises. Later my Colombian friend told me that I seemed pretty excited. From the raised eyebrows, I could tell he recognized how much of an understatement that was. 

We spent the next 45 minutes wandering around, having deep existential conversations (not!) and throwing mud at each other. Unfortunately, we had left all but one camera at the resort, so I don’t even have pictures to share with you. I’m hoping that the girl who brought her camera will email us the pictures of the day, but that’s not guaranteed. We had to leave before the tide came in so although we were still three hours shy of that time, some of the group was concerned about getting stranded (Brittany and I were scheming about actually getting stranded for a night and how fun that would be), we headed out. Swimming out was no problem at all, and we all made it back to the boat just fine. It was mid afternoon by this point, and we were tired and hungry. The captain let Brittany, Colombian man, and I off at the beach (we were the strongest swimmers and had consumed the least amount of beer) and then he took the rest of the group to the jetty on the other side of the island. 

We agreed to meet up later on, and we ended up getting dinner and drinks (never would have guessed, eh?). More people had arrived on the island that day, bringing our farong total to something like 16. We convinced the newcomers to do the boat trip the following day, warning them to not try to take anything they value or don’t want ruined. Brittany and I retired early (before things got too crazy) because we had to get up early the next day to catch the ferry (the only one that runs to the mainland all day).  In retrospect, I’m so glad that train to Penang was full! Our spontaneous detour through Trang turned out to be way better than anything I can imagine planning!