March 21, 2012
The diving and snorkeling at Koh Phi Phi was totally worth the extra Bahts! We booked with a company called Princess Diving and went out on the early morning boat. I had to pay this time to tag along for the snorkeling but well worth it. There were only three other divers on the boat. A french couple doing their advanced certification and a tattooed polish dive master just there for fun dives. He was chad's dive buddy. We went to the first dive spot and Chad and his crew jumped in and were down for the hour. He said it was really clear and saw lots of different creatures including a colour changing cuttle fish that looked electrically charged! I snorkeled for the whole hour in the shallower areas around the island. There was a bit of a current so I definitely got a good work out! I was scared out of my wits suddenly when there right in front of my mask was a little jelly fish the size of an apple just minding his own business and squirting around. I am not familiar with the types of poisonous jellies so I took a video and some photos and kept a healthy distance. After that I think I started imagining that I was getting stung even though it was probably just salt in my skin pores. Saw tons of parrot fish and yellow angel fish (always in pairs). Chad saw some lobsters at the bottom.
Once the first dive was over we hightailed it over to Maya Bay where we had lunch and got to snorkel and jump off the boat. It was awesome this time because we were on the opposite side of the bay from where all the tourists are and there was our own tiny little private beach that we swam to. The pad thai for lunch was great too. We got caught up in pretending we were in a movie that the boat had to yell at us to hurry it up. Oops. The next dive site was notorious for black tipped reef sharks and turtles. It was quite a bit deeper and so the snorkeling was not quite as good but it was sure a different site to be able to look down and see divers and fish 30 meters below you. The water was crystal clear! No sharkies today however. Can never predict when they are gonna show their fins. They are also very timid and afraid of the bubbles that scuba divers make so as soon as they see you they take off.
With two great dives under his belt and some wet and salty shorts we boarded the ferry off of Koh Phi Phi and set off for Phuket. Now this town is where most of the tourists in Thailand head. You will get every kind of tourist here from the ritzy European at a five star resort to the basic backpacker usually just passing through. We found a hotel that was a bit further from the beach and so a much better price than we would have found right in the heart of things. It was practically an apartment! Even had its own kitchenette! So I stocked up on more milk and cornflakes, pineapple, noodles and some brews for Chad and we settled right in.
We stayed near Karon Beach which I think is the most popular one for sunbathing and swimming. We walked down the next morning and were surprised to see 6km of rows of beach chairs with umbrellas! More beach chairs than I ever thought existed. And crap was it hot. I don't think anyone could survive on that beach without an umbrella. We grabbed a couple chairs ourselves and paid the fellow who rented them out for the day. We baked and swam and read our books and people watched. Boy did we people watch. The speedos! Good lord there was a lot of package and bum cheek hanging out! There was this Israeli dude who's nether region hairs were even making a peek out the top of his bright white ginny's. Then there was the blonde couple in their 50's or 60's beside us that were wearing matching speedos for him and her and his boobs were almost as large as hers (I could tell because she was not going to wear a top if her life depended on it). I knew it wasn't her first walk in the nudy park as there was not a tan line to be seen. I thought toplessness was generally frowned upon in Thailand so I refrained from baring my bosoms!
A day sitting in the sun sure wears a girl out and so we treked 'er back up the hill to our cozy hotel to make dinner plans. BBQ'd seafood was everywhere! Poor little baby nurse sharks were on every menu. I stuck with BBQ prawns and Chad had a white snapper and we ate where there wasn't a shark to be seen. Tastey tastey and cheap cheap! I can honestly say that so far I have not had one meal in this country that didn't taste good.
Only a short stay in Phuket for us as we had Chad's suit to pick up in Bangkok and some last bits of shopping to do before we head to Bali. We opted to fly this time instead of taking the night bus as my belly is in full growth force and causing a wee bit of difficulty when it comes to sitting on my butt for any length of time. My tailbone under all that extra weight feels like it is snapping off after a couple hours! I love flying! You get treated like touristic gold in Asia when you fly. Our flight was only an hour and a half but we still got served lunch and beverages and because of my pregnantness (which is now next to impossible to mistake for a beer gut) I got a nice pillow for my back and a seat near the front of the plane.
When we got back to Bangkok we decided to take the train as far as it would go towards our hotel instead of taking a taxi from the airport. They charge you out the hooha from the airport. Their trains are slick and quiet and air conditioned. We got off and took a cab the rest of the way and saved ourselves at least $10. We are staying at the same hotel we stayed in before because it rules. I bought myself a bag of chocolate croissants asap. Because we flew we still had time to make it to the tailor and try on Chad's suit to see if it needed any alterations. The jacket and pants were fancy shmancy but his pants were not even cut yet! The guy wrote needed for the 26th instead of the 20th. No problem he says. Really? We thought how is this guy gonna whip up a pair of pants in one day?
We went wandering around after that and I got carried away with myself and ended up buying 5 purses. Three cloth ones for my nieces and two knock off's for myself. One of genuine shit quality that cost me $4 and the other that actually may last a couple years for $25. I was quite proud of my purchases but Chad was a little peeved and actually tried to divorce me on facebook!
Tomorrow is our last day to wander Bangkok then it is off to Bali to visit Grandmama!
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