Koh Phi Phi

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  Ko phi phi, Thailand
Saturday, November 22, 2008

We left Koh Samui at 6.30 in the morning and took a minvan, bus, ferry, back on the same bus, tuk tuk, another bus, another ferry and finally a longtail boat to Hat Yao (Long Beach) on Koh Phi Phi via Surat Thani and Krabi. Loads of English herbert kids were on the ferry so we thought maybe we had chosen a bad place to go but they all stayed in the village. We hadn't booked accomodation and cheap places on the island are nearly non-existent so we lucked out as they had a bungalow for 500 Baht which was the same as Samui but very basic. Otherwise we would have had to get a longtail back to the main village and try there as theres no road on the island, you either walk through the jungle or get longtails everywhere. We went to Phi Phi as it my Mums favourite place in the world and the diving was supposed to be great. That night we ate at a table on the beach which was a little more expensive than we were used to but still reasonable, very romantic and worth every penny.
Next day we went to the Long Beach Divers diving shop connected to the resort and chatted to Trevor, a great English guy with a skinhead and tattoos who looked unlike any other diver we had met. We liked him so booked up for the next day. We walked through the jungle to the village to save money, a 40 minute hike in serious heat. The village is on a sandbar between two hilly parts of the island and was flattened by the Tsunami but has been completely rebuilt despite the Government ruling it shouldn't be. We walked back, stopped at a secluded bay to try out our new snorkels and the sun went in and it started to rain as soon as we got in the water. We really thought we were bringing the weather with us by now. When we got back to Long Beach I swam out to rocks called Shark Point which is good for spotting sharks. Lucy stayed on the beach, I swam right out and round the point but wasn't sure what I was looking for. I saw a small sea snake which started chasing me, got really tired and headed back when I spotted a tiny Black Tip reef shark about a foot long. I started follwing it and suddenly realised I was in a group of them, some as big as me. I was pretty damn scared, I thought maybe I'd see a small leopard shark hiding under a rock not be surrounded by sharks my size. They seemed quite scared of me and when I composed myself and realised they weren't gonna eat me I followed them and they disappeared. Lucy had swum out by then and we tried to find them again but just saw small ones. That night we watched two different fire shows on the beach, the second of which we were pretty much the only people there so chatted to the Thai guys doing it and go to know the music they liked. Job 2 Do, check it out!
Next day we went diving at Bida Nok and Maya Bay by Koh Phi Phi Leh where they filmed The Beach. The first site was great, the visibility was 20-25 metres, I hadn't seen anything like it in my previous dives, it was like being in a giant fish tank, the water was just crystal clear. The coral was incredible, 3m fan corals, also a stingray and a hawksbill turtle, loads of divers round the turtle though. On the second dive we got close to two turtles with no other divers around and one came up to Lucy and brushed her fin with its flipper like it was shaking hands. We also saw a clown frogfish which is pretty rare apparently, a big moray eel and a big octopus. We went into a cave in the rock and popped up in there which was cool and went through a swimthrough. I really wanted to blow the budget and go to the world class sites near Phi Phi but thought better of it.
Next day we walked over the hill behind the bungalows and found a big beach which we had entirely to ourselves. This is the stuff of dreams, having paradise beaches all to yourself but we are getting pretty used to it now. I hope you are all enjoying the weather in England now. In the afternoon we did the hike to town again and bumped into Lucys mate Robin from Liverpool Uni randomly on the beach. So we went for dinner that evening with him and his mates at a cheap resturant called Papaya, rightly reputed to be the best on the island, bought beers at the 7-11 and went to a beach bar where they didn't realise we weren't drinking their booze for ages. Then we moved on to a big party on the other beach the other side of the sandbar village and drank til 3.30. We had to keep moving our chairs up the beach as the tide came in. Lucys sandal had broken and we faced the trek through the jungle home at night but luckily we found a longtail boatman that would take us which was great, flying along in a boat round a paradise island in the dark. Koh Phi Phi was probably our favourite island so far, although I really liked Koh Chang, the scenery is great with limestone cliffs rising out of crystal clear emerald water and white sand beaches. I bought Lucy a nice necklace which I had spent ages looking for in Koh Chang and couldn't find so she was again happy. She also dealt with her hangover much better than I did. Mangoes are now our new favourite breakfast, and horror of horrors, my Vietnamese coffee ran out and I'm now drinking nasty Nescafe.

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