Ko Phi Phi Don

I arrived on Phi Phi island from Phuket yesterday morning. It was just a short boat trip over from Phuket and I slept the whole way. As soon as I got off the boat I was in complete awe. The cliffs are amazing and the water so clear! The great thing is that there are no cars on Phi Phi only push bikes so it makes for a really chilled and laid back atmosphere. A guy with a cart took my backpack and walked me to my bungalow. I'm staying in a bungalow near Ao Lo Dalam Bay called J.J. Bungalow which is pretty snazzy. The only problem is I have to wal past a sewage plant to get there from the beach and central markets. NOT PLEASANT! After relaxing into my room I went straight to the nearest bay and found myself a spot to chill until the afternoon. The bay is stunning, with high cliffs surrounding the whole beach. Although it was lovely, I found it hard to relax due to group of guys from LA who soon came and sat near me and decided not to shut up for even one second. To have a break from their stupidity I went for a swim in the emerald green waters and let myself just drift away for a while. I decided to leave the beach around 3pm to explore the rest of the island. Soon enough I found myself at Ton Sai (the other beach), which was beautiful too, but since it was by the pier, it was too noisy for my liking. As I wandered into the less touristy areas I settled down with some locals and chatted to them about how life has been post-tsunami. Of course they told me about the hardships, but said everything is moving on well now and the island is slowly being restored to its former glory.

I went to dinner at Hippies, a bar and restaurant on Ton Sai and once again found myself sitting with a group of locals who were absolutely hilarious and very cool. Two of the guys were in the band so I stayed there to watch their set. Talented bunch! I had some Ozzie guys come up to me to ask for me to serve them a drink. I guess they saw an asian girl hanging out with the band and assumed I worked there. They were arrogant arses though...they immediately assumed I couldn't speak English and so were miming the action of getting them a drink and shouting loudly as if that would help me understand. I've noticed since being on me own that the travellers/holidayers see me and just assume I'm Chinese or Japanese and can't speak English...ah well, I'm having a laugh with the locals anyway and I'm sure they can tell me a lot more about the island.

On my way back to the hotel, I came across the Pum's Thai cooking school and remembered reading about it in the Lonely Planet guide. I went in to talk to Pum (so lovely) and I ended up booking a short course for this evening which invloves cooking 3 Thai dishes of my choice and it's just as cheap as buying dinner in any restaurant around here. I hope I cook the food okay...I have to eat afterwards!

The locals told me I should visit Ao Maya, which is where 'The Beach' was filmed so I booked myself on a boat tomorrow with a night camping there (there aren't any hotels on Ko Phi Phi Leh). Really looking forward to it. I've always wanted to camp out on a beach and from what I hear I'd be hardstuck to find a better location.

---

---