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Koh Tao
Bent Palm Tree "The Beach" and James Bond Island We arrived in Phuket, Thailand ready to hit the beach! Unfortunately, the rain had other plans. Luckily, due to the low season on the western coast of Thailand, we got an extremely nice room on the cheap. Air conditioning is my favorite western luxury! Upon arriving in Phuket, we were whisked away via taxi to Patong Beach. On the way to our hotel, we drove by Subway--ironically, I had been craving just that for the past week. So, we lunched at our favorite American fast food joint . . .next to Burger King, of course. Then we decided to explore the town. Immediately, we found what we were looking for--the massage shops! We each got a nice $5 massage that relaxed away all the stresses of traveling. After a wonderful and air-conditioned nights sleep, we decided to spend the next day at the beach. Unfortunately, it was still raining! Billy did get to enjoy the large waves and warm waters of Phuket for a few minutes. After we were chased inside by the tropical storm, we checked e-mail and had supper at the Tiger Inn. We had some really great food here, but it
Phuket
Phuket from the Air was more than Thai hot! Billy had his favorite, Tofu Penang, while I had Red Curry Tofu. Neither of us could finish our meals due to the extreme burning in our mouths. Good flavor. Bad heat. Siam Garden's penang tasted like water in comparison! That evening, we had to make the decision: James Bond Island or The Beach . . .from the movie, "The Beach". We both decided after reading the book and seeing the movie, we must visit Leo's tropical getaway paradise beach on Koh Phi Phi.
Danger on the High Seas or Little Fishing Boat, Big Waves We woke up early and took a two-hour ferry from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi Island. Regrettably, we sat in the bottom of the boat, and I almost saw my breakfast from the other direction! Luckily, I survived and vowed to always sit high and outside. When we arrived at Koh Phi Phi, we immediately found a place that would take us to Maya Beach where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. No one would take us due to the stormy season and the waves being too big for a small taxi boat. However, bummed as we may have been, we
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A Tropical Storm walked the beach and found a taxi boat driver who said he would take us to another bay where we could then walk two minutes to Maya Beach. We decided that you only live once! The next 30 minutes of our lives left me reminiscent of the Bible story about Jesus calming the sea. I was definitely as scared as the disciples, and I found myself praying and singing, "With Jesus in the Vessel, You Can Smile at the Storm". Large waves, small boat, little fisherman, and two scared travelers . . .not quite a picturesque island scene. Billy wouldn't let me close my eyes in case we toppled over. By the time we got to our destination bay, we were soaked and clearly happy to see many other taxi boats had braved the high seas as well as our little vessel.
Maya Beach . . .Tropical Paradise When we arrived in our bay, the fisherman said we had to get out, swim to a small hole in the rocks, and crawl through to get onto the island then we had to walk two minutes to the beach. We were excited, so we put on our snorkels and jumped in
Koh Phi Phi
Harvesting Swallows' Nests the clear blue water. Luckily, we had our snorkels! Immediately, we saw coral and fish and very shallow water! Once we got to the hole in the rock, we saw that the waves were CRASHING into the small hole, and we had to hold on to the rope provided . . .time the waves crashing just right . . .and run for the hole as quickly as possible! On Billy's count, the waves would crash, and we would move. Crash. Move. Crash. Move. Finally, we made it through the hole . . .with no injuries! The beach, itself, was beautiful, but far more overgrown than when they filmed the movie. Plus, the off season weather made the peaceful looking bay very wavy and sand-stormy. After swimming around for a while, we proceeded back to our boat the way we came in . . .through the hole. Crash. Move. Crash. Move. Swim on our backs to avoid the coral . . .and out safely. Only one little coral scratch on Billy and otherwise a fairly safe trip through the rock wall. Once back in the boat, we headed back to the main beach. Back into the stormy seas. Back to the
Koh Phi Phi
Clear Blue Water singing and praying. Back to the safety of the mainland. Just when we thought we were safe from the high seas . . .our huge fairy boat was rocked and rolled by some tropical storms on the way back to Phuket. Chairs were flying off of the fairy, and people were puking everywhere! It was incredible. Once we got back to the mainland, we met some Australians who said that a fairy sank three weeks earlier on the way to Koh Phi Phi . . .luckily, ours didn't!
On the Road . . .Again Soon, we were off to Ko Phangan, Thailand--an island off the east coast. We squished into a small minivan . . .thinking it was our taxi to the bus station. Unfortunately, it was our bus for our four hour trip to Surat Thani, a.k.a. the most boring city in Thailand. With nothing to do, we hung out, got pizza, played cards, and smelled Durian from 6:00 pm to Midnight until our night boat left. The night boat was the best idea ever! We slept the entire seven hour trip across the bay to the island, and woke up only as we were docking into Throng Sala--the
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Tropical Drinks Melting in Our Hands harbor town. We took a taxi immediately up to "rip you off" beach where a taxi boat was waiting to rip us off to take us to Bottle Beach on the northeastern coast of Koh Phangan.
Bottle Beach or Our Very Own Paradise Upon arrival, Billy took us to the bungalows that he and Brenda had stayed in three years ago. We got a bungalow right on the beach with ocean view for $8/night--fan only/electricity for four hours! The beach was bare, so we spent most of the time laying around and swimming by ourselves. I'm pretty sure we were the only business for our bungalows during our four days there. Luckily, we had kayaking, snorkeling, and of course, suntanning to do to keep ourselves busy! Plus, a couple of Agatha Christie novels mixed in. After a relaxing few days, we decided to make our way to the "happening" part of the island: Hat Rin.
Full Moon Party, Anyone? Although we weren't there for the full moon party, we were at the beach where it takes place. The sand was wonderful, the water was warm . . .the only problem is that every other tourist in Thailand knows this, so
Koh Tao
Scuba-dooba-doobie-oobie-ooba we missed our lonely beach up north. That night, we booked a scuba diving trip in Koh Tao. One of the top dive destinations in the world. We also slept in air conditioning again--with our friendly companions, the mosquitoes.
Koh Tao and the Trigger Fish Early the next morning, we hopped a taxi for Koh Tao. A few hours and a speed boat later, we were preparing for our dive trip. Our dive guide was a British bloke who had been a Dive Master in Koh Tao for three months. We dove on the north end of the island at Mango Bay. Although the visibility wasn't as great as the Philippines, we saw tons of beautiful fish. One being the Trigger Fish . . .large, big lips, and teeth. They are very defensive of their territory, so if you get too close, they chase you and bite your fins. Billy got too close, once . . .it chased him . . .I swam away . . .so did he--the fish, I mean. We also saw a Groper. It was HUGE! It was getting it's teeth cleaned by a smaller fish. Both dives went really well, and it was definitely worth
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Patong Beach the time and money. After diving, we decided to say goodbye to island living and headed off to big city life in Bangkok.
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Steph and Mark
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We're sooo jealous!
You guys look like you are having the time of your lives! It looks so beautiful and so fun. We are praying for your trip. Love you!