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Published: January 20th 2008
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Phi Phi streets
very small but full with shops and things Sa wat dee,
Our first impressions as we jumped off the ferry was 'WOW look how clear the water is'. The fish were all around and the sand was white and powdery. We had heard as phi phi was really small and still rebuilding after the tsunami in 2004, that its best to book early before you go, but we didn't bother and we tried to get lucky. As we got off the boat a little thai lady came running at as with leaflets about different hotels so we followed her to her office and try and book a hotel. It soon became apparent that the island was quite full as alot of the hotels were full, but we got a bed in a place called tropical garden for the night. Phi phi is very flat and you could see where the tsunami had hit and left huge amounts of rubbish, rubble etc.
Phi phi seemed similar to ko tao with all the bars and restaurants, with lots of young people. We found a room for the night at a place called tropical garden. The room wasn't brilliant for the money as it was a little hut in the
tsunami wreckage
the mess it still has left behind hills and wasn't the best, so we decided the next day we would move to the hotel which which next door to tropical for the remainder of our time in phi phi. The first day Rob got himself booked up on a diving trip, which was called a discover scuba dive. It was 2 dives, bascic skills and basic knowledge of diving. For the rest of the day we went to the beach for some snorkelling in the warmest and cleariest water your likely to find. Hans drinking lots of fresh fruit shakes and shes even got me drinking them to (only strawberry ones though!)
The heat in phi phi seems to be different from anywhere else weve been, maybe because its such a small island, were not sure but it is very hot! Han is constantly showering as she is struggling with the humidity! Grose! That evening we went to the reggaebar as they had a boxing ring, with thai boxing on. Every tourist can enter and they get a free bucket if they do. They come out all guns blazing, wearing a head mask and gloves, kicking the s*** out of eachother is pretty funny. After this
The building work..
..everywhere there are buildings being re-built the real thai boxers came in and it was really good to watch, Han didn't like it that much as they were knocking each other, then get back up, knock each other out on a regular occurance (And they certainly know how to fight). The stamina for them to be able to fight like that is immense.
The following day we were up about 6.30am for my diving trip. Han just went on the boat to top up her tan and take some pics, as she wasn't comfortable enough going diving. When we first got into the water and went under for the first time, i paniced myself and had to come back up, it was so weird to do the first time and it was unnatural, but after i steadied myself we went under and did the basic skills under water, which is quite usful to know. The first amzing thing i saw under water was an octopus, i couldn't believe it. It wasn't that big but to see one in the sea was amazing (but the best was yet to come). On my first dive i saw all the regular fish like nemos and angel fish, but
the edge of the beach..
..the tsunami wiped out everything, these are new buildings with the most amazing colours ive ever seen. after swimming round for about 10 mins, there it was... A LEOPARD SHARK! WOW ive actually seen a shark in the sea, unbelievable!! Still on my first dive i saw a big turtle swimming, moray eel, scorpion fish and along with all other types of fish.
On the second dive, i saw another turtle, this one was even bigger than the last, a trumpet fish, box fish (which are very dangerous) and 2 frog fish! I know your thinking frog fish what are they?? Well put it like this they are so rare, that there was a divemaster on the boat who had done 260 dives and this was the first time he had seen them and i had seen 2 in 2 dives - couldn't believe it, i was so lucky, everyone kept telling me - I had been spoilt!! But as weve found on this trip if theres a ying theres a yang. On arriving to the surface of the second dive, i was talking turned round talking to my instructor, when there it was! I knew instantly, i felt a sting round my arm, a jellyfish had got
me again - B*******!! But when i got back on the boat everyone was talking about what we had seen and i didn't care about the sting, i felt like the luckiest person on the planet at that minute and was buzzing!!
After when we got to phi phi, i was feeling so tired, diving had really taken it out of me, so we didn't do much, but we booked ourselves on the sunset tour to maya beach, where the film 'The beach' was filmed. The next day we got picked up at 3 to go on our sunset trip to maya beach. There were alot of people already on the boat when we arrived, so we sat on the front of the boat, which turned out to be the best place to sit. First we went to viking cave where drawings from the vikings were on the walls and that was pretty cool to see. Next we looked at a cave that a group of people lived in, in this cave swallows made nests from these spit, which were collected by the people and sold to restaurants to make the traditional birds nest soup (Which is really expensive
but a bit busy!
this was the only drawback. considering what it is made from of!). Next we went to monkey beach, where guess what, lots of monkeys where playing in the trees and we got to feed them.
Later we went to a cove where you could kayak or snorkel! First we went on a kyak where you could explore the cae and high cliffes. You could see for about 8 metres down! There were masses of fish around us, with lots of people jumping in with snorkels and masks to see them more clearly. After we had used the kayak i went snorkelling and Han stayed on the boat. After we went to the beautiful Maya beach. We got dropped off by some rocks and we had to walk to the beach as the boat was to big to reach 'The beach'. The sand was so white and soft, the water so clear and the surrondings where amazing! I can see why Leo was so happy here!! We played frisbee on the beach had had a laugh it was really nice but before you knew it, we were back on the boat for sunset. We got given fried rice and fresh fruit, which was anice touch,
the other end of the beach..
...there had been a recent boom of tourists apparently. listening to Jack johnson, i couldn't have been any more chillaxed if i tried! It was the perfect way to spend the evening, with really nice people and beautiful surroundings. When we got back we had to get ourselves packed up for ko lanta the very next day
Party on dudes
Rob and Han x x x x x x
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