The Beach (The Beach) - Ko Phi Phi

So I had another awesome day in South Thailand! I got an early morning ferry over to Ko Phi Phi and met an interesting guy called Mark on the ride to the pier, he's an American diplomat based in Afghanistan taking 3 weeks off in Thailand. Sounds like he's got the right idea. Also met a Swedish girl called Karin and we hung out together on the island. It's very different to Ko Lanta; it's compact, it's touristy but it's lots of fun, just what I needed after feeling like I was in exile. I had a nice day shopping around (bought a much-needed sarong) and went for a swim, read my book on the beach, all the mandatory holiday activities. And of course, don't forget the fruit shakes!

Phi Phi is super expensive though - a tshirt that costs 100B on Khao San Road (BKK) costs 350 here, 250 is you're really sharp at bargaining. I was lucky to find a room for 400B, I was quite pleased with myself for that! (compare that to 300B for a standalone bungalow in Railay or a 180B room in Chiang Mai). But it's a great place and you can definitely do it on the cheap if you're smart with your money.

The next morning I got up super early and climbed the million stairs up to the viewpoint. A sweaty endeavour even at 7am but totally worth it! You can see the shape of the 2 bays that are back to back, and the mountains behind it. It's this area that got hit the hardest in the tsunami, and was completely destroyed. As a result, you now see Tsunami Evacuation Point signs everywhere.


Figuring it was easier than hiring a longtail and trying to figure out where to go, we booked ourselves on a snorkelling day trip that covered all the major points on Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Ley and a couple of satellite islands. Met a few more interesting people on the boat as well, a Brazilian girl called Michelle and a Brit called Jo, who both joined us for dinner later that night.

The snorkelling on Phi Phi is AMAZING. I've only really snorkelled in Rarotonga and that was pretty fun, but this beats that by a million!! There are so many fish, so many giant corals and the fish aren't timid at all, they swim right up to you. the tour provided fried rice for lunch; nobody could finish their portions and the longtail skipper was throwing the rice in the water where we were swimming which of course attracted all the fish! :) A bit unnerving at first but extremely fun! We had our lunch stop on Bamboo Island, it just looked like a postcard. Hard to believe places like this actually exist on this world, it's so beautiful. We also went to Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley (where they filmed The Beach starring Leonardo di Caprio), it's nice but not all that. There are plenty more nice beaches in the area.






Oh, and at dinnertime we saw this cute little kitty staring at the "seafood" sign... couldn't resist taking a picture! :)

Sadly, I had to leave Phi Phi to catch my flight to Chiang Mai but hey, better to leave on a high. I could have happily stayed there another day or two, but after that I think I'd get bored of the same shops. This would be an AWESOME place to come with a bunch of mates as a winter break :)

Am now in Chiang Mai. Still stinking hot, but I'd rate it about 8/10 on the hot-o-meter. Off on my motorbike tour with Daeng day after tomorrow, will post again after that!

x ML