Transportation by boat. If I could do this on any given day, then I totally would. Especially since taking an airplane to get somewhere isn't exactly my cup of tea, I would choose getting somewhere by boat in a heart beat. Which is kind of a contradiction as aviation is one of the most safe ways of transportation, but for my mental stability...well it just isn't.
And sure it takes a lot longer to travel by boat, and sure it might even be less comfortable. But having the wind in your hair and the views to stare at....Heck, I would totally be in for an Atlantic crossing, even if it means that you wouldn't see any land for weeks.
Now in the Andaman sea which is on the west side of Thailand and Malaysia and East of India and Sri Lanka boating around is just one of the ways to go to reach all kinds of islands.
Just look at these views, nothing wrong with staring at this for a couple of hours right?
Asia Light
I always call travelling through Thailand travelling 'Asia-light' as it is so damn easy to get around. When you need a boat to get somewhere, there is a time table that you can find online which is even quite accurate and mostly you can even book the boats online as well though some world-wide accepted sites. Just some islands are a bit more difficult to get a ticket for, but honestly...Everyone is always so friendly that with a little bit of helps from others this is also never really an issue.
When you get to the ferry and show your ticket either printed or even with a QR code in your phone you receive a color coded sticker for yourself and also for your luggage. We always mock this situation as it feels like cattle which is driven to a certain location and then thrown our again, but actually....It just works.
The only thing you have to be aware of is the weather. Because these boats will just always go as they are the main transport towards some of these islands , even though your brain will consider the sea just a bit too rough for this.
So that could mean that you will end up at your planned location right on time, but at the same time green and not knowing what is front and back anymore ;)
But sailing around here?
One of my dreams would be to also be sailing around this area as there are so many nice places to hang around and so many islands to check out. But at the same time there are also so many things to consider while doing this. The Andaman sea has some serious tides going on on the daily. This is at the islands where I was about 1.5 meter in difference 2 times per day.
Not something to forget when you are trying to anchor your boat somewhere in front of the coastline. There are also not a tremendous amount of harbors to go get your stuff going like diesel and fresh water, but with looking around and also watching some Youtube I have also realized that there are some harbors to make this all happen.
But also stuff like fishing nets of the local fishermen and the wildlife of the sea is something else before you go for some 'casual' jumping in the sea. Box jellyfishes are here and not in small amounts especially since the sea was so warm this year.
And did you realize how many kind of mosquitos areas with all kinds of malaria and dengue and whatever you head into which being close to the shore?
Also the strength of the sea and the saltiness of the water does something to the boat and the way it slowly goes bad over the years, so that means more maintenance to think about.
One of the harbors in Langkawi Malaysia, because there are more of those even
And uhhh...the heat in this region? That also isn't no joke at all!
In the end it is not that I don't think I would be capable of sailing here. The reality is that the sailing itself is not the problem. Sailing is sailing and that remains the same. But all the things adding up next to this. The always say that sailing is only 10% of the life. All the other things is the rest which you also need to think about.
But when I am boating around here in this region...ow man I sure dream of this. Spending a winter here on a boat and just seeing what the tide brings on the daily?
That would be ultimate freedom to me and you should never stop dreaming! Maybe one day.....