Ko Phi Phi: Island hopping, beach bumming, and altogether living too good a life

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Island Hopping and Aggressive Fish
I’m excited about today. I’ve loved our chill days at Ao Nang. Thai food is amazing, and the people really do always have a smile ready for you. While things don’t always work efficiently, they make the effort pleasantly and the infrastructure for tourism is well-established. At breakfast, I make sure to take two pieces of white bread so as to attract some colorful fish to me today. I obviously haven’t done this before, or I would have known to buy a whole loaf. The full day tour to Ko Phi Phi costs anywhere from 1,300 to 1,800 baht, but we’ve somehow managed to pay a grand each. Not bad for a trip that includes hotel transfers, island hopping, and an all-you-can-eat lunch. But everything comes at a price - we end up on a tour of 30 people. I miss Boracay and our chartered boats! The company picks us up, then heads down the street to pick up more people, including a Daddy and Daughter pair from some Scandinavian country. We haven’t asked where they’re from, but they all speak the same language. The girl, Daisy, is maybe four years old, and she ends up being the center of attention for the boat. There is a Thai couple, and we spend all day trying to figure out if the “guy” is actually a masculine girl or a feminine guy. Then there is another Scandinavian couple. The rest of the people on the boat include two Thai families, three dudes from another Asian country (China?), and another white couple (Dutch?). At Ao Nang’s jetty, we all pile into a new looking speedboat and take our seats. Not half an hour later, we are at Monkey Bay (Ao Ling), where we snorkel our little hearts out. The big Thai family brought about 10 loaves of bread, and once they start feeding the fish, there is a frenzy. I scream a little, because the aggressive little suckers actually touch you as they make for the soggy bread. We bust out the diving case that Linus let us keep, and we snap away with Leroy’s camera safely encased. Daisy stays in the boat throwing bread at the fish and screaming, “Papa!” every now and then.

Next we go to Ma Ya Bay on Phi Phi Leh. Ko Phi Phi (Phi Phi Island, pronounced pee-pee) is made up of Phi Phi Leh (smaller) and Phi Phi Don (bigger and developed with resorts). Phi Phi Don was hit by the tsunami, and according to our guidebook, only two resorts were open at the time of writing. Well, that was a couple of years ago, and I’m curious to see how it has bounced back. Phi Phi Leh never had any accommodation and the only way to visit the beaches is to go by boat. At Ma Ya Bay, there is a white beach with turquoise waters, the filming site of Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Beach. This whole area in Krabi Province is filled with tourists, and these tours are all the same. Cookie cutter. Everyone gets the same experience, so everyone is at this beach. It’s beautiful for swimming - the teal waters are warm and the waves are gentle. You walk into the water and it gets deeper and deeper. It’s perfect water for floating, frolicking, playing. We stay for less than an hour, then the boat takes us the outlet of the same bay for more snorkeling. I feel sea lights again - those microscopic jellyfish things that sting you. In Fiji, it made me want to cry. The only reason I didn’t was because the children in the group were already crying from the pain. Here, there are not as many, but it’s enough to get me out of the water pretty early. The snorkeling is fun, but visibility is just okay.

Next we go sightseeing, passing through Phi Phi Lagoon and the Viking Cave. This spot is closed to tourists and only open to collectors of birds nests. Each year, the bird makes three nests. The first one is pure (as in 100% saliva) and goes for 80,000 - 90,000 baht each (yes, that’s U$2400-2700); from there, the purity continually declines. The other two have bird feathers (or what he called “hair”) mixed in and are not as valuable. Our guide tells us that the pure nests are exported to China or Singapore, and the other nests are what the Thais get for their bird’s nest soup.

We stop on Phi Phi Don for lunch. I’ve been waiting for this, wondering what it looks like. It looks… untouched. There are newish looking buildings. Some stumps of trees, but they could be cut by man and not felled by a big wave. Really, I’m not savvy enough about nature to be able to tell if a place is in a new phase of growth. All I see are signs that mark it as a Tsunami Hazard Zone, with the evacuation route clearly shown. The two bays of Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam were the once completely destroyed by the tsunami, and I can’t tell if this is where they have brought us. I guess we’ll never know.

A large pavilion has plastic tables and chairs where they serve a set menu lunch for all the tourists on the cookie cutter tours. The lunch is pretty good - rice, sweet and sour fish, fried breaded fish, mixed vegetables, spicy soup, and spaghetti (I take it the last one is for the kids). Lunch is pretty quiet. The Chinese guys don’t say a word and just eat. The Dutch couple smile every now and then, but we make few attempts at small talk. I do notice that the non-Asians pick up the entrée dishes and use the serving spoons to put the food on our plates. The Chinese guys don’t move the entrée dishes and instead reach over and put food on a friend’s plate if he is out of reach of the entrée. Little things. We hang out on Phi Phi Don for a bit after lunch, then it’s back to the boat for another chance at snorkeling. There are more different kinds of fish here, and the water ranges from four meters to over 20. I jump in and make for the shallower water so I can see the coral and fish. As soon as I’m in, I feel the sea lights all over me. I say “Ouch” once before putting my mask and snorkel on, so Leroy knows they’re in the water. I didn’t realize that after putting my snorkel in my mouth, I spent the rest of my time with my face in the water screaming “Ouch” into the tube for the whole boat to hear. Leroy tells me they were laughing at me. It’s all good, it really hurt! I tried to stay in for a good long time, but once they started stinging my lips and face, I was outta there. Before we leave, one of the northern European guys tells everyone that he saw a small shark deeper in the water. Had he mentioned that earlier, Lee certainly would not have entered. I will not be the first Black person eaten by a shark.

The day ended at Ko Phi Phi National Park, where we had a nice hour at the beach. Again, the water was so inviting. I could have stayed there all day, but I wanted to get dry for our trip home. All day, it was in and out of the water. Also, the beach was again crowded with tourists. The ride back to Ao Nang took less than an hour, with everyone in the boat falling asleep and smiling with content. Daisy was asleep in her dad’s arms, and the Thai family were snacking away (reminds me of us in Boracay!).

Sticking with What Works
Back at the resort, we shower up and then head to Ao Nang town for more massages, but they disappoint. No superhumanly strong fingers. No matter how many times you ask them to press harder, you just get a nice rubdown. We should have stuck with the first place we went to a couple of days ago. Lesson learned, stick with what works (with a healthy balance of adventure, of course!). Dinner is at the food court again -like I said, why mess with a good thing? It rained while we got our massages, so we get our pad thai, pad see ew, panang chicken, and sweet mango with sticky rice to go. It is everything we wanted it to be. Yes, I have eaten pad thai four nights in a row, and the first and last were the best (same place). I should never have strayed. Back at Krabi La Playa, we watch soccer with piña coladas and Singha beer. We’ll only have a half day in Bangkok and then it’s off to a totally different part of the world. Thailand has been wonderful to us, and I’ve got a ridiculous tan to show for it.

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Photos

Off we go
This van reminded me of the jeepney, without the cool flashy logos. And it has padding to protect the head.

Ko Phi Phi Bound
Scenery

Ko Phi Phi Bound
More scenery

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
These fish attacked the bread tossed to them with no regard for human proximity.

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
Taking off with the spoils. This one has bread in his mouth. A lucky snap.

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
Meme can't deny her roots. Can't not hold up the two fingers.

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
Flash back to Boracay, Zero Gravity.

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
A closed mouth doesn't get fed.

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
Head on attack

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
Brain coral with purple tumors

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
It's not Great Barrier Reef, but I'll take it.

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
I stalked this gray blade fish for minutes trying to get a good shot. It led me deeper and deeper.

Snorkeling at Monkey Bay
Referee fish streaking by

Ma Ya Bay
Site of Leonardo DiCaprio's film "The Beach"

Ma Ya Bay
Meli finds a private section

Ma Ya Bay
"It's all mine"

Ma Ya Bay
I'm watching our stuff, taking pics, burning up, and jealous of Meli's water time.

Ma Ya Bay
Ahh

Ma Ya Bay
Floating

Comments

[bett]

the water is AMAZING
ko phi phi!!! i can't believe how beautiful it is out there. thailand has been wonderful for you.

[jamie]

wow
the water is so nice and clear! perfect for diving!!!

[Brandee]

bringing back memories
I think Lou and I took the exact same tour! There were no stinging microscopic jellyfish though. What I remember most is the heart attack Louis almost gave me when he decided to swim off on his own. The boat was ready to take off and the other tourists tried to be helpful by pointing out every remotely brown person in the vicinity. By then, of course, Lou was the color of tar. They meant well though :). Lou took his sweet time and eventually made it back to the boat.