Advertisement
Published: December 6th 2007
Edit Blog Post
After a taxi to the pier in Ko Pha Ngan, a ferry to the main land, a big bus then a small bus to the other side and finally another boat we arrived at the beautiful Ko Phi Phi. The first challenge was to drag the bags across 3 boats to get off, Ko Phi Phi isn't as modern as other tourist places but that's all part of its charm. There are no cars or motorbikes which makes it so peaceful. One of us headed off to walk around the whole place looking at accommodation (not difficult, its tiny). You can't help but think of the tsunami as soon as you get there, there are reminders everywhere and loads of rebuilding going on. Our accommodation ended up being right behind the irish bar, which looked to be permanently shut. But on our second night there it reopened, so we did the required thing and checked it out. We discovered later being in our bedroom was like being in the irish bar, we got all the music pumped through, which was fun!
We booked a boat trip which is the best way to see Phi Phi and its surrounding islands. The
1st stop was to the sister island of Koh Phi Phi Leh famous for Maya Bay where they filmed The Beach. It's pretty spectacular as the sheltered bay is nearly completely enclosed with only a narrow entrance giving it the illusion of a lagoon. Nobody told me it was "the beach" though so I went snorkeling in the bay and never bothered going in to the beach itself, next time! The snorlkeling was amazing here for such shallow water. Next stop was Monkey Island. On the way we had a group of dolphin following in the wake, enjoying the surf made by the boat. At Monkey Island we took a kayak into see the monkeys on the beach. The beach was pretty small but probably the nicest I've ever seen, picture postcard stuff with fine white sand and perfectly clear water. The next beach wasn't bad either it was on Bamboo island. Again it was postcard stuff on this small unpopulated island with coral and fish only a few meters from the beach which was a massive expanse of white sand. After more lounging on the beach it was back to the boat and Phi Phi stopping off at Long
beach for more snorkeling. The boat trip was amazing but when we got back to the hotel we realised we had both roasted our backs from all the snorkeling! We were a bit delicate for about a week, pretty stupid!
Another must on Phi Phi is to climb up to the lookout point for a spectacular view of Ton Sai bay and Da lum bay which are back to back with the small village in between. The climb was pretty tough but well worth it when you reached the top in time for sunset over the island. We were sorry to leave but we had to move on, next stop was Phuket.
Phuket is worlds apart from quiet little Phi Phi, it is the most popular resort in Thailand and attracts thousands of package holiday groups, a bit like Spain, Greece, etc… back home. We decided to stay at Patong beach which was the main resort and like a mini Bangkok on the beach! Treated ourselves to decent accommodation this time, a mini bar and a TV pure luxury! We weren't that keen on Phuket to be honest, the beach was packed with all the usual tourist stuff
and the touts on the street were tireless, after being in Phi Phi, it just doesn't compare! Patong and its many bars and clubs were packed with middle aged to old western men looking to meet young local girls for the week, some of the men were so old and the women so young it was horrible. The main street was almost like the red light district in Bangkok with Go Go bars and tranny lane where the whole street was like one big bar with ladyboys dancing on tables. They seemed to be doing a roaring trade charging tourists to have there picture taken! Its a big tourist attraction not really a seedy thing, although that goes on too.
Whilst we were in Phuket we took a boat trip around Phang Nga Bay. Phang Nga bay is like Halong Bay in Vietnam with massive Karst outcrops and it is famous for its "hongs" and lagoons. The hongs are caves that you can kayak through at low tide. The bay itself wasn't as spectacular as Halong Bay but kayaking trough the caves and into the lagoons was pretty cool. The main claim to fame though is James Bond Island
which was used in Goldfinger as the bad guys secret lair. Well worth a look with plenty of photo opportunities, just a pity about the stalls they built in the middle of it which detracts from the look of the place especially when its just the usual crap souvenirs they are flogging. In true Phuket style they even put on a cabaret show on the trip back with transvestites and all! From Phuket we flew to Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia where we got to repeat our experience from Cambodia! They are cheap but there is a reason why!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.042s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0213s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb