The most procrastinated over blog post ever!!

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I apologise for the delay on this post but I knew it was going to take me a long time to write so I kept putting off writing it. Koh Phi Phi was 6 days of lying on a beach mixed in with some fun filled activities so rather than do 6 days I'm just going to pick the best parts and tell you about them.



THE JOURNEY TO PHI PHI

As mentioned in my last post we had to get the bus to the boat at 6:30am and decided that staying out until 3am was a great decision. It is safe to say that when our alarms were going off at 6am we no longer felt that great about doing it. The first leg of our journey was the ferry to Surat Thani and was in eventful (mostly due to the fact that in Classic Lauren fashion I passed out as soon as the engine started). Once arriving at the port we embarked on a 6 hour coach journey to Krabi. The coach was on its last legs (this is putting it nicely) with duck tape holding the seats together and the remains of a light fitting on the roof. While this is all standard practice in Asia it was the bus driver stopping around 3 or 4 times at the side of the road and continually telling just Hannah and I that it was our stop when it definitely wasn't that did not instil confidence in us. Luckily we made it to Krabi and after getting left at what can only be described as a shack on the side of the road (aka the port ticket office), and waiting an Asian 10 mins (40mins), we were herded on to a minibus and taken to the actual port. This port deserves a mention because not only was it the fanciest we've been to (because it had an actual building) but it was also built like a maze which required us to stop for directions every 10 meters. We finally got on the boat and at 4pm we arrived on Phi Phi island (wahoo) and went off in search of our hostel and Alex, Laura and Katy (who we met in Koh Samui and agreed to meet in Phi Phi).

*I'd also like to note that we were each charged 20 baht to get on to the island which goes towards keeping the island clean and environmentally clean - this was not implemented as phi phi was filled with rubbish!! (Such a shame because it really is a beautiful place.)



ANNA'S RESTAURANT

This lovely establishment deserved a mention as we ate here about 6 times in our 6 days on the island. It was run by an English guy called Richard (who loved Alex and gave her free food much to Katy's annoyance since she found the place haha) and was named after his girlfriends daughter (cute). The food here was amazing and anyone who is in Phi Phi should go at least once (it's down near the pier) and order the massaman curry. Richard was very good at toning down the spice for all the anti spice crew (*cough* Hannah & Alex).



PRINCE/THE FIRESHOW/I LOVE PHUKET GUY

The night before we had arrived Alex and Katy had gone to a bar called Ibiza bar on the beach and one of the waiters called Prince had taken a shine to Katy. When we headed back the next night (Mine and Hannah's first night) there was more creepy perving from Prince and what became catchphrases of the island were uttered (these included 'Katy Katy I watch you' and 'I love English girls'). I was also unfortunate enough to experience my own version of prince here who pinched my cheeks, called my name in an extremely creepy manner and being told that I was very lucky he loved me because he didn't know me.

While at Ibiza bar we watched the fire show which was definitely one of the best we had seen. It's pretty amazing how casual the guys who are throwing fire around are about it. It's definitely a talent.

After the show ends the guys get out the classic traveller skipping rope and limbo pole on fire. We decided that observation was the best choice for our uncoordinated group. While there we saw a very interesting character who was in his 40s with a big old beard and wearing an I love Phuket t-shirt (while we did not visit Phuket we have heard from others that Phuket is not a place to love). This guy also had a side kick around the same age wearing a 'same same but different' vest. Both of these guys proceeded to get very involved in the skipping and the limbo (you could tell they had done it many many times before) while being watched by I love Phuket's daughter who looked about 3 and was just sitting in the bar on her own at about midnight. At times she got really lucky and her not so sober dad would put her on his shoulders and skip in the fire with her on his back. While I'm not opposed to this guys banter seeing his 3 year old struggle to stay awake while he's off skipping in fire was quite an eye opener. We also saw him and his pal later that night with the girl moving on to the next fire show.

Moral of this story: people in Phi Phi are crazy haha!



BLANCOS/BLANCOS BOY

On our first night after being slightly traumatised by Ibiza bar we headed on down the beach and went to a bar that we were told was popular called Blancos. We headed in and went to the bar, once everyone got a drink we turned around to be treated to the sight of a completely naked boy dry humping a girl in her underwear over a chair. Apparently this is how you play sexy jenga (NO THANK YOU). We made a swift exit and headed elsewhere now completely traumatised.

The next day we found out that the naked boy mentioned above was actually staying in our dorm. After around 5 minutes of listening to 'Blancos is the best', 'I always tell girls that they might have to get naked before they play sexy Jenga' and claims that he worked there (he didn't, he just went there and played sexy jenga so much they gave him half price drinks) he was swiftly named blanco boy. While he was a nice enough chap his ridiculously huge love for Blancos and inability to understand why we didn't think sexy jenga was a good game only added to the conclusion that people on Phi Phi were crazy!



THE NIGHT WE BECAME 'BOSS' AND 'MUSCLES'

On our second night we played some drinking games with everyone in our hostel before heading out. A guy called Tom had just arrived and he took charge of organising the games. He also implemented the international drinking rules (anyone who doesn't know this means you have to drink with your left hand, can't say the words mine, ten or drink and some other rules). Hannah and I put back on our social secretary and vice-captain hats from second year of uni and embraced the rules as we had used them every week at hockey socials. I have to mention here that Alex, having not being used to this, sat quietly in the corner terrified to speak or say the wrong word, it was the quietest we had ever seen her. While Tom was chief organiser he was not very good at not saying the word drink and so after catching him and quite a few of the other guys who were there out consistently he nicknamed me 'The Boss'.

While playing these games if you did something wrong you had to do a forfeit. In this case it was 10 press ups (not the girly ones). When it Hannah's turn she stepped up like a champ and bossed her press ups thus earning herself the nickname 'Muscles'.

Both of these nicknames lasted for the rest of the time we spent with Tom and the other guys and it was a bittersweet moment when we heard 'bye Boss, bye Muscles' as they headed off to continue their travels.



THE DAY HANNAH BECAME A MERMAID

On one of our beach days Alex decided that someone was going to be buried in the sand and made into a mermaid. A very easily persuaded Hannah jumped at the opportunity. So we used our buckets (collected from the drinks buckets we had had the night before) and got to work. We definitely received a lot of strange (and quite clearly jealous) looks from the other beach goers as we created a very beautiful mermaid (Katy's artistic skill has to be commended here). Once Hannah was well and truly buried and resembling Ariel without the red hair the rest of us descended into the sea leaving her alone. We had timed this very well as quite a few newbies had obviously just gotten off the boat and were making their way down the beach to find a hostel. They had a fantastic welcome from Hannah the mermaid and some very suave guys got a 'Lads' (you had to see this to find it funny sorry!). There was also a fire guy practicing his fire stick skills (without the fire) who came over and attracted more attention to our little mermaid. All in all the experience created a ridiculous amount of entertainment, maybe we were turning into those crazy Phi Phi people?



THE MOST EVENTFUL BOAT TRIP EVER (this is a big one!)

We all decided to do the day boat trip around the Phi Phi islands which included visiting Maya beach (The Beach beach). At 10:30am on the day of the trip we found ourselves parked outside a chemist with the rest of our tour group. We were led to the port and shown the long boat we were going to spend the day squeezed like sardines on. I'd like to take a moment here to mention that Alex was very disappointed as she thought that we were going to be on a proper boat that she could sunbathe on haha! On the boat we met Iain and Gary (two really weird English guys with dodgy tan lines - just kidding Iain!!) and so we added some testosterone to our group.

Our first stop and event of the day was when we stopped at shark point to do some snorkelling. We all jumped out to give it a go but the sea was so ridiculously choppy it was pretty much impossible and so after 10 mins of tiring ourselves outstaying afloat and trying not to swallow all of the sea we made our way back to the boat (which had floated away, brilliant start!). Once on the boat we heard shouts of help and saw Iain (the hero he was) holding a Chinese girl afloat. Turns out she had panicked and just couldn't keep herself afloat so had nearly drowned. All the captain had to say about this was 'I told you to stay near the boat' as they were a little bit away! Luckily all was ok and the girl got back on the boat and we headed to Bamboo island.

On the way there the waves were splashing straight into the boat so everyone and everything on the boat was absolutely drenched. There was also a very hungover Irish couple on the boat who were not dealing well with their seasickness - by not dealing well I mean he was sitting at the back of the boat throwing up over the side haha!

We finally made our way to Bamboo island and once there we got off the boat and headed to its very very beautiful beach - think white sand and crystal clear waters. After an Asian hour (aka an hour and a half) we were back on the boat and on our way to monkey island.

This wasn't really an island, more a shore with trees and loads of monkeys. It was very cool to see the monkeys up that close but there were some stupid people there who decide that pulling the monkeys tails and putting their faces right up to the monkeys was a good idea.

Our next stop was a very beautiful lagoon where the water was calm and we went snorkelling again. This bit was so cool as the fish were so close and so so colourful and Hannah and I were finally able to utilise our snorkelling lessons from Koh Tao. After about half an hour most of us were back on the boat and Katy threw some rice into the water right where Hannah was snorkelling so the fish would swim at her. Hannah said this was a very cool experience as the fish literally swam at her face.

After snorkelling we headed further into the lagoon and as we were one of the first boats to do this it was very peaceful. We left the snorkelling stuff behind and our little group of guys and girls got out while everyone else stayed on board. Here the view was pretty breathtaking - both when you were floating looking up at the rocks surrounding us and the clear blue sky and when you looked into the crystal clear water and could still see all the fish around you.

After a while some more boats pulled up and some guys were jumping off into the lagoon. One guy pulled off a very impressive back flip off the front of the boat which led to his group of pals getting to a serious discussion about how another one could also perfect this skill. The guy who ended up stepping up to the mark approached the edge of the boat pretty nervously and then proceeded to take his turn. Unfortunately for this guy instead of back flipping into the water he did a back flip and cracked his head off the boat and dropped into the water like a rag doll. Once he hit the water he resurfaced with blood pouring from his head and was pulled back on the boat by his friends. The captain and other Thai people there got his some rags and tied them round his head - needless to say that was his day trip over. With the peace ruined and all pretty shocked with what had just happened we decided it was time to move on.

Not long after, with our boat providing zero aid to the wounded solider, we arrived at Maya beach. To get to the beach we had to climb over another longboat, jump in the sea (which was pretty choppy again) and swim over to a dodgy rope ladder/net thing which we were then to climb up. This wouldn't have been a problem had there not been about 40 other people at the bottom trying to get up, people coming down, rocks and the waves pulling you back and forward away from the rope and then into people. When I finally got to the rope there was a guy, who had just got down, sitting at the bottom having a chat with his pals. So I climbed over him and was quickly at the top. We later found out that there is actually an easier way in between some rocks but where's the fun in that? We all regrouped, got our valuables from the captain and headed to the beach. The beach was absolutely beautiful and was in a little cove. We spent about an hour here swimming and chilling before it was time to go back 😞.

We were supposed to wait at another spot to see the sunset but seasick people and cloudy weather meant we voted against it and headed back to dry land.

While the boat trip had many eventful parts we had a really fun and day and it was definitely up there with one of our favourite day trips.



THE DAY 5 BECAME 3 😞

On our 5th day on the island it was time to say goodbye to Alex and Laura. We all got matching bracelets (which I lost 2 days later in Krabi - sorry guys!!). It was a very sad moment at the port when we had to wave them and their big bags away after some tears (*cough* Katie) and cuddles. It's very strange how when you are travelling and you really click with people and get the chance to spend time with them how close you become. These girls became like our family and it wasn't the same without the whole group together.



VIEWPOINT

After a very sad morning saying goodbye to 2 of the troop, Katie, Hannah and I decided to finally tackle the viewpoint to watch sunset. I cannot describe just how steep the steps to the 1st viewpoint is and then you have to go even further to get to the best viewpoint. The walk up takes about 25 mins so it's not too bad but the heat makes its tough enough climb. Once we got up the view was totally worth it but unfortunately it was a little too cloudy to see the sunset so we decided to get up at 5am to come up and see the sunrise the next morning.

*Here I have to mention that when we returned to dorm we had some new roommates, one of whom greeted me in the middle of the room in just a g-string!! We were pretty boring this night and stayed in and went to bed earlyish as we were going to do the sunrise. However, our new roommates had other ideas about letting us get any sleep.*

To cut a long story short Hannah and I got up at 5am very grumpy having been kept up all night and plodded up the viewpoint (Katie somehow managed sleep and didn't want to get up haha) even though it was raining and we knew we wouldn't see any form of sunrise. It was pretty cool when we did get up as we were the only people there. We spent a lovely peaceful hour up there watching it get lighter and generally enjoying the view.



THE NAVY SONG

While we were in Phi Phi Alex taught us a lovely little song about the sea which we have taken with us and every time we have seen the sea since we have a little sing of it!

'We joined the navy to see the world,

What did we see? We saw the sea.

We saw the Atlantic and the pacific,

But the Atlantic wasn't romantic and the pacific wasn't all it's cracked up to be.



We joined the navy to do or die,

But we didn't do and we didn't die.

We were much too busy looking at the ocean and the sky.

What did we see? We saw the sea!'



Phi Phi was a very beautiful island which provided us with lots of fun and many memories. It was just a shame that it was so dirty and you could see how much damage the tourists and Thais were doing to the island. It was definitely a place of silliness and that rubbed off on us a lot.

It was Hannah's favourite island so I'll let her tell you why.



As Lauren has already mentioned this was my favourite Thai island, although not without its downfalls.

The natural beauty around the island did it for me, the view point was stunning, and the dramatic scenery when approaching the island pretty much made it a winner for me already. The day trip we had taken also took us to some incredible places, including the white sandy, crystal clear bamboo beach, the lagoon where we did some snorkelling, and of course maya bay (although I preferred bamboo).

The main thing that ruined the island for me though, was generally the type of people the island would attract. People obviously didn't respect the beaches, which meant they were littered in rubbish, which then never seemed to be cleared up. A Koh Tao vibe to the island would have made it 10x better.



Phrases from Phi Phi (for Alex, Katie & Laura):

'I woke up like dis... FLAWLESS'

Alex : 'that boy is a menace to society'

A blanco - an absolute douchebag guy

The wave (Iain you're included in this)

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