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Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Phi Phi Don
November 28th 2006
Published: February 10th 2007
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After a pick up, a longtail and a big hour late Ao Nang Princess boat we arrived at the concrete dock in Ko Phi Phi's main resort to a span of similarly concrete buildings set along the shore. Walking along the pier which was surrounded by thousands of fish we found our pre-arranged pick up absent and had to wait around for 40 minutes whilst everyone else flittered off to grab acommodation amazed to see some places at the information post charging (and gaining custom) 8000 baht per night (120 GPB). Eventually a longtail arrived but before taking us he parked at the back of another big ferry to spend 20 minutes loading cargo! Once finished however we sped through the clearest water to Long Beach and Phi Phi Hill resort where we stepped ashore and walked the steep steps whilst our bags were sent up by a travelator contraption.

Having checked into a beautiful bungalow set high on the hill we walked down to long Beach and spent the afternoon lazing in the sun and wading into the ultra clear water to swim amongst Angelfish, barred longtoms and hundreds of stripey fish which took a particular shine to claire owing to her stipey bikini! Trudging up to our hilltop restaurant we downed a Banana Colada as the sun set over the incredible vista whilst we ate Fried Snapper in Oyster sauce and watched Superman returns on the big screen as an electrical storm broke out of the shattered peaks in the distance. For some reason the English audio was supported by English subtitles written by a Thai which threw up some hilarious moments in particular "safest form of travel" was translated as "save well truck" and "we have a saxaphone" as "we only have six of those."

In the morning we jumped into a longtail with 6 others for a full day snorkelling starting around the Eastern side at a reef just off Bamboo Island. Having snorkelled so much on our travels particularly in Western Australia we were delighted to find thousands of impossibly shaped and coloured fish and an abundance of coral we had not expected. Parrot fish, puffers, box fish and pipe fish all going about their otherworldly lives in the clearest of waters. Back onboard we set off round the western coast of Phi Phi to a small bay amid steep rocky outcrops for more snorkelling and a swim to an empty beach for a brief wonder at what it would be like to literally be deserted here. On the climb back in the boat those little stripey fish took nibbles at my fingers and feet! With the sun now beating us dry our ride took us next to the famous and protected island of Ko Phi Phi Leh, a jaw dropping island hemmed in on all sides like a fortress by inpenetrable cliffs 100m high. After rounding the incredible cliffs we arrived at the only real inlet and our first sight of Maya beach, setting for "The Beach" and quite rightly so. Our driver took the decision that none of us would want to part with the rather steep mooring charge so we moored about 500m offshore and had to swim over coral and shoals of fish to get to the perfect strip of sand. When we eventually got there we were grateful for our flippers but were rewarded with a breathtaking panorama of vertical karsts and turquoise waters. With 1 hour to play with we strolled inland on a sandy jungle path and if you care, we did manage to recognise some movie locations and places where Leos feet had been. Hollywood titbits aside we found the area behind Maya beach to be surprisingly quiet and startlingly beautiful. Returning to the flour white sand for a few moments of contemplation we began the long swim back to the boat and a longing gaze at the idyllic location as we rounded the bay and began our journey back to Phi Phi Don. Just as we neared the shore at Long beach a thick tarmac grey blanket of cloud swept across the sky in a spectacular fashion and we ran to the safety of our restaurant to ironically watch "The Beach" over dinner.

At sunrise we plonked two plastic chairs in the grass just outside our hut and watched the day begin in a milky mist and grabbed a pair of snorkels to check out the coral island just below our view. Once again we were amazed by the variety of sea life, Puffer, boxfish, parrot and a little Nemo clownfish albeit in black not Pixar orange. Setting off on a walk round the back of our peninsular we arrived at the picture perfect and untouched beach of Ao lo Mu di (moody) which
Laying in the shallows of Ao lu Mo di beachLaying in the shallows of Ao lu Mo di beachLaying in the shallows of Ao lu Mo di beach

The hottest water on Earth, according to us.
sat beyond huge avenues of palms and was a broad flat strip of powdery sand. There were we recall 5 other people on the beach but we may as well have been completely alone owing to the sound of wind rushing through the palm fronds. The water lay some way away across a rippled tidal flat where giant lugworms had curled Mr Whippy swirls on the surface but once reached it was and probably always will be the warmest water we have ever experienced... we've had colder baths. Once in the shallows at a low but rising tide we were just able to slip over a field of spiny anenome and find ourselves swimming above sizable orange bombies and brain coral around which hundreds of incredible creatures hovered. It came as a complete surprise but the snorkelling here was almost on a par with Ningaloo reef and we spent hours flipping around Orange puffers, small spotted sharks a genuine orange nemo skipping in and out of the tentacles of an anenome and a pack of incedible fish who moved in unison with the current and which looked even to the close eye exactly like floating leaves. One little fish also held our attention for being so small but so bold as it kept on swimming frantically and aggressively towards our masks. The fish, the coral, the beach, the water which was as clear as a Hilton Hotel pool and the snooker ball blue sky... well it was perfection.

After lying in the boiling shallows until our skin itched through heat we headed back for food and sunset walk along the rocky shoreline to the bright lights of Ao Ton Sai. After negotiating the rockpools and jungle by torchlight we expected to hate everything about Phi Phi's main resort but in fact by night it was quite a pleasant little diving town of narrow twittens lined with restaurants and stalls selling everything from souveniers and guitars for rent! In an effort to salvage our dwindling budget we noshed a soggy burger on the beach and ticked off a few jobs before returning by dark to Phi Phi Hill.

Our impression of the main resort was actually much like that of the Phi Phi islands as a whole. Expecting it to be an overdeveloped and overcrowded package holiday resort full of beer swilling and blush burnt hoodlums we found it easy to escape the crowds and having done so, found Ko Phi Phi to be one of the highlights of our time in Thailand. If nothing else the mineral clear water and abundantly visible marine life here we would later find out would not be matched by anywhere in the region. Far from the Tsunami ravaged tourist hole of our preconceptions Ko Phi Phi is a blob of paradise rising from the purest of seas and a destination we feel nobody should leave off their itinerary.

In the morning it was time to move on so we longtailed to the main port and brushed past those hoodlums, one of whom walked like he had a sack of potatoes inserted up his rectum and a t-shirt which said "smoothness is better than aggressiveness" and boarded the ferry to Ko Lanta with the brady bunch, a pack of westerners who had all sucummbed to the braiding stalls. In Ko Lanta we were greeted by a ponytailed rep with a stick of bamboo through his nose from Lanta Marine Park and were hurried down the hilly road to the southern beach of Bo Kantiang. Although the budget huts were full and we were forced to splash out the view from Lanta Marine's restaurant over the curving bay was rather impressive. For all the high end accommodation peppered along Kantiang the beach itself was curiously deserted however and despite it being visible in the distance and of the same body of water as Ko Phi Phi the water clarity was dissapointingly inferior. It was on this thought that we considered returning to Phi Phi when a man approached with a flyer for an overnight camping excurtion to the uninhabited island of Ko Rok and promised beachside tents and fishing for your own dinner. Problem sovled we thought. Then we saw two faces from our Phi Phi snorkelling day and sat down for a few pleasant bottles of Singha with Matt and Sal who commented that they guessed I was a photographer by my photographers hair! Stepping out to the multi tiered candlelit restaurant overlooking the bay and strolling down to "Why not" bar where they put on a much welcome Stone Roses remix album as we watched spectacular fork lightning on the horizon light cauliflower clouds it became easy to settle into our time on Ko Lanta.

Spending the day bobbing around
The hilltop viewThe hilltop viewThe hilltop view

Stunning scenery and a very rich persons boat.
the murky water and hurling a hacky sack around the deserted beach there was still no news on the Ko Rok trip which needed a minimum of 10 and was due to leave the next morning and by the afternoon a wash of torrential rain swept in turning the day to night and making us run for cover. With the power out we sat in the dark waiting for the rain to subside and when it did we walked down to the restaurant to find a big tray of fresh fish laid out including a beautiful shark. Having never eaten shark or even seen one out of the water I ordered a slab from its side and Claire and I stood around, I taking photos and Claire poking it in the eye whilst it was prepared. Sitting down on those Thai Toblerone cushions we chatting to Oliver and Julienne a friendly danish and german couple for some time and were interested to find they were just two weeks into a virtually identical trip to ours only in reverse. The shark arrived and it was quite possibly the nicest meal ever to pass my lips and it even had Claire salivating despite here loathing of all things fishy. Still with no news on whether the camping trip was a goer we retired to our hut and in the morning packed our bags for the short excursion. When we asked again in the morning we were told the trip had been postponed as only 9 people had confirmed and we overheard an American traveller kicking up a stink because he had been waiting around for a week for exactly the same trip and had constantly been told it would go tomorrow. Realising that the Ko Rok excursion was the only reason we were hanging around and sensing that the trip was advertised purely as a way of making people hang around we decided to leave Ko Lanta and make our way to the Gulf Coast.

We were driven back to port by a sarcastic little Thai boy who flittered between funny and obnoxiously rude as we have found many are wont to do, speeding up and over the hills newly signposted as Tsunami Evacuation Zones and arrived at the dock an hour and half before our ferry was due to leave. Killing time on the jetty with a bumbling dreadlocked guy with an accent somewhere between Felixtowe and Alice Springs we reflected on a slightly dissapointing time in Ko Lanta. Partly because of a lack of time, partly owing to unfullfilled plans but in the end we decided that in the main we just missed the paradise waters around Phi Phi. Maybe the Gulf side would fulfill our newly found desires...







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10th February 2007

enjoyed
Always enjoy all things Thai. wish people would stop paying silly inflated prices of 8ooo bht night. Phi phi is notorious for having hiked up in price.
10th February 2007

Looks amazing..
Just read through your blog, loved it! It makes me want to go to Thailand so bad. Can you give any great tips or advice ?? Thanks again for the great read... keep it up!!
13th February 2007

Thai tips
Thanks for your comment. Thailand was great, Pai and Chang Rai in the north boast beautiful scenery and friendly locals. In the south its all about the water. Phi Phi was incredible (pick of the bunch) and Ko Lanta not so impressive. If you go to Ko Phan Ngan the beaches to the north are the only place to go and Ko Tao is an absolute must. Keep reading and thanks again.

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