Krabi was a nice place. The only downside was it didn't have a beach, otherwise we would probably have stayed longer than just the one night. We went out for our first Thai dinner and ate a really good green curry for just over a pound! We decided to give Phuket a miss as we'd read it was mostly geared up for package holiday makers and that our budget wouldn't go too far out there. So instead we made our way to the island of Koh Phi Phi.
The ferry across to Phi Phi took 2 hours and we sat out on deck sunbathing. It was pretty chaotic when we arrived with dozens of touts trying to sell their accommodation to the couple hundred of tourists who had just arrived. It was really hot with our bags, so we just got speaking to one tout and got ourselves booked into a hostel for our first night. It wasn't the best of places and not massively cheap, but it'd do for one night. As soon as we'd dropped the bags off, we went out in search for a better deal for the remainder of our stay on the island.
Phi Phi was a pretty cool island. There were hundreds of backpackers and it had more of a party atmosphere to it. But there were still families dotted about and if you walked off the main strip, it was quiet and chilled out. Our first evening Jenna decided that she needed a foot massage. To be honest our feet have taken a bit of a battering with the amount of walking we do. So I found a cheap bar and bought a beer. Jenna's foot massage was only supposed to last an hour, so I gave her some money and left her to it. Anyway, two hours later and maybe 3 or 4 beers later, she finally showed up. Turns out she'd decided to have the foot massage, foot pedicure and god knows what else. That is why I am in charge of the money and not her!
The next evening we decided to have a bit of a night out. We bought ourselves a couple of buckets of vodka, coke and red bull and ended up at a large, outdoor party on the beach. We had a good night but felt rough the next day. We only left the room for lunch and dinner, so it was a complete waste of a day and we promised that we wouldn't make a habbit of it. Having a hangover at home with Domino's pizza and sitting in front of the TV is do-able. Sitting in a stuffy room when it's 35 degrees outside is not!
We did manage to make our way up the view point to watch the sunset. It was a steep climb but the view was good. Phi Phi has two beaches separated by a strip of land where most of the accommodation and restaurants etc are located. The island suffered a lot from the Tsunami and many people staying in the same small strip of land as us were killed. A couple of times whilst standing on the beach it did cross your mind and you could imagine the unbelievable sight of a large wave coming towards the island. But you just have to put it to the back of your mind and realise that disasters such as the tsunami could happen anywhere.
The beaches on Phi Phi were very good, although the sea wasn't really clear enough to snorkel. It was busy, but not too bad and they were perfect for a couple of days of sunbathing. On our final day we decided to go on a full day trip to a few islands. The trip cost less than a tenner and was a great experience. There were maybe 30 people on our boat, with a real mixture of nationalities. We visited Maya Bay first, which was the setting for the well known film, The Beach. We also visited Monkey Island, Viking Cave and Bamboo Island. The beaches and sea were spectacular and we had fun snorkeling. Maya beach was absolutely packed full of day visitors, so wasn't quite as idyllic as in the film, but still stunning nevertheless!
On our way back we stopped off at Shark's Point where you could swim with reef sharks. For some reason I decided to have a go and Jenna was eager to see them. We swam round in search for ages with one of our guides. It was a very strange experience swimming through murky water, not knowing if a shark would appear. Anyway, turns out we didn't see any, which I'm not sure if I was upset or happy about.
Just before we made it back to Phi Phi, we stopped off one final time to watch the sun go down and then have a go at cliff jumping for those who wanted to. It was a 30m drop into the sea and a tough climb, but I decided to have a go, once I'd seen the guide successfully do it! Jenna tried taking a photo but it was too dark. I don't think it's something I would rush to do again! When we docked a few of us from the trip went out for dinner and I ended up with 30 mosquito bites on my feet!
No comments:
Post a Comment