The next leg of our trip was the seven day sail on the tall ship "Star Flyer." Apparently it's "claim to fame" is that it has the tallest mast on any sailing vessel. One of the nicest things was our tour group were the only guests on-board, so we really enjoyed some great service! I "borrowed" this picture of the ship from the Star Clipper's web site, as the pictures I took simply do not do it justice.
The crew was exceptionally professional and very helpful. Staffed with people from many ages and nationalities, it was interesting trying to get used to so many accents.
Communicating was really not a problem on any portion of our trip. I was surprised at all the English we encountered. Thailand and Singapore were probably the easiest, followed by Malaysia and Hong Kong. In fact, Hong Kong had the least amount of English, and since it had been a British territory for so long, I thought language would be our last concern there.
The first full day at sea we stopped at the Similan Islands in the Adaman Sea. Similan is a Maylay word for the number nine, and there are nine islands in the archipelago.
Although we had an uncharacteristic rainy day, I opted to go snorkeling. After all, I was already going to be wet, what would a little rain hurt? The only drawback was some sun would have made the fish a little easier to see. But it was still like swimming in a fish tank! I wish I would have had an underwater camera, as it was incredible. There was a huge school of large silver fish swimming in a ball that I watched forever. Occasionally some would break off to feed while the others "stood guard." Even when I swam close to them, they simply moved off a bit and re-grouped. There were numerous other types of tropical fish and even an eel, but since I'm not up on my fish, the only ones I recognized were angle fish. All in all, I'd have to say it was one of the highlights of an already great vacation!
One of our shore excursions was to the Malaysian island of Langkawi. Here we spent a day learning about rubber farming, mangrove swamps and their ecological importance. Aparently they have the ability to filter sea water and their destruction is contribuiting to many types of "chain reactions" amongs the fragile evironment.
Also, we stopped at the area where they filmed the Summer Palace scenes for "Anna and the King." Apparently the Thai people feel the story of Anna and King Mongut isn't a true representation of their history, and wouldn't allow the film to be made in Thailand. The exterior shots were done in Malaysia and the rest was shot in Hollywood where they also had to recreate the Royal Palace--a set that is actually larger than the real palace!
