Anyway, I grabbed a boat from Phuket and I was on my way to Phi Phi. I went through the usual rigamarole making sure that I had covered myself in sun tan lotion (I never want the skin to peel off my face again as it did in Malaysia. ouch!!) I sat on the top deck of the ship where I was able too take a few photos of the journey across the water.
Leaving Phuket...Looks like the ship might need a lick of paint
Looks like there might be a storm brewing
A rock in the middle of the ocean. I guess this would be good for rock climbers
A hole at the bottom of the rock, Wonder if you can swim in there
Cool change in the colour of the water as you enter dry land
Space for boats at a premium here
Underneath one of the cliff faces
Skirting around Phi Phi
Exit stage left to Europ...I mean Phi Phi
Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll in
After I landed on the island, I started to look for a hostel.I had heard that the rock backpackers hostel was ok but it had no air conditioning and no internet so I decided to stay at one hostel that was closer to the beach which ad the internet. While searching for the hostel, I bumped into a good few tourism shops, each of them trying to flog off a variety of swimming associated events like snorkelling and scuba diving. I really wanted to try the snorkelling again so I booked that straight away. The hostel itself was pretty good as everybody was really friendly. The weird thing (for me anyway) was I felt like I was in europe again. There were LOADS of people from Ireland, Holland and the U.K here. It really felt like a home away from home and I am not sure if I wanted this. I like traveling around a place and meeting local people. There is absolutely no chance of that here as there are too many foreigners here (written like a true foreigner!) I can't imagine the local people wanting to get to know anyone as people come and go all the time but the vibe was REALLY european (well, european mixed with Chinese.There were lots and lots of Chinese here.) I decided to throw out my 6,000,000,000th pair of sneakers\runners\trainers today after the guys who put the trash out the front of the hostel threw my sneakers on top of the trash (In almost every place in Asia, you take off your shoes at the door. This does not really happen back home unless you are on a farm.)...I think they were giving me a sign!!! Anyway, I bought a pair of flip flops and I think my feet will adapt to these ones as they are not as soft as they were a few months ago when they bled while I wore the original flip flops. I think it might have something to do with that foot massage that I got a couple of weeks ago but my feet really feel good!! The Thai people are really on to something when they invented the foot massage! I must try to learn about it at some point in time. I think some of the shops were subconciously talking to me.
These signs seem to talk to me all the time!
I had a quick walk aound the island and found the Tsunami memorial (still does not look like it's finished though )
Memorial Monument
(If you want to see how quickly the wave hit the shore in 2004 , here is a clip of the event but be warned as it's tough to watch..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwFWSWNt6o&feature=related )
The ubiquitous (in 'hip' destinations) irish pub.
Are Irish people known for anything else apart from pubs?
(no need to answer that one!)
I found the beach to the back of the island and had a rest
Stunning view from the beach
Photo Taken away from the beach
The dorm in the hostel is very basic in that it has a downstairs and an upstairs and each room contains maybe 20 beds each...It's good though as people will talk away to you if you have an interest in talking to them. One of the guys that is staying at the hostel was telling me that he left a job in the city in Australia and he ended up selling diving tours here.Another guy ended up running a bar on the Island. He seemed like a cool guy (especially after one night when he had a spare burger and chips to give away and nobody else wanted it. It was a shame to see it go to waste so I did the decent thing and scoffed his grub.) view of the beds with the heavy duty aircondtioner at the end of the room.
This was the upstairs room of the hostel...i.e: a bed and a shared toilet with free wi-fi
At the end of the first day,I went up to the hilltop with a couple of the lads from the hostel. The view of the island from there is pretty cool!
View from the 'viewpoint'
Overlooking the bay
It's sweltering up here! Sales of sunscreen must be through the roof
Nice shot of local flowers contrasting with the landscape
A closer look at the plants from the viewpoint
Good view of all the boats moored in the bay
There was a flower garden a the back of the viewpoint
Here is a view of said flower garden!
Phi Phi at night (around 6.30 as it gets dark here very quickly)
After taking the final shot, I headed back o the hostel as darness had descended at a rapid pace!
Some of the lads headed out to the pub. A lot of the guys in the hostel seemed to originate from Ireland. One girl from Newtonards (I think) started slagging me because of my thick Dublin accent [To be honest, I was not aware that I had much of a Dublin accent!] It got to the stage where I heard a guy talking and I ased him if he was from Foxrock [The D4 accent is hard to miss!] There were lads from Navan,Sandymount,and various parts if dublin in the hostel. It seemed like the Perhentian Islands (in Malaysia) again (in terms of where Irish people seem to go when traveling) . I ended up looking for a place which would show the olympics and I found a local shop where the guy that was running it (the shop) was an artist who was still painting around 12.30 p.m. I asked him was it ok if I sat down andd watched some boxing. His mates and himself didn't mind and they offered me some local delicacies as long as I cheered for the Thai boxer!
The next day,We took the longtail boat out fot the snorkelling experience.
Getting ready to breath with the snorkeling apparatus thingy
So, THIS is a longtailed boat....
Ah, a tail...now, I see!
. The guy would not let us snorkel in the first place as he said the currents were too dangerous I thought 'fair enough' as I guess they must take extra precautions here. Later on in the day when he was driving the boat with his left foot, I thought to myself, 'hmmm.....I wondered to myself, 'Were the currents really that big if he is steering with his feet'. Maybe, he was just experienced at driving\steering the boat without any hands.To be honest, it looked like he was trying to impress the girls on the boat by steering like this and it had the complete opposite effect. Still, I had to admire the fact that he didn't care what anyone thought about his driving. I just hoped my phone would not break down due to the intake of seawater into the boat.
I guess it looks a bit on the choppy side!
Maybe I should stop taking photos and hold onto the boat just in case ...nah
Land ahoy!
Pink fins...Nice!!! (note the rice beside the fins, that was our lunch...num num!!)
An oddity, These boats all seemed to be moored at the same location , about 2 km out from the beach
Full steam ahead captain!
I had to sit in the middle of the boat due to my weight so I was constantly being told to move one way and then the other to keep the boat balanced!
Paradise Island #2,000
If I was stuck on this island, it would take a mighty swim to reach the Island in the distance!
It's a good thing I like rice, Otherwise, I would be starving all the time!
Nice shot of the sea,sand and sky
Exploring a cove after visiting the Island
I hope this cliffface doesn't fall into the sea!
The water was very shallow here, so the driver said that he could not park the boat.
We had a cool view of the cliff though
Phi Phi island sits just behind this cliff face
After what seemed an age, we headed off this island and into the water. The guide found us a place in the sea to snorkel and we spent a few minutes looking at the few fish that decided to swim near the surface that day! I am still getting used to snorkelling so there is a fine bakance between swimming and then swimming becoming a natural instinct while looking at nature swimming around me!
Maybe I should comb my hair.....nah!
Smile for the camera...but don't forget to keep moving those legs or you (and by 'you', I mean me) will float like an anchor!
By the way, I was talking to a french guy who helped my take a few half decentt photos throughout the day. He was not able to snorkel but decided he was fit enough to swim.(He busted his side after falling off a motorbike the previous week. This is getting to be a quite common site - That is , seeing foreigners (specifically European - with superficial scabs on their legs and arms from falling off bikes.... Actaully,it's only really noticeable since I jumped on the typical backpacker routes (Phi Phi - Phuket. There aren't many backpackers to be seen in places like Hat Yai and Songkhla [This makes for a much more frustrating time [Visiting the non touristy places] but in the long run a more enjoyable time (in my opinion)])))
After the snorkelling, we went to the monkey caves where we saw a few monkeys
This monkey seems to have camouflaged himself into the rocks!!
and went to a place where some guy were cooking food .
Lightening fast reactions to the fire being used to make dinner.
You could sleep out here for a night if you wanted to. I tseemed like a good idea but a nice bed in a hospital seemed more appealing to me.
View looking out from the fire
Back on the main island of Phi Phi again.
Being welcomed by a couple of statues
Later that evening, everybody from the hostel went out for a meal to one of the local restaurants. I decided to try out the green curry - thai style- ie: extra spicy. I must be getting used to the spicyness's as this one didn't burn the tongue off me.
Thai green curry (My favorite dish at this stage)
At one point,I went to the harbour and noticed a school of fish were swarming around the mouth of the bay. cool!
They look like a swarm of underwater insects!
I had decided to try out a spot of diving so I booked it with a guy called Steffan from Germany and we headed off around 8.30 one morning.
Steffan looking forward to the 2 dives
As usual, I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing .Steffan was pretty calm. The guide drilled the control of the Buoyancy Control Device (B.C.D) into us (The button at the top lets the air out of your inflatable jacket,press down on this button while keeping the chord taught (or it will not work)...The button on the side of the device will inflate the life jacket with air, fill this with air before you go in the water or you will sink due to the weights around your body.. ) you then fiddle about with letting air in and out of the jacket while in the water to find your natural buoyancy in the water (I guess , a different form of your 'centre of gravity')
If you could not do this, it might be a bit dangerous as you might fly up from the bottom of the ocean to the surface and take off like a rocket!!!
As per usual, I was a bit awkward and the instructor saw it straight away and decided that she would control my b.c.d for me. This took away a lot of fun from the dive as I never felt like I was in charge while underwater.The fish were cool to see and the coral was really nice but it would have been ubercool to get the hang of the b.c.d. I am sure, I'll get the hang of it at some stage!
View from the top deck of the boat that took us out to the ocean
The location of one of the dives
Unfortunately, none of us had underwater cameras :-(
The location of the second dive
An artists (an imaginative one) impression of what I saw when diving
It was time to move on. Phi Phi seemed like a nice island.The scenery really is great but it is completely overrun with tourists in comparison to all the other places I have visited so there seems to be no real soul to the place.The local people on the island seem to be really cool but they seem to be forgotten about due to the HUGE number of Europeans on the island. When I visited the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia, the locals tried their best to interact with the tourists and it felt like they enjoyed having tourists on the island. Here, I got the impression that the locals were not as friendly as those on the perhentian islands or those on the Tioman islands. I am not saying that they were assh*les but it felt like there was a disconnect (for the most part) between the locals and the tourists. In saying that, those guys who let me sit down and watch their tv were cool to me so I am not complaining about the locals even if it reads like I am!!!)
I think it's time to move on to Krabi to see if I can get more of a (or any) feel of Thailand. Koh Phi Phi was good but it was the first time where I felt my age on the trip (Nearly all of the lads here were going to the full moon party at koh phangan so they were in full party mode. I would rather relax than act like a moron with alcohol at this stage!)
Bye Bye Phi Phi!
Luxury cruiser!
Signaling the end of my stay in Phi Phi!
All the space used up for homestays!
Land ahoy!
where u heading to next John. Done some serious travelling
ReplyDeleteHi Frank..
ReplyDeleteI am a bit behind when filling in this blog!! I spent a week in Krabi and I have spent the last week in Chiang Mai (you can see some photos up on my facebook account if you want!) I went for an interview today at a place called 'Korat' . Well, when I say it was there, the school happened to be located 50 km from the town.... so It's a fairly remote place! Nice people though. I decided to take a bus back to Bangkok afterwards. I might try some more ice skating (just like that film 'blades of glory') before deciding what to do next!
hilarious as always, keep it going. Might give you a visit on your travels
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Deleteyeah...cool! I'll get ready for some overseas squash games!