Phi Phi to Koh Phangan

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I headed to Phi Phi from Koh Lak with a desire for some beach and bar time. I had heard that Phi Phi is the place for this. The Island has always been reknowed as a travellers hotspot but since the movie the Beach was filmed there in 2000 it has now become one of the key islands to visit for a traveller in southern Thailand the number of vistors, bars, guesthouses on the island has increased massively over the last ten years.

The island was bursting with people when I arrived it was definitely the most traveller orientated place I had been to so far. There was a really party feel to the place with the majority of the visitors coming I would say well under 25. The beach was the best I have seen on my travels so far and we all agreed we have never seen a larger collection of beautiful women in one spot anywhere in the world truly paradise!!

I spent a week on Phi Phi but do not really have much to show for it as all we did was enjoy the beach and drink far too much in the evening which although fun doesn't really give me much to write about. The main thing to note about the Phi Phi nightlife is that they have the best fire shows in Thailand and I would say the place is worth visiting just for those - their skills range from crazily fast fire stick dancing to a guy doing jump push ups over a flaming skipping rope. On our last day we decided to try and do something useful so rented a long boat to Maya bay which is the location of the mythical paradise island/beach in the film the 'Beach' - it may have been paradise when Leo went there but its not quite the same when you arrive to see 20 other boats and 300 hundred people as a result it is one of those things you can say you did but which really is not that great.

From Phi Phi I headed to Samui where the six guys i was travelling with were meeting up with our mutual friend Alex. We had one night in Samui which left much to be desired - the island has become far too westernised and is definitely on the recommend to avoid list. After Samui I went back to Koh Tao for 3 nights which was a hit with all our group as we all decided that this was our favourite island due to its relaxed atmosphere and great nights out. I was planning on doing some diving here but instead I got ridiculously drunk the first night there and had the worst hangover of the trip so far which involved me not seeing natural light all day (will learn someday i'm sure!).

After Tao we ended over to Koh Phangan for the infamous full moon party. The full moon party involves around 30,000 people partying along the beach every month during the full moon. The night itself was pretty mental with us all going through a few buckets, body painting ourselves up massively and then after a trip up mushroom mountain for the 'shakes' joining the giant rave on the beach. Although the night was fun it was not really my scene and the 2 weeks of drinking before then had caught up with me so I made a disappointing 2.30am end to the night. The full moon party is worth experiencing but it is not something I would plan to do again.

I headed back to Bangkok on the 1st 41 days after I had left for the next part of my trip. I met up with a couple of other friends from school and our next stop is Siem Reap in Cambodia - more will follow about there.

Mark

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Photos

Photo 3
Phi Phi beach

Photo 5
Maya bay