July 6 – Backtracking to Koh Phi Phi

While we were in Phuket we spent most of one full day visiting the Phi Phi (pee pee) islands. Our hotel recommended a tour that turned out to be pretty good.

We were picked up early in the morning from our hotel and dropped off at the pier. Pretty much immediately we boarded a small speedboat and made our way. We had several stops on our journey including a few different islands including Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Ley, and Khai.

One beach we stopped at near the beginning was the same beach that was used during the filming of Leonardo Di Caprio’s “The Beach”. It definitely was the perfect island paradise described in the movie with white sand beach, super clear water, and gorgeous plant covered limestone cliffs. We were there for a short time and a quick swim on the beach there.

Next we stopped by “Monkey Island” where there are dozens of monkeys hanging out near the shore. We pulled up in our boat and one of the staff began feeding a bucket of bananas to the monkeys. Even more came out when they knew that it was feeding time.

We also passed by some caves in the rock that contain a special kind of bird’s nest. In this area the locals have a delicacy called “Bird’s Nest Soup” and they use these nests to make them. They are guards to these places as they don’t want people messing with them as this delicacy is also expensive.

From there we stopped at a coral reef out in the water near there. Jennifer stayed on the boat and I jumped in for some snorkeling. The scenery down under was beautiful and the fish most about was the Tiger fish. Jen lured me near the boat, then through bread into the water so that the Tiger fish would swarm around me.

As many as there were though, they hardly even touch you at all. It was very cool.

Next was lunch and we sped off to the big island (Don) where there was a hotel resort that had a buffet lunch prepared. Here you can see me enjoying a coconut from right off the tree.

Actually, I didn’t care for it to much. Because it was fresh off the tree, the liquid is about a room temperature. Something colder would have been more refreshing. Although, I’m sure if I was stranded on some desert island it would likely do the job.

After another boat trip, we ended up on another one of the islands. Jen set up camp on the beach while I went in for more snorkeling. We heard that sometimes there are reef sharks in the area, so a couple Aussies and I went looking for them. I didn’t have any luck, but I did see a pretty creepy looking sea snake. That is one sea creature you don’t really like to see coming at you – they do move quite well in the water.

After that we headed back and got back to our resort by dinner time. We got quite a bit of sun that day and despite two sunscreen applications, I ended up with pretty bad burns. I was pretty much in pain on my neck and back for the next couple days and after that a lot of skin peeling.

Overall we had an awesome day of hopping around some jaw-droppingly beautiful islands.

For many more photos click here.