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We had high hopes for Phi Phi, probably because of it being one of the islands that's most talked about, really that should have been a warning! It only takes an hour and a half from Lanta so we arrived early and traipsed around looking for somewhere that looked quiet enough to get some kip, tons of bars here and most accommodation above them! We eventually found a place a bit off the main drag (Harmony guest house) which was pretty small and cell like but it was 8 quid so we took it. We were staying in the main part of the island (Ton Sai) which really was more like Magaluf than a Thai Paradise! The place was full of teenagers, and resembled a rubbish tip, seriously it was disgusting, piles of trash, and the smell......! We took a walk over to long beach which took 20 minutes, walking past some v. nice resorts and it was by far nicer here. We did enquire about accommodation and a resort did have a budget hut, we planned to move over after our two nights at Harmony, but in the end we decided to jump islands early. On the evening we had
some pasta and a beer and watched some fire shows which entertained us for a while and then headed back to get some sleep at 11 ish, when most people were on their way out! I was so glad I had my ear plugs to drown out the noise, and our noisy neighbours a group of lads who came in at 5 and woke Paul. We sound boring, it just wasn't our scene. Phi Phi is most famous for the flim 'The Beach' and the next day we took a trip to visit where it was filmed, the island next door Koh Phi Phi Leh. On the way stopping at Monkey beach where we witnessed a load of monkeys playing and throwing plastic bottles, empty beer cans etc, it was sad to see on one of the most beautiful places on our planet. Our driver was a grump bag, 30 of us crammed on a long boat (well we did sign up for the cheapest trip!) it didn't balance properly and the sea was well choppy, I'll be honest, I was a bit scared! To access 'the beach' you get dropped off at the other side of the island. This
means a jump from your boat and a short swim towards the rocks and some ropes and ladder (see pic) looking back now this is all hilarious, but at the time not! So, we all get dropped off (our boat and another 3 with the same amount of people on) all swimming towards the ropes and ladder when two massive rouge waves hit us! Luckily Paul and I were far enough out, but we saw quite a few people get bashed into the rocks and then we later saw their injuries and the blood left on the ropes and ladder. After these two waves we swam super quick and managed to scramble to safety! The walk through the island to the beach is really stunning, its a beautiful place. There's no accommodation, but, you can get trips and stay in tents which we saw and looked pretty cool. The beach really was stunning, we were lucky and it wasn't so busy when we got there so managed to get some snaps before it got too crowded. We had an hour here which passed too quick and before I knew it I was back on the steps, Paul was in the
sea and encouraging me to get in before a big wave got me! I'm a strong swimmer and I was a little apprehensive so god knows how others might have felt! We then had the problem of not knowing which boat we were on, lots more had pulled up, we made a lucky guess and we were soon enough sat on the boat watching the hordes manage their descent into the sea! We were happy we got back to the shore in one piece and celebrated with a take out pizza and a chang on the beach! We'd had enough, not much else to do here so made the decision to leave the next morning onwards to Phuket.
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Dad
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Speechless!
Jane, I'm glad I didn't know how dangerous that was before you'd been - "blood on the ropes" does not sound good. The rest, marvellous. Take good care of her Paul.