Koh Phi Phi: Relax & Rapture
Oh good god... the boat ride alone to Koh Phi Phi was beautiful enough, jetting passed countless islands amidst a deep blue sea as we basked in the rays on the boat deck... on a REAL boat!... & the ride wasn't bumpy for the first time...EVER! Things were looking up after our last few days of disappointment. We docked at Phi Phi town, tucked away in a huge bay with boats dotted everywhere. Our first night we stayed in 'Hill top cottages', & they weren't joking about the hill! Nicky was so distraught by the task of reaching our room, she tried to fill the ordeal by counting all 83 steps! This didn't help & we moved the following morning to lower ground, despite an awesome view from our balcony. This was not the only 'steps & scenery' incident of our first day on Phi Phi. We ventured up an uncountable amount of steps to Phi Phi's viewpoint. Not really knowing what to expect we were stunned by the unbelievable scenery before us! Two AMAZING bays, swarmed with white sands & blue waters, separated by a thin strip of forest with hotels & shops dotted amongst. Coupled with an orange sky & the sun setting on the horizon I can do no more to describe it... but it was BLOODY NICE!!!
The weather was still a little patchy but I managed to build a pretty good tan & mix in with the locals... colour-wise. On the whole we pretty much just bummed around on the beach by day & hit the awesome bars at night, drinking $1 beers ON the beach. One bar was called 'Carpe Diem'. A really chilled out bar, comfy cushions laid on the floor, a boat KO'd by the tsunami to sit in, & fire throwers providing enthralling entertainment of a ridiculously high skill level for the seemingly unfazed & unappreciative tourists... &... best of all, Welsh owned!!! Heavenly. Other bars included a bar where you could get up & fight Muay-Thai against another random pissed up lad or lass in exchange for a bucket of alcohol. Plenty of ladyboy bars around to provide an evening's entertainment for the rowdier crowd. There was also a strip of bars along the beach with a fire skipping rope, fire ring (which Nicky jumped through but my common sense prevailed) & cheap buckets of alcohol.
Our best day on Phi phi was our boat tour with the infamous & legendary Mr Deng! Several unbelievable stops throughout the day included: snorkeling at a random bay, which was awesome, lunch on a tropical island, monkey beach where we fed WILD MONKEYS bread by hand... quality! especially when Nicky tried to take a photo but as the camera was turning on I had already begun handing over the minuet portion of bread so had to fight the monkey for a good few seconds as he yelped at me, no doubt planning an attack on my dark handsome facial features! Then we went to Maya bay which was epic, & snorkeled again at a lagoon hidden away between two cliffs. The coral was stunningly psychedelic & the fish were as colourful too!
Then we docked the boat in a deeper part of the lagoon & had a swim. We had a few dives off the boat before an English doctor & I spotted a rope swing in the distance, grabbed a pair of goggles each & swam out to swing away! Another rough ride home which involved me consoling Nicky as she prepared for the 'imminenet death' just a few waves... & we docked in time for sunset.
We left the carefree attitude of Phi Phi, returning to Krabi back on the mainland & dossed about for the afternoon... just sampling the local food, which consisted of HUGE fried bugs. Not our best meal. The next day would bring a novel new adventure, North to Burma for the dreaded 'VISA RUN'...