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Published: November 24th 2006
Having had only a few hours sleep we made our way down to an extra early breakfast and was picked up by our mini bus at about 7am. We both felt really tired as we didn’t get to bed until about midnight as we had to pack up our backpacks (again!). It already feels like a chore trying to pack everything but the kitchen sink, and sifting through your clothes to see if there is anything “cleanish” to wear. The excitement of going somewhere new and exciting obviously makes up for these little annoyances!
We were dropped at the port of Phuket about 8ish and made a made scramble for the ticket desk. We had paid for an open ticket from Phuket to Phi Phi Don to Ko Lanta and then on to Krabi. A ticket man approached us with our ticket but he had only marked us down for a trip from Phi Phi Don to Krabi, completely missing out Ko Lanta. We refused to board the boat until he had sorted this out. We boarded a really busy ferry full of backpackers on the search for paradise. We managed to get a good enough spot sat just below
the drivers window. There were no seats - it was just the window ledge of the boat so you had to make sure you didn’t slide down the side. It took approximately 1hr 45min to reach Phi Phi Don. The boat ride there certainly woke us up and we had to pinch ourselves when we saw the scenery as we pulled up.
“Everyone wearing a yellow sticker must now leave the boat” There was a bit of a scramble to find your bag and an even bigger scramble to dodge the touts trying to rip you off as you got off. Thankfully we had managed to pre-book our digs as the captain on board advised people that it was extremely busy and many hotels were fully booked.
Phi Phi Don is a very small island with only 2500 inhabitants. Their only means of income on the island is through tourism. There are no roads of this island hence no cars, motorbikes, peds or any form of transport other than taxi boats. When you get off the boat you have to meet up with a hotel porter who has a trolley to carry your bags through the little pathways
which ran between market stalls, cafes, bars, guesthouses and 7-11s. We eventually made it to our digs. This is nothing like we had stayed in before as we had to take what we could get. We only paid seven pound each a night which is really expensive for Thailand. We found out that the accommodation is expensive due to the island having to generate its own electricity. We waited a couple of hours for our room to be ready and was then escorted to our pad. The only way to describe these are a little like a chalets or every small bungalows with chipboard for walls. As small as they were, they were very clean, had air-con and tv and also hot water. We could not believe how many backpackers were here!! There were so many nationalities and almost everyone was between the ages of 18 and 40. Most of these looked like students having time out and there were also many people who were on holiday. We went for a couple of drinks that night but nothing too heavy. Kerry had organised to meet with her friend Zo the following night and so we thought we would save ourselves.
Sunday 19 November
We awoke for our first and only full day on Phi Phi Don. We decided to go on a snorkeling trip around the local island on a wooden long tail boat piloted by one of the locals. Not that much to say really apart from WOW again! We set off at around 11.30 on our boat with 8 other travelers (a mix of Brits and Scandinavians) all keen to see the pearly white beaches of the surrounding island and the stunning views underneath the clear jade green waves around the beautiful coral reefs. The sheer amount and diversity of the colorful fishies around these islands was astounding. It was even better than the aquarium we went to on Phuket because we could get up close and personal with the bad boys. That was until Stu nearly bobbed himself after he caught sight of a stonking great big Moray Eel lurking in the shadows close to him. Stu swam away from the impending doom of the eel but didn’t see a boat heading straight for him. Kerry started shouting at him to move his butt or it would get minced. Stu obviously did not hear Kerry as his head was under water. Thankfully the pilot of our boat had a whistle so he could notify the pilot of the boat heading straight for Stu. Stu heard the whistle and managed to swim out of the way, only to swim into the path of a bright blue and black sea snake - which, by the way was poisonous!! He squealed like a girl through his snorkel again. Stu had seen those critters on the Discovery channel before and knew they were deadly. The sea snake obviously could not be bothered as he just swam away - luckily.
We stopped for lunch on a beautiful beach island called Monkey Island (it was just like those paradise island desktop wallpapers you get to brighten up your miserable days when you are stuck in grey old cold old Britain)
We jumped back in the boat (easier said that done as it was usually from the water) and we had to try and haul our butts over the side of the boat and try and keep our dignity in check but usually just ended up looking like beached whales - not very preddie - we nearly capsized a few times too thanks to the hefty Swedish bloke who tried to haul is more than ample frame over the side of the boat. We eventually made it to Phi Phi Leh which is the island the Beach was filmed at. Unfortunately we got there after the sun had passed over the cliff top and so was already getting dusk by the time we got there. It was still beautiful though (see pics). After spending an hour or so here taking in the scenery we jumped back in the boat and headed back “home”. We only just made it back before a huge thunderstorm started coming in after us.
We got back, quickly showered and went out to meet Zo and her mate Ange who also had an amazing story to tell. Zo and Ange decided to travel from Chiang Mai to Bangkok by night train. The journey takes around 12 hours to complete but the train goes at a fast pace (approximately 80 - 90mph). Ange told us how the train stopped and started going backwards which they obviously thought was a little strange. Ange decided to go and check what was happening. There were several staff from the train running up and down the side of the train tracks. Ange approached this Australian lad who seemed hysterical and asked what had happened. The lad told her that his girlfriend had fallen off the train!! To cut a long story short they found the girl alive but she was badly injured with a massive hole in her head. She had obviously gone into shock but no-one was helping her as they were all arguing. Ange had basic first aid knowledge and so helped the best she could until professional help arrived. SCARY!!!!
We started drinking some crazy buckets of alcohol which had everything you could imagine in there. Zo told us about a Thai boxing ring which was free to watch so we all piled down there. Kerry had seen Thai boxing before but this was like no Thai boxing she had ever seen. Most of the contenders who were fighting in the ring were holidaymakers who had volunteered to go up and fight against each other. This turned out to be very brutal. Obviously having all of their mates around them, neither one of them wanted to get beaten up and made to look a complete wimp. These lads fought until they were either knocked out or had their noses broken. It was really funny to watch and slightly scary. The weirdest thing we saw was when they got two children on there. Neither of them were above the age of 3 and they both got cheered on the kick the crap out of each other - can you imagine this going on in England? There was a Swedish boy on there who seemed to be twice the size of the Thai boy. Needless to say the Thai boy got floored several times. Then came on the real Thai boxing which was even scarier!! This fight was brutal - with them both kicking the crap out of each other they both fell over the side of the ring and almost landed on our table. They didn’t get straight back in the ring - they decided to fight right next to us. We all quickly moved out of the way - apart from Stu who decided to try and get in between them to break it up!!! Stu was absolutely plastered - Kerry had not ever seen Stu in such a drunken state before and when we he went to the toilet and came back with a Thai baby, Kerry thought it best to go and get some food down his neck to soak up all the cocktails! We had a mint night but the next day Stu was a little rough around the edges - to say the least. We also had to travel to Ko Lanta that day which was a little painful - more on that later
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Tracey & Kim
non-member comment
hello
Hiya glad to see you are both doing well and having a great time, making us both jealous in the meantime. Love ya lots Tracey and Kim xx