Hi All,
Ko Phi Phi (pronounced Ko Pee Pee)The Phi Phi Islands are located in
the Phang Nga Bay (Krabi Province) which is located in the Andaman
Sea. This stunning setting is located in the Eastern Indian Ocean.
Day 0. Civilised start to the day as the boat left Krabi town at 9am.
Was good as we got a river ride on the way to the next stop at the
krabi pier. The boat filled up and it was a nice ride past some of the
islands we had visited before getting to Ko Phi Phi at 1130am. There
was no shortage of accommodation offers and we decided to take a cheap
room (500baht) about 3min from the beach in Loh Dalum Bay in the main
village. It was a bit of a hassle as the agency wouldn't let us inspect
the place so we took a chance. It was an oven during the day but cooled
off nicely at night. I relaxed for much of the day while Vanessa went
for a wander in the village. Hot and humid during the day. Actually our
first impression was that Ko Phi Phi was ugly but we had only seen the
sprawling ugly commercial side. We booked a couple of tickets for a day
trip around Ko Phi Phi Don and nearby Ko Phi Phi Leh (the island from
the movie the beach) at a cost of 500 baht each.
Ate at a local restaurant near the beach for dinner which was filling
but not quite up to the standard that has been set elsewhere in
Thailand. The same goes for the fruit shakes. Still it was food and
relatively cheap (200 baht). We headed to the beach and found that it
had fire twirlers so we sat in the sand and enjoyed the view of both
the enthusiastic performers and the lapping of the incoming tide. The
edge of the water was full of small fish which were understandably
skittish as was repeatedly shown with small stones thrown in their
direction...
Day 1. An overcast day. I heard the door close next door to our room
and saw that it had been vacated. It was an improvement to the current
room as it had a balcony with a hammock. It took a bit of convincing
but I managed to get the room cleaned and we quickly moved in before
heading off on our trip at 930am. Our escort walked us and a group of
slow moving Malaysians out to the boat in a round about way. When we
arrived we found the boat full and no seats for us so had to sit on the
engine cover which turned out to be quite a good spot.
Ko Phi Phi Don. Spectacular! First stop was the entrance to maya bay.
Crystal clear water and bright coral in 4-6m water. Nice snorkelling.
Lots of fish and lots of variety. Could see maya beach or at least the
bits that didn't have people or boats on it. Very nice spot. We moved
to Maya beach and added our boat and people to the already crowded
beach. Vanessa and I went snorkelling rather than join the circus but
came back later and walked along the beach.Next spot was at the south
end of the island. The coral was spectacular as was the fish variety.
Bamboo Island. Spectacular! lots of white sand beaches with a lot of
coral reef about 50 m out. Water was crystal clear and had shallow
reef. Vanessa and I snorkelled for about 2hrs in the dropping tide and
at one stage had to navigate our way through the maze of coral covered
by shallow water to get out to deeper water. We were worried we might
damage the coral so it was small stroke with the hands, suck in the
belly and no flipper kicks. It was funny to see some of the fish
protecting their territory and more than once I got a flick on the
flipper and once a nip on the backside from a pretty pink striped fish
about 20cm long. We found a squid which wasn't as excited to see us and
zoomed off rapidly and an 'alligator' fish which was about 1m long,
skinny and had a mouth about 15cm long. The were plenty of clown fish
in the area so it was worth the time to explore. We had an extreme case
of dish pan hands by the time we got back to the boat.
Mosquito Island. Spectacular! Steep cliffs, a cave on shore and green
water leading to a beach. There were leaves turning red on some of the
trees which looked almost deciduous which broke up the green of the
jungle. Some one saw a jellyfish from the boat and noone seemed to want
to swim across to the coral for a look. I went in for a look after
Vanessa 'volunteered' me. The water clarity wasn't as good as other
spots but it was interesting coral as it went from shallow to dropping
into deep water in a matter of a few metres. I indicated it was worth a
snorkel and the others followed. Vanessa found another eel in about 4m
down hiding in some coral and I went for a better look. It was brown
with a black dot and it was the third we had seen for the day. We
didn't stay long as we were worn out.
Stopped and watch some dolphins on the way round the east side of Ko
Phi Phi lay.
Ko Phi Phi Lay. Spectacular!
Monkey beach. Spectacular! One monkey beach? Well one well fed monkey
anyway. The guide fed it some fruit then other people fed it some fruit
then others fed it some fruit....think the very popular monkey will
have a stomach ache later. There must have been 20 people crowding
around the monkey posing for photographs. The price of being on the
tour boat itinerary. It actually was a beautiful setting and not far
from the main village with jungle on a steep hill, a white sandy beach,
crystal clear water and nice coral not far from shore. Vanessa and I
went for a snorkel rather than hassle the monkey. It is only a short
kayak so will have to revisit the location in better light.
All locations visited were spectacular! Ko Phi Phi lives up to the
reviews and hype. The islands have karst formations. Imagine slicing
open a large limestone cave and this is what is seen on the cliffs of
the islands. The islands are covered with lush jungle and are
surrounded by crystal clear warm water and coral of different type
sometimes being fluorescent blue, yellow, green or purple in colour.
The coral can been shallow, medium of deeply located but spectacular in
either case. Add a large variety and quantity of fish.
We were on our way back when the boat motor stopped. Our seat on the
motor cover had been warm to hot all day which was great to add a bit
of warmth after being in the water. The motor cover was lifted and
smoke poured out. The captain got some fresh water and poured it onto
the motor which was on fire and once the smoke cleared a little we
could see that some of the wiring was on fire! It reminded me of an
incident at a market in Chang Mai. We had just stepped over a power
cable that went from a power outlet on a pole, along the ground and
over to power a single light bulb on a stall. It caught fire the
instant we stepped over it and looked like the fuse about to blow a
stick of dynamite in an old western movie! We kept walking as I
expected the whole market to catch fire any moment but no doubt water
was used to get it under control and then the power would have been
turned off (in that order).
The wiring needed a little more water to completely extinguish the
flames on the boats motor. The captain looked grave and gave the motor
another try but there was no starting it.
So we were stuck about 3km from the main village at Ko Phi Phi Don but
could not be seen as we were not in line of sight. The captain dropped
and anchor and then proceeded to discover that his mobile phone could
not get any telephone reception, he had no flares, and the light was
fading quickly into the night. Some people were getting anxious and one
suggested seriously 'can we just get people with flippers in the water
on the back of the boat to push it?' We were on a large wooden boat.
Hmmm. Perhaps not. One of the Malaysian girls was quite funny calling
out half heartedly for help to a ship passing in the distance. Soon
after we heard 'Jesus loves me yes I know' coming from the same voice
from the back of the boat. Perhaps the cry from help was not meant to
be funny. Most people were pretty casual about the situation even if
the bilge pump was regularly moving about 10 lt of water from the boat
every 10 minutes. A Brazilian couple in front of us were also taking
the situation very seriously as well making animal shadows onto the
life
jackets a couple of rows in front of them . Were we doomed
to stay the night in a leaky boat with no one to rescue us? No. Luckily
someone finally got reception and the captain called for help. Help
arrived about 40min later and we had a dangerous transfer from one boat
to another with a bit of a swell. The boats banging together and then
the gap opening up widely in the swell in an unpredictable manner. We
had to step over the railing of the original boat then over the railing
of the onto the recue boat. One person narrowly escaped getting a leg
crushed but in the end all got across safely and back to the port. So
we ended up getting an evening cruise on top of our day trip. An
excellent but long day out which we really enjoyed.
We still haven't found a good place to eat yet but are still looking in
hope. Update. We found Samee, a tsunami survivor, who has a small
restaurant which is quite nice.
Day 2. Today we walked out to long beach through the mess of
accommodation and resorts. I particularly like the tree house on one of
the small beach on the way. The path was in a poor state and we had to
use a rope to get down to the beach. Long boats are the usual way to
get to the beach so they probably prefer the track to be difficult to
keep business. There is a small island about 150m off shore and we
snorkelled out to it spotting a large black tip reef shark well below
us
at one stage but we weren't on the menu. We were probably more likely
to be run over by a speedboat or long tail boat than be eaten by a
shark. The area had great coral but visibility was a little lower than
yesterday but still great. We snorkelled all the way back to the main
village. Vanessa spotted a stingray with a black and white striped tail
in the sand on the way. I was feeling low on energy so we went back to
the room and I napped the afternoon away after our late lunch.
We sat on the beach again in the evening just out of reach of the calm
water lightly lapping at the sand. Fire twirlers were putting on a fine
display at one end of the beach and lightning flashing in the distance
out to sea in front of us as the full moon poked its head out from the
clouds for a look. Very pleasant.
Lets hope the damn Spanish downstairs don't decide that 3am is a great
time for a loud conversation again tonight or we may have to declare
war.
Bye for Now,
David and Vanessa
