Photos this time come courtesy of Wipaporn (Wi) from her Reefs and Rainforests, south Thailand tour in May. The monsoon had come early this year but judging by these great pix they still had plenty of sunshine.
Hat Yao Beach, Trang The rainy season sadly puts a lot of people off visiting Southeast Asia but we’ve always tried to point out the advantages of that time of year: it doesn’t rain all the time – more like short sharp bursts, particularly towards the end of the day or evening time and yes, when it rains it rains but it’s usually a case of sheltering in the nearest cafe for 30 minutes whilst everything gets a good hosing down. It takes the edge of the heat, eases the humidity and clears any haze or dust in the sky so the rainy season’s surprisingly actually your best bet for photography with blue skies, sharp vistas and lush vegetation.
Other major advantages being that there are far less other tourists around and prices, particularly flights are lower!
The above pic is Hat Yao beach in Trang Province where we stop off for a dip after canoeing through the nearby sea caves and mangroves of Chai Mai – below.
Sea caves at Chao Mai National Park
Canoeing through the mangrove swamps Another cave pic but this time Wat Tham Sumano cave temple in Phattalung Province. This rarely visited yet spectacular cave temple makes a great stop off on the short drive from Trang to Thale Noi bird sanctuary, (see earlier post.)
Wat Tham Sumano And another mangrove pic and another national park – this time a nature trail in the Mu Ko Chumporn National Marine Park.
Mangrove nature trail From Chumporn the group travelled up the coast to Bang Saphan, the embarkation point for a stay on the charming little island of Koh Thalu.
Sunset on Koh Thalu Great way to end a great trip – cheers and thanks again to Wi for the Reefs and Rainforests tour photos!
