Ahhhhh Beach

One thing to definitely get your mind off missing home are the turquoise-emerald green waters of Thailand. We decided to get off Phuket and head toward Ko Phi Phi Don, abbreviated by all locals as Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee). Phi Phi is beautiful and would have some good hikes for us. Phi Phi Island was also one of the islands which saw much of the devastation from the Tsunami, but they have rebuilt so quickly that there isn’t much residue from the tsunami, unless you took a good look. A lot of the beaches in Thailand have a lot of trash, despite their beauty, and in Phi Phi it was hard to tell if all the trash around was debris or really trash. We hiked up to the viewpoint which gives you an amazing panoramic view of the bays of Ao Loh Dalum and Ao Ton Sai. These bays are separated by thin strand of island (called the Deer’s Neck) and most remarkably have two very different colors of water.
After our sweaty, steep hike we rented a longtail boat and headed toward Ko Phi Phi Leh (Ko Phi Phi Don’s little sister island) that has the infamous Maya Bay, where they filmed the Leonardo DiCapio film The Beach. Pee Pee Leh is a little, baby island so the only transport available is by boat. The boat drops you off about 100 feet from the cliff side where there is a manmade bamboo ladder you have to climb over in order to hike to the bay. I wonder if they did this swim/hike everyday for filming or just camped there. Anyway, you can easily see what the appeal is of this clear, turquoise water and white, soft-sanded bay, but unfortunately for us all the daytrippers were there hanging our in their docked their speed boats. You can access the bay directly by speedboat without having to swim it, however, the longtail boats (little rickety things made of wood and a lawnmower like motor) can’t handle the wind from that side. So we swam back and did a little snorkeling. Traveling at this point is starting to feel like vacation…thank goodness. From Ko Phi Phi Don we will travel by ferry to Railay Beach. Railay is a tiny bay area just barely off the coast of Krabi Province, which is back on the mainland of Thailand. See you there. ;)

Days Traveled: not sure
Distance Traveled: not sure
What do I know? I wish you could all see this. I hope my photos will do it justice, as I am sure my writing wont.