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Published: October 29th 2008
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My better side
On the beach in Ko Phi Phi So here's another exciting blog... we sat on the beach! Literally, there is not much cultural experience in Thailand, especially on the beaches where westerners out number local Thai people. From Krabi we took a boat to Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee- jokes are once again endless). Ko Phi Phi Don is the main island and this is where we stayed. We found ourselves a nice little room a few yards from the beach for about $6/person. Phi Phi is once again an expensive island with expensive accommodation and food. We ate ramen noodles for lunch almost every day that way we could afford to eat good dinners. One night we ate an all you can eat BBQ (it was $10/person, but worth it!) and we also found a great Italian place on the island (I know what your thinking, but you can only have so much curry and pad thai!).
We spent the first day there just relaxing and sitting on the beach. There are no cars on Phi Phi so you have to walk or take long tail boats to get everywhere and it makes the town really charming. I really enjoyed the little town- it had
Playing cards and being bored
See... not all of traveling is fun! great shopping and I didn't have to worry about getting run over by any motorbikes. Then the weather took a turn for the worst! For the next two days, it rained and rained and when it rains the town gets flooded so walking through it is not fun and you can't really lounge on the beach so there was nothing to do! We watched every movie on Jeff's Ipod and played so many games of rummy! This is when you realize how much you miss the simple comforts of home. Rainy days are never fun, but at least at home you have a house and TV to entertain yourself!
Now... for any of you who have seen The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio you know how gorgeous the beach is in it. Well... that's Ko Phi Phi- Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh to be exact. So- of course this is where I needed to go. I actually kept looking for Leo to spring up somewhere, but to my dissatisfaction, he never did.
In an effort to be entertained after two days of rain, we booked a tour to Phi Phi Leh and a few other islands for
the next day. We were finally going to Maya Bay and I was finally going to see "The Beach." We woke up to semi-clear skies which made me happy and boarded a boat for our day trip. We were suppose to stop at Maya Bay first, but according to our guides there were too many boats there so we would have to pull into another lagoon, snorkel through a cave and walk to Maya Bay. That's fine for most people, but the water had more fish than I have ever seen. I had a nervous break down about not wanting to swim with the fish and how I wanted my money back and we convinced the crew to kayak me to the cave so I didn't have to snorkel with the fish. There was a Japanese couple on the boat making fun of me and video taping my nervous breakdown- I'll almost punched them in the face! But, my new calm self just ignored them and got on the kayak.
I made it safely onto land and walked across the island to Maya Bay. As I came out of the jungle I said "Oh my God!", but not because
it was so beautiful, but because there were literally dozens of boats and hundreds of people- in one little bay! I was so sad... it was probably one of the most beautiful beaches I had ever been on and it was ruined by all these people. I guess everyone had the same idea as us. Maya Bay is Phi Phi islands' #1 tourist attraction and it shows. I just kept thinking of the damage we were doing to the gorgeous bay. And for the record there is no giant field with marijuana plants (I know you were all wondering!).
Throughout the day my environmental concern became worse. Speed boats would drop anchor on to the reefs, I would pick up tons of trash on these remote beaches and all the boats have a thick black cloud behind them from the motor. Someone needs to teach Thailand to GO GREEN!
So after the disappointment of Maya Bay we headed to a few other snorkel spots- I admired from the boat because of the whole "fish thing" and eventually we made it to Bamboo Island. By this time the bad weather had come back in and it was pretty rainy
and cloudy. I'm sure these beaches would have been gorgeous if it wasn't for the weather. I could tell the sand is usually white and the ocean is usually teal blue, but just not on our day.
After Bamboo Island, we went to monkey beach where people could feed the monkeys that lived there. These were the fattest monkeys I had ever seen. I guess with so many boats in and out each day they get their fair share of food. The people were getting really close to the monkeys and petting them and the monkeys were snapping at the people. It all just was a bit too much and once again showed me how people do not respect nature and will kill it for their own enjoyment.
The next few days were nothing more than lying on the beach. The boys decided to become open water dive certified and with my fear of fish I sat that one out. They spent three days studying and doing dives, so I spent them shopping and laying on the beach. It sounds nice, but after three days of this I was ready to get off the island. The boys would
be out having fun each day and in that time I finished two books on the beach. There is only so much lying around I can do! I did contemplate a lot what it would have been like during the tsunami. December is the high tourist season and as I sat alone on the beach I couldn't imagine a wave of water coming in and destroying everything around me. There is still a lot of construction on the island and I can just assume that it is still due to reconstruction after the tsunami.
Ok back to my bitterness of being alone on the beach... On one of their dives the boys got pretty lucky one day and saw a 14ft whale shark. Jeff and I have been talking about swimming with whale sharks for about a year now and OF COURSE he just happens to see one on his dive. They also saw a leopard shark, some turtles, a cuttle fish, eels, and lots of Nemos- not to mention the back flips that were done off the boat. All this while little old me was bored out of her mind on the sand. Ok enough bitterness- we all
Jeff and I at Maya Bay
Where is Leo? Ok... Jeff will do! know I would have freaked out because I don't like fish. But, it's not the big cool things that bother me; it's the schools of little tiny bastards that really creep me out.
I did manage to make Jeff do some stuff with me when he got back each afternoon. We hiked 100 meters straight uphill to a view point that overlooked the island and went to some great dinners with just the two of us. We had a few nice sunset drinks together and I really enjoyed having just the two of us time. I guess diving wasn't so bad because it tired Chris out and gave Jeff and I some time together. I'm sure Jeff was tired as well, but he was a trooper and knew I wasn't just going to sit around after I had sat around ALL DAY!
After a week on the island we decided island fever was getting to us and it was time to move on. I'm sure the boys could have stayed a few extra days to just relax, but I had done enough relaxing.
Phi Phi was gorgeous and I really liked the little town, but I think
I am getting ready to move on. Thailand is really touristy and just not giving me that cultural experience I got from the rest of SE Asia and China. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying myself and it's really easy to travel through Thailand, but I just think I'm ready for a challenge again. We still have a few places left to see in Thailand before we head south to Malaysia so I'm not out of here just yet!
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anonymous
non-member comment
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG great pics im incredible jealous and you look gorgeous (but eat more noodles) love you and miss you!!!