After departing Krabi Province, we took a bus to Phang Nga, an even smaller town which draws tourists to Phang Nga Marine National Park. This park, comprised of various islands, is only accessable via longboat tour. This tour was somewhat of a disappointment because it is like a Disneyland ride, with stops on tiny islands where dozens of women were selling cheap souvenirs. I wouldn't say that it was depressing, exactly, or that I felt sorry for the women, but that it certainly lessened my experience of this beautiful setting. At one point in the tour, we were taken to a larger boat where tourists were being shoveled onto kayaks and taken to see submerged caves. This was an extremely efficient operation that I likened to some sort of refugee rescue. A boat full of iranian tourists outfitted in lifevests would dock at the larger boat, unload themselves, deposit all of their belongings (including shoes) onto a table, and then, in groups of two, enter a small kayak and be rowed off to a nearby cave. In a 30 minute period, I probably saw a hundred people, from 20 different countries, do this same activity. Peter and I opted not to see the caves, mostly due to my stingyness--it was an extra 200 baht or so. As we waited on the larger boat, there were two forms of sustinence available: green koolaid and the worst instant coffee I have ever had the misfortune to have tasted. The green koolaid was being consumed voraciously by the boatmen, and I imagined that it somehow helped to facilitate this surreal experience. Peter and I were part of a comparatively small tour group, all of us somewhat reluctant consumers of the theme park-like circus we were being subjected to. I would rather have never gotten off of our little longboat, but instead just enjoyed the natural scenery.