Ko Phi Phi
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2008
1
32
84
Trip End
Ongoing
Krabi,
Thailand
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Ko Phi Phi is where the movie, "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio, was shot. It also was the one of the places hit really hard by the 2003 tsunami. The 18 foot wave destroyed more than 70% of the buildings and took over 2000 lives. Many volunteers came to the island to help rebuild the town and clean up the debris (they hauled off 23,000 tons!). Volunteers also worked with the Thai government to set up an evacuation route. These blue signs are located throughout the island. While I was eating at Garlic Restaurant, my attention was immediately drawn to this wall of hope
The beach
. It had pictures of the restaurant after the storm. It was completely reduced to rubble. A Swedish Bank helped fund the money for them to re-build. Volunteers from all over the world helped construct the new building. I stayed at the only backpacker accommodation on the island, The Rock. I stayed in the 15 person dorm and I'm so happy that I did. For 200 baht ($6.50) a night, I was able to meet a group of really cool people. Everyone in our room was traveling on their own which was very refreshing. My first night, we all went to Papaya Restaurant for dinner. It looked pretty dodgy but the food was great! I ordered Pad Thai and wasn't disappointed. As I was eating, I looked over in the beer fridge and there was a cat sleeping on the bottom shelf! The owner said the cat likes to lay in there because it's the only place that is cool. It is legal to drink in the streets so we went to the 7/11 and bought some beers there. They automatically open them for you which is amazing. So we basically spent the night bar hopping.
The next day, the bad storm hit Burma and we felt the repercussions. We went to Pee Pee Bakery for breakfast. I ordered the banana pancake with honey and it was out of this world. I don't think I will ever use maple syrup again. We started going there every morning. On rainy days, all of the bars show movies. However, there were no chick flicks available. We went and watched the Simpsons Movie. That night, the "rock family" went to Cosmic Pizza. People were all staring at us when we moved the table to accommodate all 13 of us. They must have an Italian chef because the food was unreal. The brushetta was amazing. It reminded me of what Ali would make for everybody when we lived in Sicily.
Luckily, the sun did come out and we were able to get in some time in the sun
Tsunami Evacuation sign
. The beach itself is magnificent. It has white sand and amazingly clear turquoise water. I spent a lot of quality time just lying on the beach with everyone. All of us got into a daily routine. We would all get up and go to Pee Pee Bakery. Then we would go on the beach and get fruit shakes for lunch. Then for dinner we would go somewhere fabulous. Aside from Papaya and Cosmic Pizza, my other dinner favorite was this Mexican place. I ordered fajitas and was so pumped. The sour cream was really gross but everything else was pretty good. At night, we always started out at Jordan's Irish bar, then we would head to the Tiger Bar for dancing. One night we did head down to the Sunset Bar on the beach to watch a fire show which was pretty cool. All of these guys did a choreographed routine to great music (Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, etc.). I was so afraid they were going to burn themselves. I guess they have plenty of experience because they were fine.Basically, Ko Phi Phi was everything I hoped it to be. I met some amazing people and we had an absolute blast. The fact that it was extremely beautiful was just a bonus. I could have stayed there way longer than a week but I wanted to see some of the other islands. Also, I know that one day I will be back.
