Phun In The Sun On Phi Phi Island

I met Svitlana for breakfast at half 7 and we grabbed a quick bite to eat and a cup of coffee before the taxi driver arrived to whisk us away to the ferry terminal. He was late, but that was no surprise, and it also gave us time to have a brief chat with the Malaysian woman who was also going to Phi Phi. She had come over with her husband for the Tri-nation Motorcycle meet, which explained the huge number of motorcycles we had seen throughout the town. We were soon at the ferry terminal and boarded a reasonable-looking boat that would be our home for the next 2 hours.

The ferry to Phi Phi

Rather than stay up on deck and get sunburnt before we even got to the island we grabbed some seats below deck. We chatted about everything and anything, including: being bitten on the bum by a snake, Christmas in other countries and the crystal duck from Friends. Before we knew it we were pulling into port at Phi Phi. This was what we had been waiting for.

Almost there!

Once we had jumped off the boat (we weren’t going to wait for a walking bridge to be put across) we were stunned by the scenery that was now surrounding us.  Beaches, forests, mountains……and tourists. Lots of tourists. I know that we were also tourists, but we wanted a small secluded bit of beach to ourselves, but that seemed unlikely. The first locals that we came across were shouting and pointing at signs that showed there was a 20 Baht tax for tourists entering the island as there was so much rubbish left by them. I imagined that this was some kind of scam, but for only 20 Baht it didn’t seem worth it to get off on the wrong foot, so we paid it continued onto the island. As soon as you step off the boat you are in the middle of street venders, cafes, restaurants and tour operators. All of them shouting at you that you simply must book with them as they are the cheapest on the island. We made our way through the throng and ended up walking along the beach by the boats, long tails and speedboats all mixed in together like a crèche with rugby players in. It wasn’t a very long beach but the view was amazing. We turned back and headed down the other way and came across a map that showed where we were on the island. A small strip of land that separates the two main chunks of land that has beach on either side. We had done one side so walked across to the other and it was an even better view, out into the ocean, much like the scenic photographs we have all surely seen before.

Phi Phi Island

We had looked into getting a boat ride down to Phi Phi Lay island, where the infamous beach where they filmed The Beach was located, but at a price of 600 Baht each and a tight time schedule to follow we decided against it. Instead we explored the area that lay behind all the tourism and show, and it was a strange sight. Hardly any noise and shacks with no occupants within, presumably because they were all working in the market and streets down by the port. There was a semi-developed building that seemed like it had been started and not yet finished – structurally sound but with no furnishings inside. We scampered up to get a view from the roof and including a great view of the beaches and surrounding area was a huge collection of empty beer bottles and at least one used condom.

The view from the "empty" house

All that exploring had given us an appetite and we found a small restaurant to grab some food. It was difficult to order as the staff seemed to speak no English whatsoever. Eventually we were delivered our choices and we chomped on a dish of fried vegetables and pineapple-fried rice. I also had the most refreshing drink ever – a watermelon crushed-iced drink. I know you shouldn’t have the ice cubes but Phi Phi seemed pretty good cleanliness-wise and it was just amazing. I also had an emotional moment when I heard one of my favourite Christmas songs as we were discussing Christmas and it transported me back home for a split second. It came out of nowhere and I’m not ashamed to say that I welled-up for a moment. It may well be that whenever I hear that song again at Christmas I will be transported back to that little restaurant on Phi Phi Island with Svitlana. I look forward to seeing if this is true in a couple of months.

One of the many little market streets on the island

After lunch we hit the beach again and took some pictures of us both messing about in the water. This is after I had had some difficulty in finding some privacy to change into my swimshorts, but a travel-towel and a vaguely tucked away bush sorted this little problem. As I arrived back from said bush it turned out that Svitlana had been “papped” on the beach by 4 Korean guys, but they had asked her first so it was all ok; I didn’t have to defend her honour. I had a swim in the sea and managed to float there peacefully with my head back and not move a muscle – it was so relaxing, like being in a floatation tank, but with the lights on.

A "Glee" moment

Next up was finding a ticket to Railay Beach for Svitlana. She managed to get a good deal from a kind lady, unlike the idiots who gave smart-arsed responses to her polite haggling. Both her ferry and mine would be leaving at half 3 from the same port, so we relaxed on the beach by the port for the remaining 45 minutes. Just after 3pm we said our goodbyes and boarded our separate vessels, although we could still shout across to one and other, if we wanted to.

Me to Krabi and Svets to Railay Beech

To get the remainder of the sun I perched myself on the front of the boat at the left-hand side so I could get a good view of the way back to Krabi. Soon enough the areas around me filled up with people of ages and nationalities, and I was essentially trapped there for the duration. But I had re-applied my sun screen and had my iPod plugged into my ears so I was ready for the 2 hour journey back. We left the harbour and my plan to get the shaded-side turned bad when the boat left the island and turned so that it was beating down on my left side. The wind was also blowing from the left so it meant that any time the boat hit a big wave the splash would rise up and be blown all over me. This wasn’t too annoying to start with, as the waves and splash were small to begin with. Out in the open sea, however, it was a different matter. On 4 separate occasions the boat smashed down into a big wave and I (along with the others sitting near me) were completely drenched. But there was nothing we could do, we had chosen our fate and would have to ride it out.

Salt crystals...

When I arrived back in Krabi I was still attempting to dry myself out and had salt-crystals down my left arm where the water had drenched and dried on me. My face also felt like pork-scratchings and my bum had gone to sleep about an hour before. I made it back to the hotel where I found James, who had had a reasonably productive day in town, relaxing and sending out scripts. After a quick shower we grabbed some food and made it to the supermarket to buy a couple of big Changs. Once back at the hotel we adjusted our route through Thailand (due to only getting a 15 day visa from entering via land and not the 30 day visa that we would have got entering by air) and booked a hotel for Chiang Mai. We supped on the Changs and watched the football results come in, each hoping that our fantasy football teams would be raking in the points.