Phi Phi Islands – Day 3, 4 & 5

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Phi Phi Islands - Day 3, 4 & 5

December 7th, 2007 to December 9th, 2007

Day 3:
After a long journey to get to our first destination, we deserved to relax, so on Day 3, that is exactly what we did. We sat by the pool overlooking Patong beach. We did some swimming in the Ocean as well as in the pool. We had some cocktails and young coconut drinks. I got a Thai message on the beach where I met a couple from the US (Philadelphia). We chatted about our trips and how beautiful this place is. Her husband called it “Fantasy Island” and it is. Ken did not get at Thai message - It wasn’t his thing!

We arranged a tour for the next day to the Phi Phi Islands (Phi Phi Ley & Phi Phi Don). Ken is really looking forward to that trip. At night, we went for walk on the main strip which is right outside from our hotel and had Indian food for dinner. Ken said it was best Indian that he ever had (except for his own recipe of course!). We came back to our hotel to take a nap before going out the bars, but we never actually made it to the bars. We slept through and did not wake up until midnight. Our bodies are still stuck in the Pacific time zone.

Day 4:
We woke up around 6:00 am, had breakfast at the hotel and waited at the lobby for our tour guide. They were supposed to pick us up from 8:00 am to 8:15 am. At 8:20 am, we were still waiting for our guide and Ken started to panic. The hotel hostess called the tour guide a couple and they said they were on their way. About 9:30 to 9:40, the van showed up and we were on our way to the Royal Phuket Marina. Flash back to our trip to Cancun and Playa Del Carmen last year where we booked a trip to Chichen Itza and never made it. We went out to meet our bus at 8:00 as scheduled but 8:00 on our cell phone was actually 9:00 in Cancun! So we missed bus by an hour. Our Chichen Itza trip was re-scheduled to Playa Del Carmen but this time, the tour group sent us to the wrong hotel so we missed our bus again. It was very funny but at least we got a refund.

So back to our first tour in Phuket, we board our speed boat, and set off for the islands. Ken and I were the first ones to get on the boat, so headed to the front of the boat so that we would have a good view. About 5 minutes into our ride, the tour guide warn us to hold on tight “It is going to be a bumpy ride.” 10 minutes later, it was too much for us and we both went scurrying back to the inside of the boat with our tails betweens our legs. Ken was starting to turn green from waves and was afraid he was going to get sick but luckily that didn’t happen.

Our first stop was Viking Cave. Viking Cave is a bird nesting area for swallows. We were there for about 5 minutes to take some pictures then headed to our second stop Maya Bay. Maya Bay is what Ken and I came to Phuket to see. It is on the island of Koh Phi Phi Ley. We originally saw this beach in the movie “The Beach” which stared Leonardo De Caprio. Oh my God, Maya Bay was so beautiful. The water was so clear and the sand were just like powder. The limestone cliffs that circle the bay really gives the place a very special feel. I think it is the most beautiful bay in world. Unlike the rest of Phi Phi Don, this island does not have any hotels or commercial buildings as it is a national park. We were at Maya Bay about 40 minutes. We took lots of pictures and went swimming.

We then got back on the boat and went snorkeling off Monkey beach which was our third stop on the tour. The crew passed out pieces of bread Ken and I thought that was funny. Why would they feed us plain bread so we said no thanks We found out later that the bread was for the fish!!!! We snorkeled for about 40 minutes. There were so many topical fish and coral reefs. Ken and I snorkeled the whole 40 minutes and we enjoyed every minutes of it. We then got back on the boat and the crew passed out cut bananas. Again, we thought that was very odd. What an odd snack. We found out later that the Bananas were for feeding the monkeys. Oops we did it again! So Ken took a piece but I didn’t for fear of having my hand bitten by one of the monkeys. I heard that they were very aggressive. We were there for about 20 minutes.

We were next driven to our forth stop at Phi Phi Don for our buffet lunch (included with our tour) at one of the 5 star hotels. That was what our tour guide kept telling us. We thought it was actually more of a two star but the food was good. We were there for about an hour.

The fifth and final stop of our tour was to Khai Nok Island. It is very very small island with coral reefs around it. People were there feeding the fish and snorkeling. Our guide told us the nick name for this island was “Alcohol Island” because there were a lot of vendors there selling alcohol. We were there for about 1 hour and 40 minutes and fed the fish and took a few more pictures.

We board back the boat around 3:30 pm and head back to Phuket Island. We were back to the Royal Phuket Marina around 4:15 pm and did not get back to Hotel around 5:30 or 6:00 pm.

That night again we went walk on the main strip and stayed up until around10:30 pm. Our goal is to stay up until midnight tomorrow as we continue to re-set our internal clocks.

Day 5:
Today, we are just laid back, and sat by the pool and had a few drinks. I got another message and went for a swim. Ken arranged our next tours. Tomorrow we will be doing some canoeing around the caves at Phang Nga area. We will stop at James Bond island - the little island made famous in the file “Man with the Golden Gun.” (I think). For Tuesday, we will do some more snorkeling at Coral Reef island. Looking forward to another couple days of fun in the sun before heading to Chiang Mai!

The next few days will be a bit hectic so we may not write again until Chiang Mai. Ken will write that blog entry.

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