We set sail north to Koh Hong, dropped the anchor and jumped in the dinghy to explore. The Andaman Sea off to the east of Phuket is filled with limestone islands. They are, for the most part, uninhabited with sheer walls and foliage hanging on for dear life.

Occasionally along the waterline there is a cave, and occasionally the cave leads to a hong. A hong is a room inside these islands, with water in the bottom and sheer walls all around. The formations of the rocks are wild. Stalactites are all over the sides, since they aren't exactly vertical. A monkey sat on a branch, dropping leaves on us.

We saw bats in the cave, mud-skippers in the hong, and no other tourists. Until we left at about 11, when no fewer than six boats dropped anchor beside us and poured dozens of tourists and kayaks into the water. We went inside for lunch and naps.

Today, we're at Koh Pan Yi, a Muslim village built on stilts. We anchored here just before dinner last night and went ashore. It's as touristy as it can be, but we walked it anyway, haggled with a few merchants, and went back to the boat for dinner. This morning, we'll take a long tail boat on a tour of the mangroves around here, and then try to pull up anchor before 3,000 tourists come here for lunch.

Just returned from our long tail ride, an hour and 15 minutes through the mangroves, around the tall islands, through a hole in one of them. The long tails are about 30 feet long with huge outboard motors and long shafts. And really loud, like the worst motorcycles.

I couldn't help but wonder how quiet and relaxing this place might be without them. In our meandering, we passed several homes, obviously away from the touristy stuff. How they must hate the constant noise.

I'm a lousy tourist, I guess. I would much rather leave less of a footprint, go to places that aren't altered because I'm there. I rather like being on this boat with my family and our friends, however, tucking in where not everyone gets to go. Or at least going there before everyone else does.