We booked the first 3 days on Phi Phi through Thai Intro. On the first day we had a boat trip all day. It was really sunny and I got my first bit of tan! The boat did a tour of a few tiny islands: bamboo island, monkey beach and some secluded little beaches. They were all stunning; white sand, clear blue sea, exactly what you see on Google images but don't believe they actually exist. My favourite was Monkey beach as it was just our boat of 15 people who were there.
At Bamboo island there were loads of tourists and to get to the beach we had to kayak but there weren't enough so some people had to swim. To get back to the boat I thought I'd give someone else a turn in the kayak so swam back to the boat - mistake. It was about 400m of swimming against the current and was much harder than it looked. I sliced my toes on coral on the way and it took ages to swim back. Definitely the most amount of exercise I've done all year!
When we got to monkey beach the four of us decided to clamber into one kayak rather than swim, particularly as it was more rocky in the water. The monkeys were so cute and it was a first for me to see them in the wild. However they soon became less cute when I tried to take a selfie with the little one and about 4 of the swarmed me and clung onto my legs. Naturally, I started running away screaming until they got off, much to the amusement of everyone else.
The next day we checked out of our hotel and boarded the Maya Bay sleeper boat. Maya Bay is famous for the 90s Leonardo Di Caprio film 'The Beach'. It is filled with tourists during the day but everyone has to leave the island at 6pm except for this one sleeper boat of about 20 people. We watched the sun set in the idyllic bay before enjoying a homecooked Penang Curry. We then went back into the water to see the glowing plankton which was really cool (although it doesn't look like it does in the film!). We were also told to keep an eye out for sharks which someone managed to spot! Also unlike the film, these sharks are harmless.
We bedded down to sleep on the beach with a thin sleeping bag and a wicker mat. It was so peaceful to fall asleep to the sound of the waves and looking up at the stars. However, we didn't get much sleep that night thanks to the mosquitos feasting on us! It became a decision between being too hot in the sleeping bag and hoping for some protection or cooling down out of the sleeping bag and getting bitten alive. I kept changing my mind so ended up with both. I didn't get bitten as much as Megan though who woke up with about a hundred bites that covered her legs! We've all been itching constantly since. It was totally worth it though for such a unique experience, one I'll never forget. The four of us couldn't believe it was actually real, that places like that exist in the world.
For our last 3 days in Phi Phi we found a hostel on the beach. We shopped, sunbathed and partied a lot.
Given that none of us had seen 'The Beach', we spent one evening watching it at the open air cinema on a rooftop bar spotting which bits we recognised.
Sadly, this is where Gemma and Megan go home and Vicky and I go it alone. On our last day in Phi Phi we booked our flights and hostels for our week in Malaysia. We went to a restaurant called Anna's for our 'last supper'. I had the best Massaman Curry of all the ones I've had so far and the customer service was the best we've experienced - I'd definitely recommend the restaurant to anyone.
We partied hard for the last hurrah (drinks are strong out here, vodka is measured by the teacup!) which made for an awful hangover on the ferry to Phuket. I now associate ferries with feeling hungover given that we have been for every ferry trip out here.
Bit of a long post but that pretty much sums up our 6 days in Koh Phi Phi!
Y x
