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Published: June 22nd 2008
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On a spur of the moment decision we decided to go with our English friend Amanda and an English guy, Kevin, to Thailand and try to get some great weather. After squishing up in our rental car we returned it and hopped on a boat from Langkawi to Satun, which is a town in southern Thailand. We had heard it is easy as pie to cross the border here, so after a quick boat trip we were hauled onto a bus and a few hours later were driving through southern Thailand. Because of our sicknesses we were becoming pretty behind on our planning and reading, ie none whatsoever, so when we arrived we had no idea what to do! But with advice from our Pommie accomplices we all took off on a four island trip the first day of arrival. We decided to do the traditional ‘long boat’ trip which costs about one quarter of the price of the speed boat, but gets you very wet! The trip was great and we saw caves, islands, beaches, cliffs, fish and fisherman . We visited West Hat Rai Leh, Hat Tham Phra Nang and East Hat Rai Leh, near Krabi. Our first
impressions of Thailand were that it has more natural beauty than Malaysia, is cheaper and far more touristy. We had taken advantage of being able to escape crowds and see nice things throughout Malaysia, but here even in low season there are people everywhere (mostly English and Americans).
The lifestyle here is typically hedonistic, but we didn’t realize how messy and dirty everything would be. For example a cave we went to was completely littered with wooden objects in Hat Tham Phra Nang. We thought it looked a bit weird, but when we looked closer we saw that they were all very detailed ‘phallus’ symbols. Hundreds of them. Apparently they are offerings to a goddess of the sea from local fishermen who want good luck with their catches. Hmmm what every women wants. The idol worship is a big thing here, with 95% of the population being Buddhists and most houses having spirit houses at their doorsteps. The ‘wats’ are very common and house Buddhist monks and nuns who study and work around the premises. We visited the local ‘tiger temple’ which was a 1200 step walk to the top of a very steep hill with a large Buddha
at the top. The temple monkeys were good thieves and not afraid to get close; one stole our water bottle and tried to drink from it (with the lid on).
The islands have been great, but the most fun we have had was hiring a scooter for a day (sorry mum’s). Yes we know 20 tourists die a year on them, people get scratched, broken and sore but we just had to! For 100baht (NZ4) we hired one for the afternoon and went to a local waterfall, cave and temple. Matt was a great driver….until we had to stop at the petrol station and couldn’t turn it back on! After the attendant looked at us like we were completely retarded we flew off into the mainland, getting our free air-conditioning!
The second day we were in the Krabi province (taking advantage of our $6 a night room) was Kevin’s last day so we went to Rai Leh beach, which is THE spot in Thailand for rock-climbing…well one of the very many. Apparently a couple of the European instructors live in one of the caves…hmmm comfy. We had a very hot and sunny day and so took it easy
exploring the island, swimming and photo-taking. The local soccer tournament was on the main beach and we watched some of the 6 or so games on the sand. The beach was pretty crowded, especially for the fact that we are probably in one of the lowest times of the whole year to visit. But this was nothing compared to our next destination: Ko Phi Phi Don, and island halfway from Krabi to Phuket.
After making the 2 hour boat journey, (with Matt spewing four times off the back of the boat, food poisioning not seasickness) we arrived in the busyness of Phi Phi. The crowds are mostly due to the movie ‘The Beach’ being filmed in nearby Phi Phi Lei. We had heard that Phi Phi is far less built up and more beautiful than Phuket, so we were very surprised when we walked through the ‘village’ of stalls, backpackers, rubbish and construction. Not surprisingly the island has seen better days (ie before Boxing Day 2004) but it seems that reconstruction is quite slow and rubbish and ruins are very prominent. Around 70% of the islands infrastructure was destroyed during the tsunami, which is amazing to consider when we
look at all the buildings now. Up to 2500 are thought to have died here with almost 100 orphans on the island. These are pretty remarkable figures when you see how small the island is. The devastation of the island is not surprising as the tourist spot lies on a (obviously sea-level) spit between two bays, and with the tsunami rising to at least 3m above sea level there was no chance. A sad video of the tragedy shows the beauty of the island and some sad scenes just after. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/465403/tsunami_thailand_koh_phi_phi_island/
Aside from our English friends, we have met some cool people here. There are the common young backpackers who are doing things on a very tight budget but can apparently afford unlimited drink (in Thailand it’s the ‘buckets’), the middle aged lone tourists who are usually interesting and have good information, and the late 20’s/early 30’s couples who have a little more money. We are somewhere in the middle trying to talk to most people and share advice. It can be quite exciting when you see a Kiwi, or even an Australian, because the accent sounds that much more similar. We found the top five things people seem
to talk about are 1) money, 2) where you’ve been/going, 3) where you are from, 4) weight of luggage (and getting rid of some) and 5) facebook! Haven’t met anyone who isn’t on it!
Unfortunately Matt’s stomach bug worsened after the boat trip and Jane got a cold, so the first couple of days in Phi Phi were spent in bed (for the first time we paid that little bit extra for aircon). The good thing about our trip to Phi Phi is that we timed it perfectly with the Full Moon Party in Koh Phang Nga. If you haven’t heard of this rave, it is the biggest beach party in the world and goes incredibly crazy every full moon. Being near impossible to find accommodation on the island, other islands free up (slightly), which is good news for us.
When our sickness improved (antibiotics, rest and vitamin C) we went on another day tour throughout some of the Phi Phi islands. Amazing. Maya bay was stunning and ridiculously crowded (we counted 21 boats), Bamboo island had amazing water, Viking Cave was intriguing and Lo Sama was great for snorkeling. The water is so clear here, which can be
a good and bad thing; bad because you can see the huge quantities of rubbish. We also scaled the hill for a nice viewpoint over both bays, which was absolutely stunning. Next stop is Phuket, a one and a half hour boat trip away.
PS. Top ten most popular things in Phi Phi are…. thai pancakes, bars, ladyboys, massage centres, tattoo artists, reggae ‘bars,’ rubbish, clothing stalls, cats (most with missing tails) and longboats.
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Ngaire
non-member comment
Southern Thailand
Spectacular scenery, what about the water!! Your photos are so clear, postcard quality. Malay Bay certainly looks appealing, great for the movies! You certainly captured a lot on camera despite your health problems, well done!! Love to you both, from Ngaire,xx