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Published: January 14th 2007
Due to the muslim holiday the 9am ferry had been cancelled so the first ferry back from Ao Nang to Phi Phi was at midday. We were glad we'd secured accommodation there in advance. We were suprised as to how quiet the ferry was, as we sailed close to Phi Phi everything now seemed very familiar. We felt glad to be back. We checked back into Anderman Legacy without a hitch and were soon trekking over the rocks to Long Beach. I glanced at my watch several times and thought about poor Sharon and Scott sitting around in Airports. It makes a change though as it's usually us that have to leave some exotic place after a short time while they have months there! All the same it was sad.
That night we ended up at Carpe Diem Bar again ( what a suprise!) The fire show as usual was excellent. Towards midnight the upstairs platform, which had become our favourite hang-out place, emptied as everyone streamed onto the beach. We decided to join them, as midnight came everyone danced around and kissed anyone who was in a 4 foot radius of them. Fireworks all around us zoomed into the
air. We'd long since run out of beer and the bar was a 'no go' area, the staff were completly overwhelmed and couldn't cope. Stan dissapeared and returned with his hands full of bottles of Chang beer. He'd hit on the idea of going to the nearby supermarket where it was also a fraction of the price and no queueing. It was quickly consumed by everyone and anyone around us and Gareth, just a random person in our group, followed suit and returned weighed down with a dozen bottles. Needless to say a good time was had by all.
New Year's Day. We decided to climb to the view point again for our final look and then carry on over to Rantree Beach. Hmm, maybe not the best choice given that we were out 'till past 2am last night. The last time we did it a week ago I climbed the many steps with a spring in my heels, this time, however, it felt like someone had poured liquid lead into my legs. The thought of the view spurred me on and we finally made it. Was it really this far last time? The views were just as I'd
Midnight Approaches
Ten minutes to midnight and everyone piles onto the beachremembered them if not better, soon after setting off down the other side to Rantree we spotted a Praying Mantis, out came the camera. ( we were later to see these poor things coated in batter and deep fried on the Koh San Road!)
As we decended the path to Rantree disaster struck! Stan's flip flop fell apart so he was left with the only option but to walk barefoot down the rough dusty path. Sheila to the rescue, In my bag I had my 'coral walkers' a pair of rubber and cloth shoes I'd bought in Egypt to prevent coral burns if you inadvertantly brushed your feet against it. Vey Fetching! Throwing all fashion sense to the wind I forced my hot dusty feet into them and gave up my flip flops to Stan. Yes, they were 3 sizes too small but it was better than nothing! I insisted that we would have to get the Longtail boat back as I was NOT going to walk back through town in them.
Of course as we intended to go out snorkelling leaving our stuff unattended on the beach, we had taken the minimum of cash with us. So the
burning question was could we afford to get a Longtail boat back AND buy lunch. We figured if we stuck to water to drink, we could. Not such a bad thing anyway considering the gallons of beer we'd drunk the night before!
The sea was less choppy today and we managed to get quite away out to snorkel, Stan saw the Moray eel again and I spotted a lionfish on our way back to the shore.
At the end of the day we jumped on a Longtail and asked to be dropped off at Hippies Bar rather than the pier. (not so far for Stan to walk back bare foot). The driver gave us a 100 baht refund as it wasn't as far as the pier, damn it! I could have had that pineapple juice after all.
However, he gaily sailed past Hippies Bar and dropped us at the pier anyway! Luckily Stan had collected a long piece of thick green vegetation earlier just in case. Now it came in useful, in true Robinson Crusoe style he bound his broken flip flop to his foot and walked back through town.
Many of the bars were quiet
tonight, I think everyone was nursing a big hangover!
Tomorrow we are moving to Phi Phi Hill Resort, it's at the far end of Long Beach perched high up on a hill well away from any real night life. Well it's about time we started acting our age!
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Gary
non-member comment
Good work on the beer!
Glad to see you are still as resourceful as ever Dad ;)