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Published: February 4th 2009
"What??! Another blog entry so soon??!"
You lucky readers, you!
So guess what. Turns out Ko Phi Phi IS as beautiful as everyone says it is! Our ferry ride from Ko Lanta was more or less pleasant - the boat wasn't full to the point where we found ourselves wondering if it would stay afloat and we spent most of the ride watching a little French girl and a little Swedish girl chase each other around the boat. Pulling into the harbour in Ko Phi Phi, we were stunned by the beauty of the bay - bright white sandy beaches, row after row of lush palms, and water bluer than I thought possible. Tyler was really excited by how many diving boats dotted the coastline, and we had every intention of going for another dive in Phi Phi...until we discovered the cost. Over a 120 Canadian dollars for a two-tank dive just isn't in our budget (which, by the way, we have been struggling to stick to, so if anyone is interested in donating to the "Kate and Tyler Like Chang Beer Fund", please let us know). Ko Phi Phi turned out to be really expensive in general and, sadly,
we were not able to shack up in a beachside bungalow for this leg of our journey. What we checked into instead was a very small but very nice hotel-style guesthouse room located in the heart of the "party district" one alley over from the Muay Thai Boxing Arena. For those of you readers who have ever been to Gotcha's Nightclub in Kelowna, it was like we were sleeping on the roof of Gotcha's...I can't begin to describe how thankful I was that Tyler had remembered to bring earplugs!
Shortly after our arrival in Phi Phi, we ran into more of our Welsh friends (we love the Welsh!), Adam and Brooks, and ended up spending the night at the Thai Boxing ring. It turned out that the Thai boxing at this place was fake...choreographed WWF/WWE-style. They put on a decent show, but the real crowd pleaser were the "Beat Up Your Buddy For a Bucket" matches - volunteers from the audience would be suited up in Thai boxer shorts, gloves, and headgear, and would fight each other for a chance to win a free bucket of Thai rum mixed with amphetamine-laced Red Bull and soda. Stupid? Yes. Entertaining? Yes!
The
following morning, Tyler and I signed up for a longtail boat tour of the surrounding islands and we agreed that this was some of the best money we had spent so far. For about $21 CAD each, we some of the most beautiful places in the world. We started out Shark Point where we got to snorkel for a half hour - don't worry, no sharks here! I think the name was maybe an ironic one? I'm a little sad to admit that although this snorkel spot was pretty, scuba diving has kinda spoiled us for snorkeling...it's just not the same if you're not 30 feet below the surface! Next, we zipped off to Bamboo Island which is definetly the most pristine and stunning beach we have seen so far. After a quick lunch of fried rice and veggies supplied by our guide, we went for a nice long swim in the ocean. The water wasn't very deep and was so clear...you'll have to see it in our pictures to believe it! In waist-deep water we were swarmed by dozens of tropical fish! I snapped pictures while Tyler, of course, tried to catch every one that swam his way. After
Tyler vs. fishies
What is it about boys and chasing defenseless animals...?Bamboo Island, we passed by through some lovely little bays and beaches surrounded by massive karst cliffs before we arrived it Monkey Beach...which was a huge disappointment! No monkeys on Monkey Beach! Not one! We didn't see any crazy creatures...until our boat was pulling away from the beach... As our boat began to make its way to our next destination, a kayak passed by carrying two very familiar-looking faces. Tyler turned to me and said "Kate...I think that's Chantel and Kristen!" I look over and sure enough, it IS Chantel and Kristen! Right smack in the middle of the ocean! They shouted out the name of the place they were staying at and we ended up going to find them later that night and had a big night out on the town with them and our two Welsh buddies. But before the day was out, we finished up the boat trip which brought us to the Viking Cave (full of hundreds-of-years-old cave paintings), Phi-Ley Bay (surrounded by cliffs and caves), and the infamous Maya Beach (the location of the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio). Our trip was supposed to have finished with a viewing of the sunset, but unfortunately
the sky was too hazy for the sunset to be anything spectacular. However, overall, the day was one we will never forget!
The next morning, we checked out of our guesthouse and joined Kristen and Chantel on their trip to Phuket. Our boattrip was definetly the best one we've been on so far - air-con so cold I had to wear Ty's jacket on board and FREE banana muffins and pineapple! Yes, free! (Nothing in Thailand is EVER free!) Oh, and we were kept very entertained by the flying fish that "flew" for so long alongside our boat and the Manta ray that I saw breach clear out of the water! Until that morning, I didn't know Manta rays COULD breach!
With very little effort we found a nice little hotel room (at the Lucky Lek) in Phuket, an overwhelming hub of a city, which I will let Tyler tell you all about! But before I go, one more thing - Ty and I were very excited to log onto Facebook this morning to discover that our Welsh friend, Sam, had written us messages to tell us that he is engaged to his long-time girlfriend! Congratulations Sam!
Ok, so,
Phuket, this place is cool. By cool, I mean hot... and there are enough street vendors, bars, and gay guys to sink a battleship. Off the boat we got onto a mini bus and headed 40 minutes to the other side of the island to Patong Beach. This is where we checked into the hotel Kate mentioned above, which is just a few blocks from Chantel and Kristen's guesthouse. So we did what anybody would do, we ate supper, and then we partied! Earlier that day the girls had met some other Canadian fellas and they tagged along with us. They just so happened to be from Collingwood, Ontario, for you couple of Ontario readers... So the night goes as follows - stop in the street to watch an amazing magican, seek out a cool bar, an all you can drink bar, danced on the bar tops, danced around the stripper pole, bought fedoras, bought flowers for Kate from a 5 year old, and stopped 4 times on the way back to the hotel for street meat chicken kabobs and pancakes! Wowsers, what a night! Once again, it was great to see friendly faces from home, and I think Kate
was relieved to finally have some female companionship!
The next day started with a noon-o-clock breakfast. How fitting. We met up Chamel and Kristen for the afternoon which involved a beach busier than Gyro, but with a twist... including all the colors of the rainbow... We were a little out of it from the previous nights events to even notice what was going on around us for the 4 hours we sat on our own piece of sand. As we started to come out of our hangover comas, we started to take in our surroundings. There were old men in thongs, yes, thats gross, a little bit weird, but we shrugged it off. Then there was the baby purple speedo walking around. Hmm, ok, he likes the same colors Mike and Dave like. No big deal...right? I'm not sure what it was exactly that tipped us off in the end...was it the beach-side spooning? Was it the giggling and splashing? Or was it the fact that Kate, Chantel, and Kristen were the only girls on this part of the beach? Eventually we realized that teenage-style romances performed by men of all ages were unfolding right before our eyes...no wonder there
was so much free space on this part of the beach! Wow, the uncomfortable factor shot through the roof at an alarming rate, and I felt very vulnerable. So needless to say, we checked out of the beach fairly quickly, but only after 4 hours of tanning obliviously. We were a little rattled after that experience so that night we treated ourselves to a Mexican dinner and a movie!
There are a ton of things to do in Phuket, but not many that won't blow the bank, so besides a little shopping and bar-hopping here and there, we're saving our baht and moving on quickly.
And that brings us to today. We're doing some light research on how to get back to Bangkok so we can hang out with Cassie again and carry on to Cambodia! Hope everyone at home is doing well, we miss you! A birthday wish goes out to Ali today as she turns 18 - Happy Birthday Ali, you old fart (Kate said that)!
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How do we deserve another blog so soon?
It's the pictures....they're stunning! I guess Kal Lake doesn't quite compare? Ty, I'm impressed with your photography.....a beautiful picture of Kate lounging on the beach. Did you get the names of the guys from Collingwood? I bet Kendra knows them! Don't worry about Tyler trying to catch the fishies Kate........it's the amusement factor of watching him try! I am glad you finally had some female companionship Kate, mind you it sounds like you may have had more than you realized at the last beach you visited. Tsk, tsk......see the sign was right! haha! Remember to check out Brie's pictures on fbook and ask her how she broke her toe! Hugs to you both. xoxo PS Happy Birthday Ali!