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Published: February 8th 2009
Like really? Who would have thought that I could travel literally halfway around the world and still have people assume that I'm hispanic? Certainly I didn't think so, and I was obviously wrong. I love the girls that I've been traveling with for the past couple of days but I definitely feel like Caroline must feel all the time, like when you tell a story that apparently is only funny in English and you get to the end of it and you can tell they are still waiting for the punch line. But let me just say, that it was pretty clear last night that I look hispanic until I start to dance, and then it's just 100% clear that I'm a gringo. Speaking of last night, we started the night by going down to the Apache beach bar and watching the fire shows - where the Thai dancers dance with flaming batons to a DJ set of top 40s music, and then they have a flaming jump rope/limbo pole that they pull out every once in a while for audience participation. The whole place had a really nice vibe with people just chilling out on the beach and drinking, and we met a British girl named Katy (on her birthday) who eventually convinced us to head down the beach to Ibiza so we could dance. When we got there the place was pretty empty, no more than 15 people or so but everyone who knows me knows I fucking LOVE techno music. So we spent the next few hours dancing the night away on the beach and when I looked around next the place was packed, and we stayed there until it closed sometime after midnight and before dawn (but I have no idea when). In all it was a really really fun night and exactly what I had been looking for.
Today we woke up early and I got breakfast and then climbed to the Phi Phi lookout so that you can see the main sandbar of the island and the view is breathtaking. I think that for me Phi Phi Don (the inhabited island) is one of those places that looks really striking from a distance but up close it definitely loses something. Once you get down to the beach you realize that the water is very shallow, there are rocks in the water, etc. I think there may be other beaches on the island that are nicer but you have to either hike there or charter a longtail boat and it just never happened.
Ko Phi Phi Leh on the other hand (the uninhabited island) is EVERYTHING it looks like from far away. Absolutely incredibly stunning. We chartered a longtail with three Argentinian girls (Caroline!) and snorkled at Monkey Beach (didn't see any monkeys but Bellen managed to step on the coral and come away with pieces of it in her foot that are still there now). We spent the majority of the time at Maya bay which is the place where the Beach was filmed and then took the boat around the island to a couple of the other bays and watched the sunset on the way back to the main island. I literally can't describe how majestic Phi Phi Leh is in person, its absolutely awe-inspiring to me that this island exists, and I'm afraid pictures can't capture it either. If I were to come back here again I would definitely take the package that allows you to sleep for a night on the beach in Maya Bay.
Anyways my cold is almost gone, my burns are slowly healing, and tomorrow I'm off to Ko Lanta. I've been trying and failing to travel by myself for the past week, so we shall see how this attempt goes.
Happy Birthday (tomorrow) Melanie!
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toby
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I am stalking your travel blog yay!
I am hoping that by reading this i not only get to keep up with your adventures but also absorb some of that warmth and sunshine through internet osmosis. The beach sound incredible...too bad about the monkeys,i hear they are stealthy beasts.