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007 Island - Kho Phi Phi
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A hop, skip and a jump across the elephant's trunk of Thailand are a couple of islands protruding through the Andaman Sea like skyscrapers of the ocean floor. The 45-minute boat ride alone is enough to make your jaw hit the floor in utter wonder, but seeing the little town in ship shape condition after the 2004 tsunami will cause your head to spin.
Kho Phi Phi Don and its little sister Kho Phi Phi Leh are the most stunningly beautiful islands I have ever seen. The colossal limestone cliffs that make up the exterior of Kho Phi Phi Leh dangle over the brilliant blue sea defying completely your knowledge of gravity. And the perfect white sand crescent of Kho Phi Phi Don welcomes you with a piña colada and a perfect excuse to spend hours baking in the sun. Our short adventure started on the south end of Kho Phi Phi Don at the Phi Phi Villa Resort. Our gigantic wading pool sat out front across from a beach bar with drift wood tables and chairs. The ambiance was tranquil and soothing.
Our first mission was to hit Ton Sai village see what kind of activities we could book for the next day. The vendor stales of this surprisingly large town were a maze to get through selling anything from knock-off MONTBLANC watches to handmade jewelry and textiles. We decided to hire a speedboat for the next day to jet around island hot spots and then settled in for a dimly lit Italian dinner of New York style pizza and pasta. Ciao Bella is a must if vacationing on Phi Phi.
The afternoon boat ride took us to a large cove in Kho Phi Phi Leh surrounded by towering cliffs encouraging you to shout with joy in order to listen to your echo bouncing off the walls. Our next stop was Maya Beach where the movie The Beach took place. It looks a bit different from the movie, but the serene beauty has not been lost with the millions of flocking tourists. We spent some time snorkeling in the bay feeding pretzels to the swarming fish and then we stopped over at Monkey Beach to take pictures of the posing monkeys swinging from the trees. Then, after a satisfying lunch of Phad Thai, we set out to climb the east mountain to watch the sunset.
The climb was a bit more than expected, but it was the hike back that had us all breathing heavy. We misjudged the sunset time and realized when we reached the top that we had better head down quick because it was getting dark and no one brought a flash light. We took the advice of a couple of joggers and followed a different trail that was supposed to connect with a cement walkway. About 300 meters down the trail we hit an intersection that went off in a bunch of different directions and had no idea which to choose. The sun was already down now and we were navigating with only a flicker of residual sunlight so we had to move fast. Max and I lead the pack and blindly took the trail marked with our instincts. Soon we could barely see the trail below our feet, let alone each other and there were definitely animals lurking in the jungles on either side. JT broke a sandal making it that much worse for him and everyone was exhausted and a bit nervous about where we were headed. Finally, a small road came into sight and we all had a good sigh of relief as small streetlights came into sight. Phew.
Much of the following day was spent eating, shopping and lounging in the pool while it rained. The relaxing island life was harvesting our late night, vampire instincts and the troops were ready to fall out back to Bangkok for one last hurrah. Seated in a packed ferry, we waved goodbye to Phi Phi island and jet setted our way back to the ladyboys.
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