Lames Bond Island

We continued our tour. Next stop was a tourist trap where a muslim community made food for us. Everything was good, except the salad, which I didn't try because such uncooked and unpeelable things are rinsed in the local water which contains bacteria my system isn't used to.

There must have been fifty tables here.

These were found on the feet of some Japanese girl ... !

We got the Australian lesbians to take a photo of us, and we returned the favor.

We asked why they picked Thailand, and they said because it is super cheap. They paid the equivalent of $1100 USD each for a week in Thailand ... that includes airfare!

The is that tourist trap. You can see the karsts in the background. The dining area and docks are all floating. Here we're looking at a trapped tuna, about two feet long.

Besides food, the local community of muslims (note the headscarf) sells jewelry, t-shirts, local crafts, etc. It is standard for tours to go to such places, because they get kickbacks. I experienced this in Mexico and Indonesia as well. While it provides an outlet and employment for the artisans and sellers, I usually wonder if it distorts the economy and prevents them from seeking higher education in more skilled work. Or if the mafia (or other organized crime or labor) is keeping them as indentured servants.

Anyway ... the girls being sold to were on our boat and they were from Siberia on their honeymoon. Our boat guide tour guy was Russian, and after he said stuff in English he repeated it (and more) in Russian.

There's Paul and Cresta hiding under a towel as we motor through a storm.

And finally we made it to Lames Bond Island. I bet you're thinking "I know the new James Bond movies are lame compared to an of the old ones with Sean Connery, but why can't Christian just call it James Bond?" The answer is simple. Our brochure said it was "Lames Bond Island". That's why!

Anyway .. in the photo above you can see our speedboat on the right.

And finally ... the geographicaly feature everyone here takes photos of. This is from "The Man with the Golden Gun". I guess the first and last ten minutes were filmed on this little island. Back then all the vendors weren't on the island (which I didn't bother to get a photo of). Nor the crowds, or loud-ass boats with rusty car-motors perched on the back with 20-foot propeller-shafts. This was also when we noticed that our Russian tour guide was carrying a handgun in the back of his shorts. Makes me wonder if he had some enemies on this island.