Advertisement
Published: February 5th 2009
Edit Blog Post
We boarded our ferry from Ko Mook to take us to Phi Phi at 13.45 and arrived eventually at Phi Phi at about 17.30 a bit later than scheduled as when we stopped at Ko Lanta for passengers to get off the captain made a right hash of docking, it took him about 20mins. When we got off the ferry Chris was waiting by the dock for us, it was great to see his smiling face after 4 months away. 😊 Unfortunately there was no transport, boat or trolley to take us and our heavy backpacks to our accommodation so we set off walking, glad Chris was with us to help with bags. We finally reach Andaman Beach Resort where we are staying for the next 6 nights - after dumping our bags in our room Bill and Chris head down to the dive shop to book the next 5 days diving and then we find the nearest bar for beers, much needed by all 3 of us after travelling all day- we then walk a short distance and find a fish restaurant where we had a simple meal of Red Snapper, King Fish and Prawns with jacket potatoes and salad.
We had a few more beers and a good chat with Chris then headed back for an early night.
Next day Bill and Chris disappeared for most of the day, they did 4 dives and saw turtles, pipefish, squids and a leopard shark!! The leopard shark was aiming straight for Bill and veered off at the last second which was when he saw it - very surprised and too late to take a photo. In the evening we walked into town a bit further to eat and stopped at a different fish restaurant and had lobsters, red snapper and salmon to share. Then back to the bar where there was a fire show on the beach while enjoying beers and cocktails. Another late night with Chris.
Up early for a walk around village and to see another beach, leaving Chris asleep. Stopped in a nice bakery cafe for coffee and cakes. Bill and Chris dived in the afternoon, while Sue relaxed on the beach again. We ate at a restaurant called Unni's which had a very big menu including Mexican food which we all fancied, tortillas, burritos and fajitas. Sue had a huge bucket of viking absolute vanilla
vodka and lemonade with 3 straws which Chris and Bill helped out with but did not really like it. (where are you Jenny when I need you??) 😉 After our huge meal we brought tickets for a Thai Boxing match at the local stadium. we had ringside seats costing about 20 pounds each and sat behind the judge. The matches started with youngsters but the last 4 matches were very hard core, one guy had a cracked rib and one had his thigh muscle torn or something. The other two were knock outs. The last fight was the only one where they got paid and they were top class!!
1st February already!! Bill and Chris off for 4 more dives all day leaving Sue to find accommodation for our next stop in a few days in Phuket. Diving was very successful again seeing another leopard shark, but leaving Bill and Chris very tired. We decided to eat Thai food tonight and eventually found seats in a restaurant. Chris ordered Thai Style Noodles, very spicy and a big mistake!! They were so hot his lips were burning and we had to order some water, he eventually admitted he could not
eat them and ordered another meal. A late night again leaving Bill and Chris up drinking.
A late start today with Bill and Chris nursing hangovers - luckily diving was starting late morning - only 2 dives today and more relaxing and topping up of suntan for Sue. We were all very tired with the heat and decided to eat at the fish restaurant where we had eaten a couple of nights ago. We shared lobster, red snapper and tiger prawns, with jacket potatoes, washed down by singha beers and a couple of drinks in the bar on way back to hotel. Early night was needed as we were off on a snorkelling trip at 8.30 next day.
Walked down to meet our boat for the half day snorkelling trip to Phi Phi Ley and Maya Beach, where the film 'The Beach" was shot. After waiting over 40 mins our longtail boat was finally ready and we were kitted out with fins and snorkels. We boarded the boat through very dirty water by the pier along with about 8 other people. The 'captain' did not speak English so we were left guessing where we were. First stop was
to see Viking Cave and then on to Maya Beach. The beach would have been very picturesque if it hadn't been for numerous other longtail and speed boats on the beach as well. You had to imagine it with no tourists! Our longtail boat captain did not want to pay to pull up on the beach so we had to get out of the boat 75 meters out and walk to shore - we were not very impressed as it was very rocky in the water. After half an hour on the beach taking photos we walked back out to the boat and were then taken to a small bay for snorkelling - we saw some clams, parrot fish and many other small coloured fish and some sea slugs. After this we moved on to another bay for lunch - a soggy salad baguette and pineapple, Chris was feeding some of his to the fish! Final stop was to Monkey Island, again too many tourists and the monkeys all come out knowing they are going to be fed. The monkeys were very aggressive and fought over the food given them. We then head back to Phi Phi later than planned,
glad to get off the boat. Bill and Chris had to get back to dive for the final afternoon as Chris makes his way back to Bangkok tomorrow and we head to Phuket for a few days. Final 2 dives for Bill and Chris were successful as they saw Leopard sharks and Blacktips again 😊
Next morning we help Chris to pack as he is taking lots of stuff back for us - his bag ends up very heavy. A last couple of hours on the beach and we get the hotel bag man to take our bags on a cart which he pushes through the village streets to the pier. A couple of days earlier we bought tickets on the 2.30 ferry to Phuket, which Chris also had a ticket for. But when we get to the pier we discover there are two 2.30 Phuket ferries and we are on different ones 😞 After lots of hassle we manage to get new tickets to join Chris on his ferry (losing 700 baht in the process). Two hours later we arrive at Phuket Pier, say very sad goodbyes (I know Bill was crying but trying to hide it) and
Phi Phi Ley
One of the bays watch as Chris gets into his mini bus to the airport and we get ours to our Patong Beach accomodation.
Chris travelled a long way to see us for just 6 days. It was really great to see him and Bill really enjoyed the diving (14 dives in 5 days) even though it was exhausting 😉
Advertisement
Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0632s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb