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Published: February 10th 2009
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Ferry ride to Kho Phi Phi
filled up much more later Hej; God dag; Halla; Tja (Swedish & Scandinavian variations of hello ;-))
So rather late than never, here is my blog entry for Kho Phi Phi Island! Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee) is famous for Maya beach, the beach from the movie “The Beach”. Based on the travel guide & stories from fellow travellers, we were all looking forward to Phi Phi Island! One would be forgiven for forgetting that you in South Thailand & thinking you somewhere in Scandinavia - it is as if a tsunami hit Sweden & Norway & washed them up on Phi Phi Island - so flooded with Scandinavians it is ;-) Nevertheless the island & Scandinavians contirbuted to a beautiful time here ;-)
We heeded the advice from fellow travellers & also consulted the travel guide in search for accommodation, but arriving on the afternoon ferry most of the accommodation was full! The travel guide also warns that post tsunami, the demand outstrips the supply & accommodation can be a bit costly here - very true. Fortunately we managed to settle in somewhere, all be it a couple of hours later. This was the only downside of the island for me. As warned
by fellow travellers, Phi Phi is simply fantastic & once there, it is quite hard to leave!
Phi Phi island has the perfect balance of everything - well in my opinion! It has a great blend of pretty scenery, good beaches, friendly locals, calm but alive atmosphere at day time & a very festive night life. Travellers can also find “everything” here with a host of good sports pubs, plenty of local, traditional & western restaurants, fun bars & very good beach parties - daily! It is needless to say that Phi Phi was a great expedition & holds plenty of photos & fun stories to share ;-)
My first story stems from our first night on the island & in hindsight probably set the tone for the rest of the stay here. About 3am, post yet another Manchester United victory, I headed back to our room & lit a hubbly to celebrate ;-) Shortly after my cousins returned to the room with Morten, a Norwegian fellow who has never smoked or heard of hub in his life! Shocking I know! This, coupled with the facts that he is a Spurs fan & having their emblem tattooed on
Fun & games @ Ibiza beach bar
anything for a free bucket ;-) his arm raises the question: “which rock has he been living under?” ;-) Shortly after our Swedish neighbours across the hall were locked out of their room & South Africans being so hospitable, we invited them too to chill in our room until their room mate was back with the key. Or as it turned out, whenever! So here in our tiny room, in the early hours of the morning, & plenty of hubs later, we exchanged many stories & shared several laughs together ;-)
The executive summary of our life on Kho Phi Phi:
Our routine here was breakfast/brunch at D’s bookshop (really great - thanks for the tip Sophie;-)), head back to our room for a pipe, off to the beach to bask for several hours in the 30 degree plus sun, back to the room prepare for dinner & more pipe, dinner, hang out with fellow travellers & mates at one of several pubs or bars before heading to the beach for a cool beach party. Ibiza bar rocks & we always ended up here! Our day usually ends roughly 5am with a stop for a bite to eat on route back to our room &
Big screen on beach
showing live footie @ a beach party - what more?! ;-) a “night cap” pipe! For these few days we would live off an average of 4hrs sleep & catch up with sleep on the beach - sometimes ;-)
Running out of time we conjured up the strength to do the “tourist deeds” on Phi Phi. Taking serious strain, together with our Norwegians mates, we hired our own long tail boat & set about our own itinerary on our own schedule. Our first stop was in a “cul de sac” of huge cliffs where we swam in crystal clear & turquoise sea water - it is just as stunning as it appears in the travel guide! The pictures do not do it justice; it is something you must experience for yourself! Here our “captain’ just parked off in the middle while we were overwhelmed with excitement & behaved like teenage kids ;-) Our next stop was cliff jumping ;-) From the ferry & the water it does not appear high - not even for me given the fact that I am not fond of heights. But once up there, f*&% it, it is high! Probably the highest 14m I have ever seen! This blog would be “inaccurate” if I failed
1st night - Room invasion ;-)
camera is not steamed up, its the smoke in the room ;-) to mention that I did not jump & was subsequently chirped for taking the “swim of shame” back to the ferry ;-) Our third stop was the infamous Maya Beach - from the movie “The Beach”.
Maya beach itself is pretty, but nothing special! (Sorry all Leonardo Dicaprio fans!) To go on to the beach itself it costs 200 baht (+/- ZAR60 or $6). Apparently it is classified as a “national park” hence the fee - we paid it & played around, took some photos & chilled here for a couple of hours. It is a pretty beach, but nothing spectacular in comparison to the other beaches - but now we can say: “been there, done that!”
From here we headed to some cove to experience the sunset from the long tail. Along the way though we first stopped for a snorkel with sharks! Yes; with sharks! Our captain, a local from the village, convinced some they are friendly & guided us in which direction to swim. Several minutes later some of the guys spotted 3 sharks - apparently they just swim away in fear of you - yeah right! It must be though because these guys swam
Daily b'fast spot
awesome ;-) thanks again Sophie ;-) after them to try and get a look at more! Fortunately, before any “accidents”, time was running out in order to catch the amazing sunset. We had no idea what we were in for, but we parked off in the tiniest & shallowest of coves, & just relaxed waiting for the “magic”. It was not too long before we witnessed what our captain was explaining. Experiencing how the cove goes from light to dark as the sun sets was truly a magnificent experience! There are a few other tourists activities to do that we never got around to doing - blame it on our lifestyle on Phi Phi - so we have incentive to return, shortly ;-)
To sum up Phi Phi Island, it has definitely pulled rank & is right up there with Krabi, Ton Sai! It was extremely tiring & left me with a sore throat - but the island is magnificent & I had a sensational time here! It is hard to capture it in the blog or in the pictures, but along with Ton Sai, it is definitely my favourite place & week in South Thailand! The best advice to pass on is: “Just do
it!”
Impressions of Phi Phi Island:
The good:
- “perfect island”….pretty beaches, nice people, sports bars, local & western dinning @ reasonable prices, good parties in bars & especially on beaches
- Superb fire dancers - best I have seen in South Thailand
- Great balance between day & night life
- Not too touristy at all - everyone there for chilled & good time
- No sales people harassing you on beach selling you memorabilia
The bad:
- Not fully recovered from tsunami so some accommodation still being build = accommodation a bit pricey
The ugly:
- it is soo good here, it is really tough to leave ;-)
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jess
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really