Off to Phi Phi

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I got up Saturday morning, hopped on the local bus at Kata Beach to head back to Phuket town and meet up with Sadiki, arriving from Singapore. Sadiki & I had no way to contact each other at Phuket- no cell phone, no nothing(you realize how dependent...or seem to think how dependent we are on that little thing. All we set up was, "Meet me at the Bus Station"- said I via email. Once I got to the Phuket bus station myself, I realized, the place was huge...with different areas that make up "The Station." O well. I guess it can't be too hard to spot out one black & fabulous man amongst a sea of asians...might be a little difficult for him to spot me out. So I waited, and did circles around the station looking for Sadiki. Finally, 2 Hours later, he pulled up in a taxi van. Fantastic! Turned out, the van gave him a scenic tour around Phuket and the ride lasted a little longer than expected. A very typical thing in Thailand, as we soon found out---everywhere you go, on Tuk Tuk, especially, the driver would try to take you places to see "beautiful hand made things." It's a deal they work out with the stores to get a little commission for bringing customers.

So off we went to a travel agency nearby, and bought our ferry tix to Koh Phi Phi!

A little history about Koh Phi Phi-- There are mainly two big islands that make up Phi Phi Islands (Koh means island): Phi Phi Don & Phi Phi Leh. Phi Phi Don is where all the infrastructure & inhabitants and tourists live. Phi Phi Leh is mainly for swimming, visiting, and there are no housing of any sort on this island. The rest of the islands are small "rocks," or really just limestones in the sea. Phi Phi Leh was where the Beach was filmed (yup, that Leo movie). Apparently, people who often visit Thailand shun that movie for making Koh Phi Phi incredibly crowded and no longer a hidden gem. It's still pretty nice in my opinion.

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Photos

Tsunami Escape Route
Koh Phi Phi was hit hard by tsunami back in December 2004 that wiped out almost entirety of the island. Influx of volunteers rushed in to help rebuild the communities and power lines were actually then introduced. Today's tourists can actually take hot showers because of these new implementations..interesting, eh?

Koh Phi Phi Don
By the pier

Path to the View
a very very very steep little hike...pictures can be deceiving. We stopped at least...5 times just going up this one portion of the hike.

Hike up to the View
Another portion of the hike ...terrain changes, but still as steep as ever!

The View
looking straight ahead

The View
to the left

The View
To the right

Ms. Pum's Chef
Our teacher for our Thai cooking class at Ms. Pum's Restaurant.

Apron is on!
getting ready to cook an authentic Thai dinner with our Thai chef.