SMALL BLESSINGS
Carrying just 49 passengers in a 50-metre vessel, Peregrine Adventures’ new small-ship journey through the stunning Thai & Malaysian islands will redefine assumptions about cruising.
Redefining cruising with a small-ship trip through the Thai and Malaysian islands.
From the outset, this isn’t like any cruise I’ve been on before. There’s no cruise terminal, just a concrete jetty at Phuket’s rusting port. And there’s no cruise ship – at least not the sort you’d imagine. The tiny Panorama II looks more like an escapee from an upmarket marina. It’s just 50 metres long, with three decks and two masts, and it carries only 49 passengers. As I scramble up the gangplank, I feel like I’m boarding a millionaire’s yacht.
The last flaming glow of sunset lingers on the rim of the Andaman Sea as we sail away over cocktails. I can smell the salt air and feel the deck tip beneath my feet. We have dinner on the open deck as stars gleam over us. I’m off on Peregrine Adventures’ inaugural nine-day cruise down the west coast of Thailand and Malaysia; a slow itinerary that promises local encounters, snorkelling, and beach barbecues. In fact, this cruise is hardly a cruise at all. It’s more a yachting adventure that takes the logistics out of accessing remote places, yet is still flexible enough to allow individual exploration.
The next morning, we anchor off Yao Yai Island. Local lobster-fishing boats come to pick us up, and we ride towards the jetty across a bay ringed in hills and scalloped with white-sand beaches. We’re just over the horizon from the tourist-packed Phi Phi Islands, but it’s almost like we’re in another world. There are no loud resorts and bars here, no raucous tourists slinging back cheap cocktails. There are just a few small village homestays, and some community businesses making rattan handicrafts, traditional sweets and goat’s milk soap.
I enjoy a visit to a weaver’s home, where the 85-year-old matriarch still weaves mats with gnarled yet nimble fingers. Later we move on to another
family house for sticky-rice treats and a unique indigo-coloured drink made from the flowers of butterfly peas.
Interaction with the local communities is a true hallmark of Peregrine Adventures’ cruises. We later spend the afternoon at Bung Ae House Homestay near Ao Nang. The head of the household, Mr Air, walks us through his village on an inspection of palm oil and rubber trees. Afterwards, we enjoy dinner with his family: tom yum soup, spicy chicken curry, and stir-fried vegetables with shrimp that explode with chilli. Later, we sit on the verandah as the evening rain cools the day’s heat, and the cicadas hum their soft song.
Ao Nang itself is a lively beach resort of cheap eateries, massage parlours and motels draped in electric cables and neon. It’s most famous for nearby Railay Beach, which sits amid spectacular rock formations draped in monkey-haunted jungle. Some of the passengers take up the challenge of rock climbing, while others head off on an eco-cycle along the coastline.
Ao Nang, crowded with Chinese and lobster-pink Russian tourists, is a reminder that this part of Thailand isn’t as remote as it might seem. This cruise makes it feel so, however.
Over the next few days we have a beach barbecue on Koh Krandan, which has only a handful of visitors. We anchor in bays of beaten-silver water, and we’re often the only vessel in sight – excepting the squid boats on the horizon, which emit an eerie green glow, as if aliens have landed.
Then we’re sailing deep into Tarutao Marine National Park, one of Thailand’s least developed regions, where a green archipelago rises sheer from the sea and coral reefs are abundant with tropical fish. Panorama II’s zodiac takes us across emerald waters to white beaches, from
which we can wade in and find more than one Nemo flitting between the waving tentacles of purple anemones.
Camaraderie has developed quickly on this small ship. After all, there’s no pool or casino or evening entertainment, and cabins are small. No matter. We have water sports and board games and good books to pass the time. We chat at the bar, lounge on the deck in bare feet, and dine on buffet meals of great salads, Asian stir fries and gigantic grilled prawns.
The next day we slip across into Malaysian waters and dock in Langkawi. A day tour here with local guide Hisham takes us along a scenic coastal road to Telaga Tujuh, where awe-inspiring waterfalls cascade down Mount Mat Cincang into several rock pools. Their cool water is the perfect respite from the heat of the afternoon.
Sailing from such incredible natural scenery into Penang is a bit disconcerting. High-rise apartment blocks that verge on skyscrapers line the shoreline, and we spot our first big cruise ship in the harbour. But the trading port George Town is still a fascinating place to end our journey. Founded by the British in 1786, it has seen diverse ethnic groups – Indian, Malay, Chinese – contribute to its architecture, culture and cuisine.
A tour guide takes us around. White Georgian-era government buildings contrast with Indian temples topped by a kaleidoscope of goddesses, and with Khoo Kongsi
– a Chinese clan house covered with gold leaf and writhing dragons. The street art is fabulous, as is the street food. We have broth-filled dumplings, stir-fried noodles and curried fish at a food court, finishing with ais kacang – a towering pyramid of multi-hued shaved ice. It seems like the perfect final meal for a cruise in which local culture and the spirit of adventure was always at the fore.
The last flaming glow of sunset lingers over the sea as we sail away.