2012
There are keep out signs and keep out signs. This is one of the most unambiguous I’ve ever seen. What I like about it is the multicultural aspect. The center graphic speaks for itself, emphasized by the command in four languages, one in each corner. I don’t actually remember where this was but I think it was somewhere in the vicinity of Fort Cornwallis protecting the north-east corner of Penang Island and Goergetown behind it.
It was, as you can see, a grey day. The large vessel and the large cranes lurking in the haze are in Butterworth. Apparently, Penang Island and its main settlement, Georgetown, were the first British settlement on the Malaysian peninsular and date back to 1786.
I guess you could get to the Phi Phi Islands by sea plane but boat is the norm. And that’s the normal way to leave too. I took this image as the ferry carried me back to Phuket. The sea was relatively calm but the occasionally the boat would crash through the swell as captured here as I watched the island disappear in the wake of the boat.
On the way back to Koh Phi Phi Don from Koh Phi Phi Ley, having cruised by one of the caves from which the locals harvest swifts’ nests for birds nest soup, we got some up-close views of the base of the limestone cliffs. The cave action is clearly undercutting the rock over the course of the years.
This overhang in the limestone rack face was a significant swift nesting site. Out of harvesting season, there was no one working on this day. Bird’s nest harvesting is a regulated industry and there were signs above the jetty here warning trespassers off. All the bamboo poles you can see here are used by the harvesters to reach the rock ceiling where the swifts build their nests.
The ferry also stops by some of the local attractions on it’s way into the islands. Here it’s pulling up to the limestone cliffs so the passengers can see some caves where locals gather swift nests for birds nest soup. Quite why a soup made from bird spit is so sought after I don’t know. I’ve never tasted it myself. But I’m left wondering…