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Published: August 9th 2007
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Maya Bay
heaven on earth Is it really the 27th March? I had no idea until I just logged on. They don't seem to have time in Thailand. Just day and night. We are enjoying Phi Phi despite being disappointed by it when we first arrived - it was a bit of a cloudy afternoon and the beach near our Bungalows was full of silt or something and didnt look like the pictures of spectacular looking beaches we saw before we left. However, I don't know why we worried. In the last five days we have been to and seen places so beautiful I had never imagined they could have existed.
We are staying at Phi-Phi Casita which is a relatively new build, as is most of Phi-Phi, lot of it was flattened by the Tsunami of 2 years ago. Its only a short walk to the beach from our room but in that distance you can see what devastation there must have been. Things seem to back on the up though and theres construction everywhere so demand must still be high. Its a real travellers place, everything geared towards the backpacker not really the stereotypical holidaymaker. I think I've only seen one
Our longtail boat
we sailed around in this, our own personal boat, for the day. couple arriving with suitcases.
We have a room with a fan and a cold water shower. I wish it wasnt cold. I wish it was ice! The temperature in the room must, and I am not exaggerating here, be at least 50 degrees in the middle of the day. Its cooler outside, literally. Still.. its everything we could need and for another bargainous price of about 52 pence per night or something.
We have been out and about a lot, a couple of times to the beach at the back which is very nice and not far. There is a hut halfway there with "Snake Show" emblazoned on the side. I keep meaning to remind us to go but never do. One place we do always go is the Reggae Bar. Its a true phenomenon. I have considered contacting Carlsberg and recommending them to use it in their next 'If Carlsberg made bars' advert. Forget Phi-Phi, the Reggae Bar is true paradise! We discovered it on Saturday night when we were looking for somewhere to watch the Israel v England Euro 2008 qualifier. We saw the board outside saying they were showing it so had a look. The
Phi-Phi Lei
a stop on the boat trip place only has a massive screen, three floors on one side, an open air terrace and best of all a full size Boxing Ring where they have live Thai Boxing every night! From Thai Kids to proper Thai Boxers hoofing lumps out of each other, to volunteer novices doing it for a free drink. We had a good night there despite the dire football! There hasnt been a single night where one of the fighters hasnt fallen out of the ring, usually OVER the top rope.
Anyway, more importantly... yesterday we got ourselves up at about 7.45am and went down to Tonsai where the longtail boats go from. We hired one for a full day six hour trip around the other Phi-Phi Island which is Phi-Phi Ley. We had the boat to ourselves and a driver called Max who claimed to be twenty-four too. He took us around the Island and firstly to Maya Bay which is where the majority of the film 'The Beach' was filmed. We got there early to try and avoid the crowds and sure enough we got about ten minutes where there was us and two other couples. That was priceless. Maya Bay was
Maya Bay
before the crowds! the most beautiful place (and I think Clare shares my opinion) we have ever seen. Crystal clear water, the finest powdered sand and rainbow fish swimming with you. Just unbelievable. Sure enough though the crowds appeared and it was more like Costa Maya or Mayamellinos... its a shame they can't limit the amount of people that are allowed at one time like they do for the Inca Trail.
Today we have been to Long Beach which is lovely and also shared by fish. Thankfully there was shady spots on the beach - I have never seen either of us this colour before. Naturally being English it gets a bit much and we arent used to the intense sunshine so it was really nice to just sit quietly under a tree and read.
We have now just booked our ferry tickets back to the mainland - we leave tomorrow afternoon, sadly. Thailand is truly amazing and it will hopefully not be long before we come back to visit once more.
Love from us both to all at home, we hope you are all well.
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