Ko Phi Phi - Beaches, buckets and a bit more Boxing

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Phuket & Phi Phi - heading to the West Side!

After a busy week of sightseeing, tourist spots and mind blowing experiences we were ready to relax and chill out for the next few weeks on the islands of the East and West side of Thailand. Although Phuket is considered to be part of the mainland it is a gateway to the islands on the West coast and was highlighted in the lonely planet as having many luxurious beaches. As Phuket had an airport we caught a flight from Chang Mai and headed for the town of Karon. Karon is next to Hat Patong and Hat Kata and together these places are host to a string of long golden beaches perfect for snorkelling and learning more about the Tsunami which hit all three places in 2004…or so we were lead to believe!.

The first thing we noticed about Karon is the amount of middle aged men who had young Thai girls on their arms. We nicknamed these men “Slugs or Walruses” for several reasons which will give you a clear impression of the generalisation of men in Thailand who are looking for a “good” time. These men sit in bars all day long drinking and entertaining or being entertained. They all looks the same with pop beer bellies, long moustaches, bald or long hair and have that perverted look about them. This is not what we signed up for and suddenly a few days amongst this crowd started to put the downer on Phuket. We later found out that the neighbouring town, Hat Patong is very similar to Bangkok’s red light district, Patpong which explained a lot.

This time the girls were put in charge of finding accommodation. James was nervously left with the bags sat in a bar trying to blend in with the locals hoping that the girls could find it in themselves to budget and not go overboard. Luckily they found a beautiful hotel called The Rattana Hotel which had all the luxuries unbeknown to a traveller such as a western toilet, hot water, air con even a TV and swimming pool. That night we weren’t so keen on heading into Patong and wanted to check out the local nightlife which after an hour or so it became clear that our options were either drinking in the expensive beachfront hotels or with the walruses…mmmm hard decision!

The beach in Karon is a long beach with golden sand and big waves, however I think visiting Phuket in Monsoon season didn’t quite paint the picture of how the postcards portray it. What was worth a picture was the Tsunami evacuation signs dotted around the beachfront pointing to the hills behind Karon. We found a level stick which indicated that when the Tsunami hit in 2004 the water levels reached 1.5 metres when the waves braked on the beachfront. However, we spoke to a shop owner whose shop sits maybe 20 yards away from the beach and she said the water only reached 0.5 metres just sweeping the floors and thought that the stick had been put there purely for tourist purposes by the government. What’s clear is that Karon shows no signs that a Tsunami had ever hit there and shows the rapid rate of redevelopment since 2004.


That night we wanted to do something a bit different…we decided against watching the infamous ping-pong shows as James had already been to one and said that it wouldn’t really be the girls cup of tea, but instead went to a cabaret show. Thailand is famous for its openness concerning the topic and practice of trans-sexuality aka ladyboys! These cabarets shows are well known for their “Tina Turner” acts and tricking men into thinking that they are kissing a beautiful gorgeous women who is perfect in every way but with one slight downfall…she has a penis (if she is pre-op). This show was something indescribable, I’m not sure what we were expecting but we were all glad we had had a few drinks to ease our pain. The costumes were good, some of the acts made us laugh such as Tina Turner and a random mouth quivering concubine but apart from that we had more excitement trying to have a photo with the ladyboys outside. James had taken a few photos inside despite the warning of a $25,000 fine but when we went outside we were greeted by a line of ladyboys all goading us to come and have a picture taken with them. Sarah literally got dragged in between three flamboyant ladyboys closely followed by James and Kim which allowed Amy to take some great photos but when we refused to pay them a tip there personas suddenly changed and we ran to the taxi in fear of getting beaten up by some men in drag (the worst of all sexes).

The next island along the West coast of Thailand we wanted to visit was Phi Phi; made famous by the movie, The Beach. All the tourist books say that Phi Phi is a jaw dropping beauty and we were a little worried that it wouldn’t live up to all the hype (like the Great Barrier Reef) but this was never the case as it was amazing and instantly takes your breath away. It is one of the best islands we have ever visited on our trip and is a true definition of what paradise looks like; white sands and crystal blue warm waters. One of the best features about Phi Phi is the limestone cliffs that surround it which is home to some awesome.

The day after arriving in Phi Phi James, Amy and Kim went out to explore the island and book a Sunset Snorkelling Trip for later that afternoon. Sarah was bedbound due to extreme sunburn from the day before and also a dose of swine flu (joke). We stumbled across a boxing ring in some bar and with the permission of the owner he allowed us to try out some kickboxing moves on each other in the ring. The best thing was we were allowed to wear their sweaty gloves to complete the athletic look. For those of you who know Amy…Watch Out! Her kicks are deadly…she may not be able to get her leg as high as Kim but she still managed to floor Kim in the first round. James of course tried his submission moves on Kim and sure enough had her tapping out in seconds. We honestly don’t know how the kick boxers do it; we were sweating buckets in the heat and was glad to be snorkelling in the sea in a few hours.

The Sunset Snorkelling Trip included a visit to several attractions; Monkey Island, Vikings Cave, a walk along “The Beach”, snorkelling and kayaking around Maya Bay. Maya Bay is the Island and beach where the Beach was filmed; it is a neighbouring island of Phi Phi but is still considered part of the Phi Phi experience. We were told not to feed the monkeys on monkey island as they are quite vicious and not intimidated by humans; they are not kidding! Kim decided to keep to the shoreline as they were obviously frightened of water; however one girl got too close so the monkey decided to come after her regardless of the water which made Kim run into the sea. What Kim forgot was that she was holding James camera in her hand…oooopppsss! These monkeys they don’t mess around! Although you can’t go into Vikings Cave it is known for…wait for it…having a picture inside the cave carved out by the Vikings. Another purpose of the Vikings Cave is it is home to lots of bird’s nests which are made out of Bird Spit. Birds Nest is considered a delicacy in Thailand all year round so it is a valuable trade and the areas are often protected from tourists.
Maya Bay is a protected Marine Park and is home to a variety of fish and coral to explore so it was really nice to have an hour to do some snorkelling and kayaking around the limestone cliffs plus we got to see the crew fishing for squid for their tea. As “The Beach” is surrounded by a cove it was impossible for the boats to go in due to the tide so we had to brave a jump off the boat and swim to the entrance which was adjacent to the cove. Kim and Amy braved this jump but I think underestimated the height as they nearly lost their bikinis and swallowed loads of sea water which was a shock to the system; gravity doesn’t work the same as when you are a child or 6 stone heavier! Getting onto the island was fun as we had to go through an entrance in the rocks which meant holding onto a rope we had to rely on the waves to take us in with the current onto the rocks; this was not fun as our poor feet got scratched several times along the rocks…quite scary actually. “The Beach” if you ever get a chance to go…go! We spent a long hour there bobbing up and down in crystal clear waters it was like bathing in a hot bath. Despite it being a major tourist attraction we managed to miss the large crowds as it was nearing sunset and were pleasantly surprised how clean and untouched by pollution the beach looked. After the beach we got back on the boat and dropped the anchor to watch the sunset and sip a few beers, while listening to chill out music. It was all very chilled out and was a great way to celebrate our 1 year anniversary of travelling…has it really been a year….you missing us yet?

Nightlife on Phi Phi thrives as soon as the sun goes down and while we were there it was a half moon, prompting all the bars to throw wild parties on the beach. James had been to the official ‘Full Moon Party’ on Kho Phangan so kind of knew what to expect however the parties on Phi Phi are no where near the same standard. Sipping our buckets, we felt extremely old as it seemed the average age of the party goers was maybe just over 18! Forgetting all health and safety, one thing the bars like to do to draw the crowds into their bar is to have a large skipping rope, soak it in petrol and set it alight and then invite the intoxicated crowd to jump over it. Feeling old and responsible we sat this one out and watched as one by one people started jumping over the rope, occasionally falling over and caught in the wall of fire. The following day we saw a young backpacker who had several burns on his legs and were all glad that we wasn’t drunk enough to try it!

We loved Phi Phi and hope to visit this place again in our travels as it is truly breathtaking. One down point was when Kim ordered cordon blew for dinner and after one bite she realised that the chicken was pink and frozen …….if the buckets or fire dancing don’t kill you the food certainly will!
So we say good bye bye to the West side of Thailand for now and travel over to the East side heading towards Ko Pha-Ngan via bus, boat, bus and probably a scaring tuk-tuk ride!

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