Thailand - Koh Phi Phi

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We arrived in Koh Phi Phi on Tuesday 17th April after a 10 hour overnight bus trip from Chiang Mai to Bangkok followed by a flight from Bangkok to Phuket and then a 2 hour boat trip from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi. After finding somewhere to stay, we went out for dinner before going to Apache Bar. This was a 3-tiered bar looking out onto the bay and we stayed there until the early hours of the morning. After a couple of hours sleep, I woke up at 11am and went to the beach for the day. In the evening, I had dinner at an 'all you can eat' BBQ restaurant before going to Hippies Bar for a couple of chilled out drinks. On Thursday I went to the beach until 4pm and then had a relaxing afternoon. Ian's friends arrived on Thursday so we went out for dinner and drinks with them. After leaving Apache Bar at 2am, I went to Reggae Bar until 6am. On Friday, I spent the day at the beach and then went out for dinner in the evening but I took a night off from drinking and had an early night. On Saturday we hired a speedboat for the day and were taken around a number of beautiful islands and beaches. Our day included snorkelling, cliff jumping (after a couple of beers) and 2 hours on 'The Beach' (the location used in the Leonardo DiCaprio movie). We also saw monkies on monkey island and fed them bread and water. Completely unplanned, we were very fortunate to see a school of dolphins swimming alongside our boat. At 5pm we decided to wait on the boat to watch sunset even though we were out of food and only had one beer each left. Jokingly, I asked our driver if I could take the speedboat for a spin to pass the time. When he said yes I jumped into position and went full steam ahead with steering wheel in one hand and beer in the other - great fun!! After sunset, we headed back to our resort to watch Spurs Vs Arsenal. We then went out for dinner before going to Reggae Bar where they had football on a large projector screen next to a Muay Thai boxing ring where customers were invited to fight each other or even the Thai boxers. After getting home at 4am, I had a few hours sleep before getting up and walking around for a couple of hours. The rest of the day was spent reading my book, listening to music, watching TV and sleeping. On Monday, we got up early as we were going scuba diving for the day. It was only 2 days ago that I went snorkelling for the first time and now I was going scuba diving. Our instructor explained the basics on the 45 minute boat trip to our first dive site. After putting on all the necessary equipment, we jumped into the water and went through a few training/safety exercises. Before long, we were 12 metres down on the seabed and were swimming around amazing coral, fish, lobsters etc.. To be honest, I was more focused on controlling my breathing and popping my ears to relieve pressure. After our first 45 minute dive, we relaxed on the sundeck of the boat and had lunch while we headed to our other dive site. The 45 minute afternoon dive was a lot more enjoyable and, being more calm and relaxed, I saw a lot more sea life. We were fortunate to see a large sea turtle along with many beautifully coloured fish. The boat returned at 3pm and we spent the afternoon relaxing before going out for our final night in Koh Phi Phi. After dinner, we tried a few different bars before frequenting our usual hangouts, Apache Bar and Reggae Bar. After another 6am finish, we had a few hours sleep before getting our stuff together and catching the boat to Phuket.

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