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Intimidating Island
Phi Phi Ley, home of Maya Bay (The Beach) Upon arrival in Ko Phi Phi, (Pronounced Ko Pee Pee) my first thought was that it just might be the prettiest place I have ever been. All of the prerequisites are filled abundantly; gorgeous white sand beaches, surrounded by towering tropical mountains, and sunsets that light the sky on fire every single night. Like the Gili Islands motorized transport is banned in Phi Phi and the island seems to exist purely for the purpose of leisure. Our three days in Ko Phi Phi were very relaxing and a solid introduction to the lifestyle of the Thai Islands.
Our first realization after getting a room and heading to the beach, was that it was very hot. Not just the air, but the water was over 100 degrees and basically felt like a hot tub. This was a very strange experience and offered no refreshment whatsoever. Our second realization was that the water was very shallow for as far out as you could walk, and as a result you could not swim in it. The experience at this beach was to sit down in boiling hot water and cook until you couldn’t stand it anymore. All in all this was
Beachside Bungalow
Humble but a great location. not very fun so we quickly left to head back to our lovely beachside bungalow ($10 each, or in Toronto terms, the price of a Hero Burger combo).
That night we had our first real experiences with two staples of island nightlife; buckets and fire games. The bucket is just that, a bucket filled with hard liquor, red bull, and some sort of pop. I got vodka and it came in a legitimate looking Smirnoff bottle, however, as soon as I tasted it I knew it was local stuff. That was fine though as it tasted alright and did the trick.
Fire games are also just as they sound; normal games played with dangerous amounts of fire. One involves (drunk) tourists jumping through a hoop of fire, while another involves a skipping rope that is completely on fire. Duncan, with his buckets of liquid confidence, (See what I did there) was the only one who tried the games on this night. He performed admirably, although the fire did catch him a little as he tried to exit the skipping game. Some other tourists were not as lucky and ended up being hit directly by the rope.
Phi Phi Sunset
The island has a narrow strip of land connecting its two sections. This is where they have put the main town down. To get from one beach to the other is at most a 10 minute walk. Everyone seemed able to laugh it off though and continue drinking.
The next day was spent lying around the beach and recovering from the gut rut that local Thai liquor gives you. We also booked a trip for the next day to Maya Bay which is where they filmed the movie, “The Beach” with Leonardo Dicaprio. Being a Leo fan since the 90’s I was pumped to see this spot and for the side trip to a place called monkey beach that was also included.
The trip was on a longtail boat with about 10 other people. A longtail boat is a long and skinny Thai boat that has a long pole at the back with the motor at the end of the pole. The boat is designed this way so that it can be easily steered in shallow and rocky waters. After some snorkeling stops and a disappointing stop on monkey beach we arrived at, “The Beach.” Words don’t really do the place justice so I suggest just checking out the below pictures. All I can say is that the lagoon like beach is one of the most stunning natural landscapes I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately
it poured rain most of the time we were there and there were no Dicaprio sightings.
The only bad news from Ko Phi Phi was that Curtis lost his camera. This is bad news for the following reasons:
1. Curtis definitely had the best camera of the three of us. It was both waterproof and shockproof.
2. Curtis’ girlfriend bought this camera for him. Alex, I can say firsthand that Curtis feels terrible about losing this.
3. Curtis participated in a three day scuba diving course one week after losing his camera. The underwater pictures that he would have snapped on this course would have been amazing. They could have sent my blog view numbers into the stratosphere.
Next up will be Ko Phangan and our epic adventures at the Full Moon Party.
P.S. The best pictures we had of "The Beach" were on Curtis' camera. I apologize for building up the hype and then not delivering.
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Rebecca
non-member comment
fire + drinking = exactly what I feared would happen on this trip.