Koh Phi Phi

March 18, 2012

Well I thought I would leave that horrible journey behind me and start fresh with a clean head of hair and a coconut shake in my belly and give Thailand another chance.  We checked in to our bungalow for the next two nights.  It seemed like a pretty standard grass hut type thing with a plastic covered mattress on the floor and a mosi net.  Not bad for 600baht a night (on Phi Phi this is a steal of a deal).   I had to ask for a sheet for the bed however because there was none and there he was again! My arch nemesis from the pier earlier that day.  I asked for the sheet any ways and he once again motioned me to go away and kept on smoking and watching tv.  So we slept with my sarong and chad's towel for blankets.  Hey free wifi though....which was good for finding a new place to stay.  I went to grab my swim suit out of my bag and a HUGE spider ran out and down the crack in the floor.  Then I found a delightful bunch of lizard poos in amongst my clothes and I figured what's another few bahts a night for a bit of an upgrade.
Thankfully the hotel up the hill had vacancies and was willing to give us a deal for two nights.  It is much nicer with a far lower creepy crawly to human ratio.  Plus it has a fridge so I can have cornflakes in the mornings! Yay!  I have been in the habit of having two breakfasts as one just doesn't cut it anymore. 
We went on a bit of a snorkeling tour around the islands on one of those long tail boats the other day....so did about 1000 other people.  The tour included a look at Maya Bay (the beach where the movie "The Beach" was filmed).  We opted for the afternoon one and loaded into the boat around 2.  Our first stop was a place called Monkey Beach.  There were two monkeys, we said Hi and were back on our way.  The next stop was a cove that was great for swimming.  We pull up in our boat and the driver says "OK get out".  So we do.  The water is blue beyond belief and refreshing.  Next stop snorkeling at another little cove.  We see tons of fish and lots of corral that looks a tad on the unhealthy side because of an ocean warming trend that happened a few years back when it got too hot and it killed off a bunch of corral.  It is just starting to grow back now.  Tons of sargent majors and pairs of yellow and black angel fish and these long skinny fish that stick close to the surface that I can't remember the name of.  We were in the water first and the last to get out, it was  hard to remember which boat was ours and we almost got back into the wrong one, except for I noticed that the red headed irish chap was not aboard so this must be the wrong one.  If you have a ginger on your tour he/she is the easiest to keep tabs on because thier red hair and sunburned skin practically glow with all the greens and blues of the ocean.  With this tour we were promised lunch.  It consisted of a little wee sandwich with some mayo and cabbage and tomato and cucumber on it.  Not half bad, especially after a snorkel.  We were smart and also brought a pack of our standard issue tube of oreo cookies, of which we inhaled.  Next we got to spend an hour at Maya Bay which I mentioned was the site of a major motion picture and was what sparked the insane influx of tourists to the island.  It really was an extremely beautiful beach despite the 500 people traipsing around.  I have never seen so many bikini clad girls posing in promiscuous positions while their boyfriends take pictures.  Who are these pictures for? Are they going to display their thonged up bums on facebook? eh probably.  We got a few lovely belly shots ourselves.  Back to the boat it was time to head to a prime turtle and shark watching location.  However no turtles or sharks were seen this time round.  Lots of fish and corral though.  With sunset fast approaching we headed out to open sea between the islands to watch the sun go down.  We weren't really sure what was going on when the boat stopped mid ocean, but the driver was kind enough to say "you watch sunset now".  Ah I see we all thought....how romantic.  Chad had enough of this sunset bologna and without even saying anything put his snorkel gear back on and jumped out of the boat!  In the middle of the main boat lanes and nothing to see but black ocean!  I was wondering if I would be a widow and our child would be fatherless.  He was swept out by the current right towards the rocks within only a few minutes and I had a near panic attack when we lost sight of him completely.  The sun going down and my husband nowhere to be seen the ginger irish guy says "oh he's in your bad books now I bet?"  ya, no kidding.  The driver didn't seem concerned so I tried to hide my anxiousness.  By the time the sun was completely gone Chad still hadn't returned but at least I could see the tip of his snorkel and the flapping of his fins as he struggled to make it back to the boat without getting hit by the 10 other longtails and sailboats heading into harbour.  Our driver started up the boat again and was about to head in as well.  I pointed frantically to Chad swimming kilometers away and he let out a giggle and headed in his direction.  We picked him up near the rocks because there was no way he was going anywhere in that current.  I swore I would never speak to him again, plus he ruined my romantic sunset!  Boys!
Chad has yet to earn my forgiveness for scaring me silly and it is not helping that he has won 7 out of 8 rounds of monopoly cards.  The rest of the time on Ko Phi Phi has been delightfully lazy and food filled.  There is no end to the delicious food.  Fried rice and Pad Thai are especially plentiful and cheap.  I am officially addicted to coconut shakes and the fruit is ridiculously fresh and mouth watering.  Every single night on this island is a party and if I was in any other state other than pregnant and barred from booze I would be dancing up a storm and pounding back the vodka, red bull buckets with the best of them.  There are fireworks and fire shows and pounding club music heard on every corner of the island (how the people who live here handle it i have no idea).  The government tried at one point after the tsunami destroyed almost all the infrastructure to limit the amount of people to visit the island and keep it more natural and marine park like but the business owners said "no way jose we need those bahts!"  Ear plugs are a necessity if you wish to get any sleep at all.   Chad had to buy a bucket last night just for the sake of it.  It included for the low price of 140baht one mickey of whiskey, one medicine bottle of uncarbonated thai Red Bull and one can of coke.  Mix it all together in a little bucket of ice and call 'er good.  Well that is just what Chad did.  Today however was a total write off for him due to hangover belly.  We played monopoly cards until midnight and he beat me every time despite his drunken-ness.  I thought the Red Bull would have caused some sort of erratic behavior due to Chad having ADHD as it is and never having consumed one at home.  He pulled off some cat like dance moves and passed out promptly at 1am.
Today I had most of the day to myself so I spent it sunning and eating!  Best time ever really.  Tomorrow we are up early for Chad to dive and I am tagging along for a snorkel and then it is time to say goodbye to Phi Phi and hello to Phuket!