Advertisement
Our first beach at Phi Phi
We stayed in a little bungalow just a few feet away from this beach on the first night. (Again, backdated...)
The morning of the 9th we got a ferry to Ko Phi Phi (no sea sickness yet thanks to ginger tablets and sea bands!), southwest of Railay. The 1 1/2 hour trip was nice--clear blue ski above and green water below, with a sea breeze to keep us semi-cool as we passed little islands along the way.
Our arrival, however, was not so nice...touts shoving brochures and pictures of resorts in our faces and guys endlessly asking, "you want boat?" (for those of you who are experienced at this, remember that this is only our second stop so its all still new to us 😊
We had no clue where we were going to stay that night, and it was a bit overwhelming.
We eventually made it to Long Beach, a short boat ride from the main town. We had two options, spend a couple dollars more for a decent room or go ultra cheap in a place that wasn't worth more than two dollars. We opted for the better, then walked the 25 minutes to town around the beach, stopping at a remote bungalow restaurant for lunch of boiled noodles and squid/beef for lunch. My
reddening shoulders kept Dan concerned the entire day 😊
Ko Phi Phi was one of the main islands hit by the Dec 26, 2004 Tsunami. 2000 out of 6000 people lost their lives--the scars were evident here, and the smiles of locals didn't seem to be as big. Still, people are getting on, rebuilding going on all around.
We walked up to the top view point of the island--the same hill that people ran up to escape the tsunami--and a video was playing with footage from the day...I got a bit emotional as I watched it. Being here definitely puts a new perspective on the event.
The second day we found a cheaper room closer to town and signed up for a snorkeling day trip. We spotted a Kiwi couple, Anna and Chris from Auckland, early on with their Katmandu bags (for those non-Kiwis, this is an outdoor brand in New Zealand 😊 who we hung out with for the day. About 40 of us on a big green boat, the day included stops around Ko Phi Phi Ley, the little island south of Phi Phi Don where the movie, "the Beach", was filmed, Bamboo Island with
Ao Ton Sai
This is the view of the area hit by the tsunami. Before, you couldn't see any building because of all the trees. And now... its clear blue waters and white sand, and another bay around the Phi Phi Don. Better snorkeling than Railay, we saw heaps of different fish, eels, sea snakes, pipefish, and a green sea turtle. I honestly felt like the Little Mermaid as we literally swam through a cloud of yellow and black striped fish--it was so amazing.
A great day of swimming, jumping off the boat, and soaking up the sun. We also met new friends who we made dinner plans with for the next night.
But day three was a bit more interesting. I came down with a mild case of heat stroke/exhaustion, or something like that that took me out of commission. I couldn't hold anything down but the worst of it was my purple eyes from broken vessels around my eyes (sorry for the gross details!) Looking like I'd been in a fight, we ran into an American couple from San Fran. who we hung out with in Railay. The four of us met Anna and Chris, but my situation only got worse. After a second chunder I looked AWFUL so I headed back to rest while Dan got to go out and enjoy $1 Heinekens...I
was so jealous!!
Thai Locals The locals are funny, always trying to get that extra dollar form you which always makes you question their sincerity about anything. But when not bargaining and you give them a smile and greeting, their face lights up and they return the smile. They just seem to appreciate the acknowledgement since so many tourists seem to ignore them or are rude and disrespectful. Not all, but some tourists are appalling!
Overall, the weather has been stunning. Hardly any rain, hot days that cool down a bit with the sunsets and ocean breezes at night.
The 12th we booked ourselves a ferry to Ko Lanta (SE of Phi Phi) and a bungalow on the island at some resort. The travel agent told us over and over how nice it was, showed us photos, and since I was still not feeling the best, we just went with it, thinking we were getting a cheap deal...Let's just say the situation is something we will definitely learn from...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.14s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 17; qc: 69; dbt: 0.0706s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb