Beautiful Phi Phi 2

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Home Again

There is a line in The Beach where Leonardo De Caprio's character snaps at his friend and says "You've got to forget about Thailand". Obviously this is a problem for many people and in my endorsement of this sentiment, I arrived back in my South East Asia home: Ko Phi Phi two months after I had left it. I was already well over two months behind schedule and so had decided that a mere ten days on Paradise Island was going to make no odds.

Journey to Phi Phi

I know I am digressing on my Phi Phi tales but I do need to let you know about my journey back - getting there was no easy task at all -the whole journey involved the following, in chronological order:


* A drive on SE Asias worst 'road' actually a dirt track and the driver having to basically drive from left to right constantly avoiding the pot holes.
* The purchasing of boiled sweets, a must on any long journey, which I thought (and who wouldn't) -would obviously be fruit flavoured, only to find out I was sucking on an Onion sweet and that I would not be able to get rid of this hideous taste for the next six hours.
* A collapsed road and a subsequent walk across a river on a plank of wood with my backpack. Local Cambodians screaming at you to use their motorbikes at the other end.
*A ride on the back of a motorbike with my backpack..I have never been on a motorbike because quite frankly they scare me to death. I did actually end up enjoying it and told the man to go faster after I had told him in no uncertain terms not to go above 20mph.
*When we got to Bangkok-an overnight bus to Surat Thani, then a further bus to Krabi where a poor little girl threw up all over me. Obviously not her fault but did somewhat compound my feeling of grossness.
*Followed by a choppy boat to Phi Phi in the driving rain. I have never been so happy to have a shower.

Life Back on Phi Phi

Sometimes going back to a place can be a mistake, you have an idea of how things were when you were last there; how you felt, the people you met, the experiences you had and sometimes a place just simply does not have that same 'feeling'. This was, I am pleased to report, not the case with Phi Phi and I don't think it will ever be for me. My one hope is that developers don't change the island beyond recognition. However at the same time, anything that ensures that the locals businesses continue to prosper can always only be considered a good thing. But you can't help but be selfish sometimes when you have special feelings about a place and you want time to always stand still there. As long as the locals stay on Phi Phi it will always be a place that myself and others will want to return to.

The main reason I had gone back was to see how the garden was progressing and to work on it again, I think I mentioned in my last blog that working on the garden was simply the best thing I have ever done and I was so excited about getting a second chance. Infact it was a few peoples/volunteers, second time around too- a real testament to how much this place and its people meant to us all.

The garden looked wonderful, so much progress had been made and you began to get an actual feel of how the place was going to look. So much hard work went into the garden initially, and at every stage and it was magical to see it all coming together.

Sachas Guesthouse

This time on the island the volunteer work was split in two projects. Carole and Toy (the originators and the driving force behind the garden) had been so selflessly preoccupied with making sure that the garden was ready for the one year anniversary that they hadn't been concentrating on getting their business up and running in time for high season. So some of the time was spent on sorting out the rooms for their guest house; this entailed assembling flat-packs, those people that know me, will agree when I say that this would not exactly be listed in my CV as one of my strengths, so I stuck to helping clean the rooms.

Sachas Guest House (named after their little girl lost in the tsunami) is a beautiful place. Lovely rooms with en-suites and in summary the best beds for Bahts on the island! It was opened two days before I left so I was lucky enough to be their first customer and treat myself for the last two nights on the island. However probably a somewhat stranger accolade is the fact that I never actually stayed there. The first night I locked myself out and so slept on the porch and was incidentally eaten alive by mosquitos and my last night carried on to the very early hours of the morning with us all sat at Hippies drinking Samsung-any of you unfamiliar with the stuff: wonderful Thai whisky and the cause of many volunteer headaches/sickness/blackouts/falls!

Have you got Accommodation?

Myself and Sean, a fellow Mancunian, even got a stint at being one of those really annoying accommodation touts that pounce on the people coming off the boat and quiz them about their accommodation requirements surveying "do you need a room???" - this is exactly what we did whilst grasping a laminate of Sachas Guesthouse. We managed to get a bit of business before being accosted by a fellow salesman who started asking who we were and what we were doing. He informed us to stay where we were whilst he went to get the police...because that was going to happen?! He said that we were working (even though we weren't being paid) and that we didn't have a visa?! Sean and I looked at each other nervously, laughed and told the man to go and get the police in a 'see if we care' stylie. He then jogged in to the sunshine looking for the only island bobby and we retreated back to Sachas a few customers richer but having had a brush with the Thai authorities!

Incidentally when the tsunami first hit and there was understandably an influx of volunteers, the government unfortunately wanted to charge volunteers for working visas. A few days after I left the island, the police from the mainland came to Phi Phi in a big visa clampdown with people who were doing paid work.

Garden grows....

As the garden was far more established on this visit- the beautiful plants that we lugged from the harbour to the garden had well and truly come into their own and looked so lovely. The pond had been filled and mosaics had been placed on the side of them. One of the main tasks this time was the collecting of and laying of turf to fill the whole area of the garden...like a big game of tetris all the pieces gradually fitted together. The never-ending sawdust collecting continued too; the sawdust from the cut down Palm trees acts as a great nutrient for the peat to be layed on top and finding these small mounds was like finding pots of gold! Incidentally this could be hazardous work at times, especially when its windy-falling coconuts are the biggest killer on the island and so one eye looking for any that may look precarious was always recommended!

Cohang (pictured)was rightly obsessed with the garden being watered well and so it was one of my favourite jobs. You also got the bonus of wandering round the whole of the garden at sunset and appreciating ever little part. I was always glad to the hear rain in bed at night-it meant that the garden would get a good watering and that Cohang and Toy would be happy!One day, Ben from Sunflowers bought the Dido CD for the bar because he knew how much I loved it-I will always remember watering the garden that night with my favourite music playing and looking out to the sea-I know it sounds cheesy but it was just utter bliss, I will always try and transport myself back to that moment when things get a bit crazy!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers and Ben is also very important to the volunteer project that worked on the garden. One afternoon was spent clearing around the front of the bar and another, planting trees down the side of the bar. In time there is going to be a restaurant here and if its anything like the bar it will be truly wonderful.

Time to Travel

By the time I left the island this time, there was only a tiny bit of work left to do and the whole project came together in time for the one year anniversary.

I know that a lot of volunteers thoughts were with Phi Phi over Christmas and I speak on behalf of everyone that worked there when I say, I hope the garden provided a sanctuary to the families and friends of tsunami victims during last months events and will continue to do so in future months/years to come.

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Photos

Cosmic Pizza Night
From far left: Maggie, Sean, Simon, Ben, Paul, Dan, Martin, Me (hiding!), Carole, Toy

The Extension to Sunflowers Bar
And Bens hideaway...After two Singha's-impossible to get down!

Sean and I Post Samsung.....
This was just before it got light...sore heads.....

Homer Simpson Island
Phi Phi Ley: Nicknamed Homer Simpson Island due to its shape.....Answers on a postcard

Great to see old friends again
I volunteered with Lisa and Mike in the early days

Comments

[Chris]

Question
Would I be correct in saying that the competition tout's actions were incongruous with your intentions? Keep it real.