Monday 4th February
I checked out of the guesthouse, grabbed some
breakfast (the usual: eggs, chicken ham, toast) and then took a walk up to the
viewpoint on the hill above the main part of Phi Phi. The view was stunning,
worth the trek up a few hundred metres and a couple of steep paths. From there,
you can see the twin bays of Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam. I tried to imagine
what the place would have been like as an unspoilt island, before mass tourism
had arrived, and can only think that it was as close to the idea of paradise as
you might get.
I met Sangita and Tania for lunch (I had very good
fried rice with Thai curry) at Samee's restaurant, a place off the main tourist
thoroughfare, and which was quieter and more authentically Thai than anywhere
else on the island. I bade the girls farewell, promising to give them a shout
whenever I got to Sydney sometime in June. I was very glad to have met them,
although I was rather disappointed that they kept the whole Celine Dion fan
thing from me until the very end!
I boarded the boat, leaving Phi Phi at 14.30 and
getting into the port outside Phuket town shortly after 16.00. I wasn't that
pushed on staying in Phuket as I had my fair share of chilling out at the beach
(particularly due to my extended stay in Goa over Christmas) and I was to spend
more time on Ko Tao anyway, where I had planned to do a diving course a few
days later.
I walked most of the way to the bus station, only
picking up a moto-taxi (basically a guy on a moped) the last bit of the way as
I didn't have ay idea of how close I was too it. In the event, it was just
around the corner. However, it got me to the bus just in time to hop on the
17.00 bus to Phang-Nga, where I was planning to stop overnight.
The bus arrived in Phang-Nga around 18.30, and I was
met by a friendly lady from Sayan Tours, a company that our American friends
from the kayaking trip near Krabi had recommended to me (when we bumped into
them before lunch in Phi Phi earlier that day). I signed up for a boat tour
around Ao Phang-Nga National Maritime Park, with the main attraction a visit to
the 'James Bond Island', the one that appeared in 'The Man With The Golden
Gun'.
I found a cheap room at the Thawisok Hotel (150B for a
basic but clean room), had dinner of pork with basil leaves (very good, as
usual) and crashed out, tired again from another busy day.
