We arrived last night in the evening – late enough that it was dark outside and we couldn’t see the actual beach and ocean front. We could only see the lights of all the resorts that lined the beach with their restaurants and lawn chairs all set up on the sand.

The room... nice bedding.. um

You can buy fireworks and set them off in the sand over the water.

A balloon - they light a little fire and let it go. It floats off into space. Cheweng Beach was super annoying because they bother you to buy one every 2 minutes. I was also concerned about where these fireballs were landing and the garbage it leaves in the ocean or around the land. Anything to make a dollar.

Luckily we both woke up around 8am and made our way to the scooter rental place. The idea was to navigate the island ourselves and explore the islands without having to taxi or mini bus it over. The scooter for the day cost only 3 euros !!

The first place we stopped for breakfast was Lamai Beach. My book said that it was the 2^nd most popular beach next to Chaweng (where we are currently staying). It was a hot morning and upon arrival we immediately looked for some shaded area to set up our little area. Not much to be found. The sand was heavy and wet and very grainy. It’s not that I’m spoiled by beaches, I just had the idea of a nicer area since the book and many people talk about Ko Samui well.

Even though Lamai beach was nicer for the fact that there weren’t many people hounding us to buy things, we ate breakfast, took a swim and carried on.

First stop was to see the Grandfather and Grandmother Rock formations that resemble male and female genitalia. eep

There actually isn’t much to do on the island except explore waterfalls and swim on the beaches… which is exactly what we did in the end.

We explored 2 waterfalls that were inland, nothing too spectacular but still a wonderful natural beauty to see. We could hear the monkey show but decided not to attend. We also saw all the elephants that they use to do the elephant trekking. I sure hope they treat those guys well.. nothing close to a natural habitat obviously – I actually feel bad for riding on one but I suppose the experience was interesting. I wanted to see the culture.

Tomorrow we will move on to Ko Phan Gan. Honestly I think the day was wasted here, which is a shame, but better to know.

Now if only we could find a place with free wi fi connection L I’m on holiday but I still like to check in with home as often as possible.

We will try to meet up with Giuliana and Stacey tomorrow since they suggested going to their place called Sunrise Resort on Hat Rin Nok (sunrise beach).

Last day in Phi Phi

After completing our dive course we decided to stay in Phi Phi for one more day to explore the island a little and enjoy it. We had been up early every day for the dives and were so tired each evening that we had no chance to go out and see the fire shows and whatever else happens here.

With luck the day was sunny! We decided to take a long tail boat over to a few beaches down the way called Long Beach. There we found a quiet paradise with just a few tourists scattered along the long beach area.

The water was blue, and deep enough to swim. There was one restaurant that we spotted to later each lunch at.. everything was perfect!

I thought I noticed the couple next to us speaking Italian and mentioned it to Nicola. Being as shy as he is, he just waved it off since he had no curiosity to investigate.

I saw that the guy had hurt his foot and took the opportunity to ask if he had cut himself on the coral that lined the shore. He said no, that he had stepped on a sea urchin (ouch) and he asked if I had tweezers. Obviously, I didn’t, but as it turned out, they were from Italy and he spoke excellent English and his wife spoke none at all.

We ended up spending the rest of the day with them exploring the island further to a very very secluded beach with crystal clear water and then met them again later for dinner.

We climbed to the viewpoint on the top of the island for a bird’s eye view. Man that was hard work. It said in the book that it would take 10-25 mins to climb up the stairs depending on your fitness level. I mean, I’m not out of shape but holy smokes that was a tough climb. The view was breathtaking and spectacular. All worth it!!

Nicola had a blast speaking in his own language with people from home. Funny that he had mentioned that when I had met a Canadian couple a few days earlier in Railey Beach that the girl and I were chatting away like mad.. he made fun of us! Then, when he met people from his home, he was exactly the same.. Just like two birds chirping for hours.

We went to the other side of the island for dinner, you guessed it, Italian! It was a really good meal actually. I have to admit that it was nice to eat an authentic pasta al mare.. (seafood pasta) – since being in China we’ve laid off the seafood.

It was Saturday night so they had a huge fire show planned to the music of a DJ – it was fantastic. I had wanted to see a fire show the whole time while on Phi Phi but had been to tired every single night to look for a good one.

The tide was out so we walked along the sea floor for a good 100 meters. It was very cool.

We have planned our trip out of Phi Phi tomorrow. The day begins with a 9am ferry to Krabi town for 1.5 hours, bus to Surat Thani for 3 hours, ferry to Ko Samui for 1.5 hours and then minibus ride to Chaweng Beach for 1 hour. It’s a long day but I have a feeling it will be worth it. No plans for accommodations yet but as usual we will sort it out once we arrive.

I LOVE THAILAND!!

Phi Phi island hopping

The ferry was at 9:30 am for about 2 hours. We, again, hadn’t booked any accommodation and once arrived in Phi Phi were bombarded with people promoting their hotel, guesthouse, hostel and whatever else that they had to offer. I can look at all the pics in the world of how a room looks but nothing will convince me until I actually see the place with my eyes. I want to see how it’s cleaned, how the sheets and walls look, check for bedbugs (it happens!) and all the other little things that really make me feel comfortable to stay there.

We walked about 10 mins along the path (there are NO cars here, such clean air!) and checked a couple of places before settling in one guestroom above a shop. For 20 euros a night we considered it a pretty good deal. Seaside, balcony, mini fridge, satellite television and nicely made up bed.

We had the day to choose anything we wanted to do.. and there seemed to be many options. First thing, we signed up to become certified PADI open water divers! It’s a 3 day intensive course that includes a half day in class, a contained dive in shallow water, and four open dives in the ocean. We bought the study book and vowed to read it over once we were back from the afternoon plan.

Next, we hired a private long tail boat and traveled to Phi Phi Ley, which is the scenic island just south of Phi Phi Don.

The day included a stop at monkey beach were tons of monkeys live and are visited daily by tourists. It was a scary experience since they are a wee bit aggressive!! If you get too close, they will run at you. Your only defensive is to run fast towards the water, since apparently they don’t like it much.

Mmm coca cola!

We then continued to a giant blue lagoon area where we swam in beautiful blue waters for a short while.

Next we moved to an area where we could snorkel and then we headed over to Ma Ya Beach where the movie called “The Beach” was filmed. It was beautifully scenic.

The day ended up being hugely exhausting and we made the mistake leaving the reading part of the dive course until 7pm… yea.. I was up until 12:30 am reading the text and answering the questions.

Tomorrow: Day 1 of dive school. Exciting!!

We found the sweetest bungalow on East Railey Beach for 900 baht per night which is the equivalent to about 18 euros a night. It was furnished nicely, warm and inviting. We would have stayed more nights but we were too anxious to move onto Phi Phi.

Our bungalow on Railey East

The night before we booked a day trip island hopping around Krabi that included chicken island, Poda island, Phra Nang beach and a couple of others. We visited 2 snorkel sites and enjoyed the incredibly clear water and all that was below it.

Chilling on the beach




A small crab and his hole

The day was amazing but the best part was where the tour ended – exactly where we planned to walk to that very day - Phra Nang beach, where we found a spectacular cave that we eventually explored when the tide went out around 5pm.
The sand was so fine that it was like walking on silk and the water was so clear that you could see 50 feet ahead of you easily.

Phranang Cave behind me

The weather has been fantastic. We are completely sunburned. Thailand is somewhere, imo, that every person should visit once in their life. I plan and hope that I can make it back here again in my life.

It’s nice to see that everyone around us is in our age group. We have met a ton of people while sitting at outdoor beach bars and overhearing that there are other Canadians around. It’s so easy to to about the trip, where we’ve been and plan to go. The interaction with the people really helps when choosing where to stay and what to do. I hope we’ve been an inspiration to others since we are super active every single day doing different things, booking tours and swimming in caves.

I’d like to know what the rooms are like though, for 300 baht per night (6 euros). I met a few people around who say they pay more that that, ever! I’m wondering, where the heck are you staying and what is the room like? One girl mentioned that they could hear rats running in the ceiling! We’re budget travelers but we’re not backpackers. We’re here for 2 weeks and calling it a holiday, not a lifestyle. Love me or hate me for it, but that’s the way it is.

Tomorrow morning 9am – ferry to Phi Phi Don Island. The main island of 3 ( I think) that is well talked about and listed in my 1000 places to see before you die book. Haha. Yes, I have that, and I’m not embarrassed either. I am curious to know what we will find there for accommodation since it is known to be more expensive even in low season. We planned not plan this trip. A first for me.. and even though it will take more effort to walk around and find a place to stay for the night, at least we know what the room is like before agreeing to the price. So far we’ve had a good experience implementing this concept and a bad one.

Moving on.

xoxo