Ko Phi Phi and Ko Lanta - A bit of R&R

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We've had a brilliant time the last couple of weeks so I thought it was definetely time to update the blog. Through the grapevine I've heard people are wondering where it is......
Finding accommadation on Ko Phi Phi was a bit of a nightmare and I spent the last two days in Phuket looking through loads of hotel info. I came close to pulling my hair out. Then I just came to the conclusion that EVERYWHERE is expensive in Phi Phi so just book. We finally found Mama Beach Residence in Ton Sai Bay - it was really lovely but like all Phi Phi hotels well overpriced.
Our beach area was really nice and there was a cordoned off area where we could swim - some 5 star resorts didn't seem to have this so we were really lucky. Unforunately it is the side of the island that has the pier on it so there were a lot of boats zooming around. After a couple of days of chilling on the beach (Andy slightly obssessing over his tan - I was surprised too!) we decided to have a look at a couple of tours. We knew we wanted to go to the infamous Maya Bay where "the Beach" was filmed and do some snorkelling. We quickly signed up for a snorkelling trip by speedboat and an overnight camping trip on Maya Bay! There aren't any lodgings on Maya Bay.
There were quite a few people on the snorkelling trip than we would have liked but we still had a really good time. It's just luck if you have a small group or a big one. The amount of fish we saw was amazing! They were not afraid to swim right passed our eyes. Think they see tourists as the food bringers as the guides were throwing bits of fruit at us and then the fish were swimming all around us. One chap said that he saw more fish during that snorkelling trip than he had when he went diving the previous day.
We stopped off at 3 different areas including a reef, Monkey Beach and Maya Bay. Monkey beach had a lot of monkeys on (surprise!). They were quite funny to watch - they went through people's boats and kayaks and grabbed any food they could. Maya Bay as I said before is the film 'The Beach' location - since 2000 when the film was released people have flocked there in their thousands to get their tast of paradise. There has been a big lawsuit against the film production company after the film for not returning the island to it's original state but strangely when the 2004 tsunami hit the beach was returned to it's wild state!
When we got there about 1pm it was packed! People everywhere! Boats lined up along the shore. You could just about see the beautiful beach. We were so relieved that we'd booked the camping as we didn't want to see the beach this way. My first impression was that it's smaller than I imagined. Probably because of the amount of people on it.
After the snorkelling tour we hired a DVD player from the town and bought 'the beach' to watch that night. (It had to be done!)
Th next afternoon we went on our overnight camping trip. We were really excited and just packed a small bag each - leaving our big bags in a lock up place. The group camping ranges from 10-50 people - there were 32 of us altogether and it was actually quite nice. Lots of different people to speak too. We stopped off for some snorkelling - jumping from the boat into the water! We visited an area called Viking Cave - where pirates used to take shelter from the storms. On the other side of the island from the beach we jumped off and swam a short distance to the island and then climbed some rickety steps and walked through some jungle and onto the beach. It was very 'Leo' style!
The Beach with no one on it was amazing!! All the day trippers had gone home. The water is soo clear, the sand so white and soft. The cliffs surrounding the bay are out of this world beautiful. After leaving our bags in the shelter Andy went off to play football on the beach while I went in the water with some of the girls and just lay floating gazing around at the wonder.
Unfortunately, the sun sets on the other side to the island so there wasn't anything worth photographing.
We had an amazing curry for tea while we all sat on the beach chatting. We all tried to play a drinking game with our free buckets of vodka red bull but it didn't really work with 32 people. Chatted a lot to Nicola and Dan from England who had been travelling for a few months. It's great to chat to other people now we have our own stories to share too. The guides put on a really good fire show to entertain us. After, Andy and I grabbed a couple of mats, sleeping bags and pillows at about 2am and found a quiet end of the beach to make our beds. I was pleased we had bought our silk liners with us as the sleeping bags were not very clean. We couldn't believe how bright the stars were and I don't think I've ever seen that many ever. We were even lucky to spot two shooting stars!
Andy fell asleep straight away but I didn't. Sand is very uncomfortable, especially when a breeze blew and you end up with a mouthful! I think I had about 2 hours before our alarm went off at 5.30am to watch the sunrise. A few people had the same idea as we walked to other side of the island - it turned out to be a big dissappointment as the sun rose behind a rock! Still we were the first ones in the sea before everyone woke up.
We had a bit of breakfast and then set off back to Phi Phi - we managed to change our ferry tickets for the earlier time so within an hour we were on our way to ko Lanta! Luckily, we had our bungalow booked and it was great to see someone waiting at the pier to give us a lift to the bungalow. Especially on 2 hours sleep. In the minivan we got chatting to a South African couple who we later found out were called Amelia and Ryan.
We couldn't believe the size of our bungalow - it was huge! And the pool was right outside! And the beach just across the road.
Only a couple of stories to tell you from Lanta as most of the time was spent relaxing with Amelia and Ryan by the pool and the beach.
On Wednesday was Thai New Year - Songkran Festival and we had a read that this basically meant a huge waterfight! We decided to hire a scooter to go and see the island - it's so ridiculously cheap and Lanta is quietest place to do this if you've never done it before like us. Couldn't believe it when they never even asked Andy for his driving licence! We didn't realise until we were on the main road that it probably wasn't the best day to hire one as every 200m locals would spring out onto the road causing Andy to brake and then throw buckets of water on us and wipe talcom powder on our faces. We took it in good humour still with me laughing so much, but it was bit nerve wracking. Even when we drove passed the water fights we were sprayed with water pistols.
Andy drove really careful but we did turn around after a while because it seemed to get worse. We were both very conscious of just having helmets on - no knee pads or elbow pads like we see at home. I can see why people do it - it's a great way to see an island and get off the beaten track.
We met Amelia and Ryan on the beach for cocktails and sunset. Ryan said that he was yet to experience a Thai bucket so an hour later we were sat at a table on the beach with mexican and Thai food with 4 buckets of vodka and whiskey. They really are lethal!
The barmen came up to us after the drink was kicking in with the promise of free shots at the bar. We all went up and around a table were four shot glasses - Amelia and myself had red liquid in ours while the guys had clear liquid. They placed the bottles on the table and inside the clear liquid which was tequila was a dead cobra. They told us that the red liquid that Amelia and myself had was snake blood mixed with tequila. I don't know whether it was the alcohol that made me drink it or the fact it is in 'the beach' film but we all drank it.
Without going into too many details I am never drinking again! I spent the next day very sick in bed. Thank goodness for airconditioning!
It was a fabulous night and another great experience!
Amelia and Ryan left for their five star resort the next day (we wish we could join you!) and we are now in Ao Nang wondering what the next adventure holds. Only 10 days left in Thailand - can't believe it!
Hope you are all well and happy. Miss you all. Thanks for reading!
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Comments

[Chris]

woww snakes blood
Wicked blog dude.love the pics. No snake blood for u in the uk. Love the pics of places u staying great chat yesterday. Villa won yesterday. Come on the villa. Like the postcard shot. Great tan developing. Glad u r meeting people makes it easier to have fun. Good balance with doing stuff and chilling. Tk care keep having fun. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx