Eventually we set off, each paddling our own kayak, following the tide east into the bay. We made stops to examine quivering red anemones, explore Hong island, a glittering "diamond cave" and watch monkeys, before striking out into open water to paddle from island to island, Olay adjusting our route to circumvent the currents. In the main channel, pleasure boats chugged past, blasting their horns, loaded with tourists bound for Koh Ping Kan – "James Bond island", the setting for Scaramanga's lair in The Man with the Golden Gun. Inevitably, we stopped there, too, walking along a path to see the famous limestone stack just a few metres out in the water, where dozens of tourists – Japanese, French, German, Aussie – posed, fingers pointing like guns. How those people were missing out. With so many islands, it isn't hard to find deserted places to swim and if not by kayak you can reach them by chartering a long-tail boat. We saw many tiny beaches where the company sometimes camps, though Olay insisted others were forbidden to all but licensed birds' nest collectors, who sell the valuable ingredients for soup, and are allowed to shoot anyone who encroaches on their territory. [links]