Sneaky weekend away

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Ok so I'm not actually blogging from Phi Phi because internet cafe's were a rip off and waited til I got back instead.

All started on Friday, the boat left at 2:30 which meant I had to leave school a little early to be in town ready for the pick-up to the port. In typical fashion the weather was glorious in the morning but as soon as me and Jenny (the other volunteer at the school) got into town the heavens opened and the monsoon hit!! Luckily the boat had indoor seating. After roughly 1hr 45mins and an only slightly choppy crossing we were stepping foot on Ko Phi Phi pier ready to pay our 20Baht 'clean up fee' (a measly 50p). From there we followed the directions Jenny was given to our hotel, 'The Orange Tree' which was situated just on the edge of the main town area, close enough to be in reach of everything, but far enough away from the busy night life of the beaches. Lovely little place! After dropping of our bags and checking out the twin room, we decided to check out the island and luckily by this point the rain had stopped. That would be the last we saw of it until getting back on Sunday!

We had been told the view point was definitely worth a look at and since the signs were close to our hotel we decided to check it out. After about half an hours climb of 500+ steps and a couple of long ramps we finally made it up to the second, and highest, viewpoint. Standing 190m above sea level we could see beautiful panoramic views of the island stretching out before us, with the tiny strip of markets joining the two beaches. As it was only about 20 mins til sunset we waited. Not the best sunset in the world on that day as many of the earlier clouds were still hanging around on the horizon, but still pretty spectacular and definitely worth the climb. As was the well deserved Thai meal we had when we reached the bottom again.

On Saturday we decided to take a boat trip around the Island and its smaller neighbour, Phi Phi Lay (Phi Phi Don is the full name of the main island). Unfortunately because the sea was a bit too choppy for our small longtail boat, we didn't stop at all the stop offs but still had a fab day of sunbathing, snorkeling and taking in the views. The Headline of the trip was the stop off at Maya Bay, where they filmed 'The Beach'. Again due to the waves the boat had to make an early stop at nearby cove and we then had the adventurous walk through the rock coves to get to the steps up the cliff face onto Maya Bay. This was fun in itself, slipping on the rocks surface and being battered by waves, its amazing how we all made it in one piece! But then the beach was a beautiful sight, pure white sand, bright blue sea, surrounded by rocks!! After a couple of hours it was time to make the adventurous climb back to the boat, by which time the tide had gone out slightly so the walk over the rocks was easier on the feet!! This time I was not so lucky to make it in one piece however! As Maya bay is a popular destination there were several longtail boats anchored next to ours by this time, and as I was about to climb over the side of our boat, the one immediately next to it took a bee-line for me knocking me over onto a lovely jutty rock on the sea bed, hasten to say my legs took a bit of a bashing!! All cuts and bruises, nothing more sinister but still hurt! Luckily this was then the last stop and so I didn't have to keep getting in and out of the water. Didn't ruin my day though as the sights were amazing. Both me and Jenny both thoroughly enjoyed our day out, at the bargain price of 8/9pounds!! Couldn't ask for more.

Did a bit of shopping on the Sunday morning and then went back to the pier for the smoother journey back to Phuket, this time on a much bigger boat!! Then back to the reality of work again on Monday morning...

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