The Mergui Archipelago
An Untouched World - Part 3
Asian Geographic - Sept/Oct 2002

The sea was already sparkling in silvered diamonds. After a hearty breakfast that included scrambled eggs and croissants, we loaded up our snorkeling gear and paddled along the island's edge. For the rest of the day, we kayaked, snorkeled and swam out along the south coast of Wa Ale Kyunn. Below us in the clear water was an explosion of life. For the rest of  the morning we basked in the sun on one of the island's white sand beaches. That evening we were treated to a delicious beach barbeque that included freshly caught lobsters and giant shrimp.

The next morning, In the predawn darkness, we were escorted out to Lampi Island to paddle through a maze of mangrove-canopied canals. Lampi is the largest island in the archipelago. North to south the island is 20 nautical miles long and from east to west at its largest extremity is 10 nautical miles wide. There are two tidal rivers on the west coast that are accessible by small boat or kayak and can only be navigated at high tide. The southern-most of the two rivers has some of the oldest mangroves on the face of the planet.

With dawn colours filling the sky we paddled through these labyrinthine rivers at high tide. The river slithered around like a snake and the only sounds were from the dip of paddles, unknown splashes in the river and eerie shrieks from forest birds, hornbills and Brahminy kites passing overhead. The river narrowed still further. Suddenly, the water became violently agitated and the hooting gibbons and chattering monkeys fell silent, wary of the unknown. I could not see anything but I paddled anxiously hoping not to capsize in the middle of what could be crocodile-infested waters. After all, these waters are known to be home to Indo-Pacific crocodiles which are reputed to exceed lengths of 6 metres.

The river meandered its way through the swamp, sometimes opening to a few feet wide, Sometimes narrowing so that only a few inches of space remained as the kayaks passed. As I paddled back downstream towards SEAL 1, I passed right under a sleeping Reticulated python coiled up in a tree - ten feet of muscle, tilting its head slightly as I glided by.

For the rest of the morning we basked in the sun on one of the island's white sand beaches. That evening we were treated to a delicious beach barbeque that included freshly caught lobsters and giant shrimp. We unwound in the day's final gift: an expansive silhouette of the coastline bathed in the bronze glow of the setting sun.

The next day on the beach we saw a set of large leopard tracks. Its paw prints were deep in the sand and, as there was no leopard in sight, I followed the tracks that led up towards the creek. Uprooted grass and overturned soil in a small depression showed where the leopard had bedded down for the night. The calls in the night and pugmarks on the beach meant that a leopard had probably been patrolling its territory around the campsite.

Once again we boarded SEAL 1 with our kayaks to explore the sea caves of Nine Pin Rocks, This pinnacle is a spectacular snorkeling site in the Mergui Archipelago, with huge towering walls, cascading down into whole cities of underwater boulders, covered with soft coral and an abundance of large pelagics including Whitetip, Blacktip, Silvertip and Grey reef sharks, eagle rays and manta rays. As we raced across the mirror-smooth water, the sun rose higher and the panorama of cliffs stood out against the blue sky. I launched my kayak and paddled towards one of the caves that peeked out from the hem of the cliffs. While I was gliding in the darkness of the cave through the earth's belly, hundreds of hornbills roosting along the walls protested my intrusion with raucous screeches.

Suddenly, as I approached another cave, there was a loud "swoosh" Huge glistening grey shapes surfaced from the water and then sank down again. I held my breath and waited for them to reappear in the bow wave. They resurfaced and swam along side me, criss-crossed beneath my kayak and then spiraled up into the air. Dolphins on my last day!

That night, the milky Way streamed across the sky like a dazzling river of lights. Even without the moon, the starlight was so bright we could clearly see the silhouette of the cliffs rising up. Under a blanket of stars, we reveled in our adventure and concurred that the service, crew, food and equipment provided by SEAL was nothing short of outstanding. The crew of SEAL had put together their local knowledge to make this excursion into the Mergui Archipelago as safe as it was memorable.

As we left on SEAL 1 for the journey back to civilization the next morning, it struck me that Mergui is close to the most beautiful place on earth, beguiling the sea gypsies of the Archipelago. I now felt as raw and alive as this wild ocean wilderness itself as well as feeling privileged to have been there.