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Published: August 8th 2007
Linda on Koh Phi Phi
Hello again from sunny Thailand! This time I've been marginally better at keeping this up to date as I usually leave it for a long time and have forgotten half of what has happened, as well as being in a crazy rush to read about 100 emails and respond to everybody! Since the last entry, I had departed fro Hua Hin (5 hours south west from Bangkok) to meet my friend Linda at Koh Phi Phi (pronounced Koh Pee Pee; Koh means island incidentally) whom I'd met some months ago back in Laos (wow, that seems such a long time ago now). I took an overnight "VIP" bus (which had enough legroom even for me!) leaving Hua Hin at 10pm, stopping several times along the way for refreshments etc. Needless to say it wasn't the most peaceful night's sleep but I awoke the next day in a small town on the east coast, and had only a short wait to catch another bus for the 2 hour leg to the Andaman sea side of Thailand, arriving at Krabi (which looked quite attractive), and hopping onto a boat for another 2 hour trip to the island.
I started to read a book
Linda relaxes on Koh Phi Phi
that entitled 'not so funny when it happened' about travel tales that go awry, but it wasn't actually that humourous so instead I ordered a beer Chang (6.4%) and just enjoyed the trip (and the sight of many blong Swedish girls in skimpy bikinis).
Approaching the island, we sailed past huge limestone cliff 'karst' formations, similar to those in Vietnam at Halong Bay - these are beuatiful huge pillars of rock rising from the turquoise blue sea, with extremely steep sides and covered in thick tropical forest. Once at Koh Phi Phi, Linda met me at the pier, and helped me find a guest house in the village. My first impressions were pretty good - the water was clear blue and the island is very attractive, despite being hit by the tsunami a few years ago (though there is still some clearing up work to be done - parts are still littered with debris, bottles and plastic bags, etc). Actually the guest house was not that great - 700 baht (nearly 20 dollars) for a very poor room, which is the norm on the island as there
are so many rich western tourists staying just a few weeks, it
A beach on Koh Phi Phi
seems they spend a lot of money and push up the prices. I'd say it was easily one of the worst rooms I've had (compare this to the 20$ room in Vientiane that had wooden floors, foutons, a flat screen TV and hot water and it's simply no contest!). That aside, there are some great places to stay, if you are willing to spend 1500 or 2000 baht - luxury resorts for example.
The first day we went to the beach immediately and drank rather copious amounts of beer and Spy Wine coolers (very popular here, though I've never seen them back home), while catching up about the last few months' travels. Linda was annoyed that the bar we were at kept playing Tracey Chapman songs, though I thought they were OK and quite sombre. Later she asked the bar to change the CD but they played some awful dance music, which everyone else (except me) seemed to enjoy! That night we visited a couple of bars (there are so many in the town) but unfortunately there were so many western
A lovely view, Koh Phi Phi
Those beach bums are everywhere! :-) not sure who this is, but wanted to show everyone back home what they are missing!!!tourists everywhere (and hardly any Thai people). Next day we'd booked onto a one-day tour in order to
A lovely view, Koh Phi Phi
Those beach bums are everywhere! :-) not sure who this is, but wanted to show everyone back home what they are missing!!!see some nearby islands and to do some snorkelling. I was so tired that I slept on the boat the first hour or so, missing the 'Viking Cave', though I later learned that the walls have been painted with images several hundred years ago, of 'viking' style boats. Once we'd stopped at Koh Phi Phi Le (small Koh Phi Phi - this is where the movie The Beach was partially filmed) there was sufficient time snorkel in the shallows and then clamber through a small opening in the rock to the interior of the island, to reach Maya Bay (remember the amazing beach in the movie?) - it was extremely picturesque but totally overrun by tour groups, so it was pretty hard to really enjoy it - all this in low season (low as it's too hot), I wonder what it's like when peak season is in full swing?! Somebody told me later that coming
Maya Beach, Koh Phi Phi Leh
I think I see Leonardo Di Caprio! Yes this is where The Beach was filmed late on or really early is much better with fewer people, though it's not possible to stay on the island itself and it's also part of the national park so is heavily protected. Koh Phi Phi itself is packed full of Swedes - apparently it's
Maya Beach, Koh Phi Phi Leh
I think I see Leonardo Di Caprio! Yes this is where The Beach was filmedpossible to fly direct from Sweden to nearby Phuket. I think Jonny would have loved it, as he has said on numerous occasions that he only likes blond girls with large personalities! :-)
Soon it was time to resume the one-day tour, so we returned to the boat and at this point I realised my camera battery was almost flat (I always forget to charge it) so I took only two pictures that day. We also also went to 'monkey beach' and we canoed around a little bit, and visited several other picture-postcard beaches. I didn't snorkel that much as there was loads stinging creatures in the water (sea lice or jelly fish, no one seems quite sure) but there were hordes of fish to be seen! There was also a monkey on the
Monkey Beach, so it's nice to see it really does justify the name. I should also mention I was slightly sunburnt the previous day (not too bad for the first time on this whole trip!) so I had to cover up most of the day.
We spent the next day at Long Beach - another part of the main island reacheable by taxi boat.
Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi
Later on that day I booked a boat ticket for the next day (Saturday) to nearby Phuket island in order to catch a bus to Ranong (to do a visa run i.e. get another 30 day allowance in my passport). My methodology was simple - to pick a travel agent with the cutest girls who smiled the most (!) which worked really well as I acquired a ticket and was also questioned about my marital status, my job, where I live, whether I want to go to the disco etc. Linda did not look impressed and suggested that I wasn't a proper traveller because I wasn't constantly hunting for the cheapest price. I think the experience of being chatted up by 3 hot Thai girls was worth spending the extra
50 pence for personally! :-) I didn't fancy a stop in Phuket as I had read it was very crowded and touristy, with neon signs, bars and clubs everywhere - since I've been to so many places like that I really didn't fancy a stopover in such a place so I planned to pass straight through.
The last evening on Koh Phi Phi was fairly uneventful - we popped
Long Beach, Koh Phi Phi
Looking the other wayinto several bars and then I stumbled into a karaoke bar which amazingly had only Thai people inside. Karaoke is so popular here, they even have it on the buses and the videos play incessantly everywhere. A drunk Thai bloke tried to sell me some contraband to smoke (I don't really fancy 20 years in a Thai prison, especially after reading the book "Welcome to Hell" about an Irish chap who spent 7 years in jail in Bangkok!) but I gracefully declined, bought him a Singha beer instead and headed home.
Next day I said goodbye to Linda (she is heading south to Malaysia, which I plan to do in a few weeks) - I will try to meet up with
Me at Long Beach
A bit sunburnt, but it wasn't too bad! her next year in Holland as she is extremely entertaining. Since my passport stamp / visa was about to expire, I needed to reach Ranong further north on the west coast (the Andaman sea side) close to Burma (Myanmar as it is now know), so I took a boat first to Phuket, then a bus to Ranong. When I arrived it in Ranong it was raining hard (rain at last was a nice relief!) which made a change
Me at Long Beach
A bit sunburnt, but it wasn't too bad!from the usual sweltering 30+ celcius. That night I wanted to find a good bar but the town was extremely quiet, I found the only nightclub in town ("Tatoo") which was empty, and then a karaoke bar full of attractive ladies! Since I cannot sing I called it a night and went back to the guest house. In the morning I'd booked my visa run through the guest house to accomplish the task with minimal effort, so I was picked up at 10 am and taken to the immigration office where I checked out of Thailand and paid my 500 baht fine (because my visa expired the previous day). It's rather
A shipwreck, Koh Phayam
At the aptly-named Shipwreck Beach strange as you basically 'leave' Thailand but you're still in the town on a normal street and could quite easily just head back to the guest house or go shopping etc. The taxi driver took me several kilometres away to the docks and onto a long-tail boat for the 30-minute trip to Victoria point on Kawthoun island (which is Burmese). Once there, I simply paid 10$ to the Burmese authorities and acquired a 1-day Burma stamp in my passport. The boat guy said we had only 5 minutes, so
A shipwreck, Koh Phayam
At the aptly-named Shipwreck BeachI took the advice of a German guy on the boat and took advantage of the ridiculously cheap alcohol prices - a bottle of Burmese gin cost only 35 baht (about 1 dollar or 50 pence). They also tried to sell me viagara and even valium!! Once all that was accomplished I sat back and thought Burma was a wonderful 32nd country to visit (and 6th on this trip) though 5 minutes is a little too short for my liking really. We returnd to the Ranong docks, where the taxi driver helped me return to the immigration office to check back into Thailand,
complete with a brand spanking new 30-day stamp in my passport, which is filling up quite nicely now.
I was wondering what to do the rest of the day, perhaps to visit the hot spring near the hotel (which hovers at around 65 degrees C according to the Lonely Planet book) or leave town same or next day. In the end the taxi driver suggested I visit Koh Phayam which is a fairly small island about 1.5 hours away and is known as a lovely spot to relax and unwind (yeah, because I have such stress
Sunset, Koh Phayam
Ahhh!on holiday, I need to relax a lot!!!!!). I returned to the docks and took the 2pm boat - again in rained so had to use my waterproof for the first time since Sapa in Vietnam, over 5 months ago. I'd read in my guidebook that Bamboo bungalows were nice so I took a motorbike taxi to the west coast of the island. Once there I discovered they were full so spent a night next door at Smile bungalows for only 300 baht in a lovely wooden bungalow right on the beach. It's so nice to sleep with the sound
of waves emanating from your window! However I did decide to move the next day back to Bamboo as there were more people staying and it was a bit more lively (though there was hardly anyone on the island to be honest). All in all, I spent a couple of days on Koh Phayam and it was really pleasant (and there was no mobile phone coverage, and electricity only a few hours each day!). I tried some "body-boarding" (like a small surfboard but you just like stomach-down on it and try to ride some waves, it's easy for beginners) though
Sunset, Koh Phayam
Ahhh!the waves weren't that impressive but it was still great fun - I burnt my back in the sun slightly and have just about recovered from that. I should mention that currently the temperature here really is soaring, and it's pretty humid too, which makes it rather uncomfortable to move or in fact do anything - it's becoming even hotter each day.
A few days later I returned to Ranong with the intention to take a bus back to Hua Hin and see my friend Da (the nurse I mentioned in the previous blog) with a
view to stay a few days then visit Koh Tao on the east coast, or perhaps Koh Samui then head to the far south to Koh Tarutao and then onwards to Malaysia. When I reached the bus station I was told there was a 2 hour wait for the bus, then a 7 hour trip back to Hua Hin. There was a taxi at the station and he asked me whether I'd like to make the trip for only 4000 baht (in 3.5 hours) !!!! This was way to expensive, but luckily 5 minutes later 2 Canadians arrived and we decided to pool
Sunset, Koh Phayam
Ahhh!our resources and share the taxi. We made it back to Hua Hin and I met Da who also found me a cheap place to stay (the Doghouse bar and guesthouse, it's 400 baht per night) with a really nice room only 5 minutes from the beach. I had a few lazy days in Hua Hin (waking up at midday every day!), then we decided to spend a few days together - she took Monday off work so we had 3 days and went to Ban Saphan a few hours down the coast. Ban
Saphan is a seaside town with a lovely long beach, great restaurants and is very peaceful and also very close to Koh Talu - a tiny little island with amazing coral reefs and gorgeous beaches. It must be a Thai secret as there were only a handful of falang (westerners) in town. We stayed at Coconut bungalows - 400 baht for an amazing bungalow with air-con, a TV, a fridge, and hot water!!! On Koh Phi Phi this room would have been about 2000 baht!! We had great Thai seafood at a little restaurant on the beach (well, basically just wooden tables plonked on the sand),
The main road, Koh Phayam
On a motorbikeand the next day took a snorkelling trip around Koh Talu. There were thousands of fish, it really was amazing and probably the best snorkelling I've done yet. It is a little surprising at first however to discover that most Thais can't swim, as they were all kitted out with life-jackets while in the water - I suppose taking swimming lessons is an expensive luxury in Thailand!
The next day we went to the beach, had more great spicy food and Som Tam (spicy papaya salad),
hired a motorbike and visited the huge wat (temple) and Buddha on the hill nearby. It was a stunning temple as you can see from the photos. We were very tired the whole weekend, so it was a very lazy few days but great to be somewhere so relaxed without so many tourists. Thankfully it's not featured much in the lonely planet which might explain it! After this we came back to Hua Hin by bus (just 2 hours) and I came back to stay at the back at the Doghouse guesthouse. I've been here a few days now, and am just contemplating where to go next - I plan to spend only
Playing volleyball, Koh Phayam
2 more weeks max in Thailand, then 4 weeks in Malaysia and maybe a few in Indonesia (perhaps to learn to surf in Bali!!!) so I think I'll go to Koh Samui for a few days, then Koh Tao which is renowned for it's snorkelling and diving. I might stay there for 1 week which should be enough to take a dive course, though I may leave that for Malaysia - it's something that I really must do despite the cost! After Koh
Another sunset, Koh Phayam
They have them everyday you know. Tao I'll perhaps go to Koh Lipe in the south (part of Koh Tarutao national park) then into Malaysia, after checking the travel situation (as it is quite dangerous in some regions and the UK travel advice is to avoid some of those provinces).
Other things that have happened recently worth a note are that while riding Da's moped last week around town, I was stopped by the police. I expected a massive fine as I don't have an international license and even if I did my UK license does not include bikes, but I simply had to pay a 200 baht fine (only about 3 pounds) - but the surprise was that they allowed me
Another sunset, Koh Phayam
They have them everyday you know.to continue on the bike as I had paid the fine. It's crazy that as long as you pay you can carry on breaking whichever law you have just transgressed!!
Also last night we went to a seafood restaurant in Hua Hin - we sat outside next to a fairly sizeable pond or water garden. Da asked me if I wanted to go fishing which I thought was weird (fishing at a restaurant?!?!);
they brought us a fishing rod and we caught 3 huge freshwater shrimps (kung in Thai). So it turns out they have a shrimp farm at the restaurant, and if you catch the shrimps you can eat them for free, they cook them in any style you want and serve them after your main meal. It's great fun, perhaps they should do this back at home somewhere?!
Also in Hua Hin, we've been to the night market several times where there are great bargains for handicrafts, T-shirts, DVDs, food, etc. There is a music festival on at the moment and I also tried my hand a shooting a proper rifle (the army is there, and let you shoot pistols and other assortments of weapons). I
Ice sculpture, Hua Hin
had never shot a gun before and achieved a great score - in 10 bullets I scored 38 points (out of 50) - more than the others who had practiced many times! In Hua Hin in the evenings everyone goes to the Hilton disco (very expensive drinks, 180 baht for a large beer!) and then the karaoke until 6 in the morning, which might explain waking up late every day!
I also went to see Ghost Rider at the cinema with Da, though this time there were no English subtitles and it was all dubbed into Thai. It's quite bizarre to hear Nicholas Cage speak Thai. Anyway the next day I bought the pirated DVD for $2 and could hear the proper English version on the DVD player at the guesthouse, though the quality is not that great. Well, it's a great film anyway with amazing effects...
Well, that's about it for the moment, I have to get down to the beach today as I've been extremely lazy, I have some relaxing to do so watch out for an update next week - I'll probably be on Koh Samui or Koh Tao.
Bye for now!
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jules
non-member comment
hi roly
when i went to phi phi they had just finished filming the beech and had palm trees planted with wire holding them up.koi samui was developed when i went in 1991 .krabi area is much better.unjoying your blog.shame i cant come and meet you