March 17, 2010
Phi Phi gained notoriety because of the stellar (or not) Leonardo Dicaprio movie "The Beach," which was filmed here in 2000 or so. The island has since become a major destination for travelers, especially young backpackers. We booked a beach bungalow along Lo Dalam Bay. The bungalows are super modest, no A/C, just a fan, a bed, and a bathroom. There is also a cute porch with some chairs to sit and people watch. The inner part of the city is cluttered with tour companies, dive shops, and bars catering to international tourists.
Our beach is beautiful, and in the early part of the day, very swimmable. Around 3:30 pm, the tide goes out and the beach is exposed, still beautiful, but not so much for swimming. We went to the beach, had a couple of great swims, and settled down to read/nap/do our thing. As the tide went out, we walked back to the bungalow to take a break.
Later, we emerged and had a drink at the beach bar next to our bungalows. There we met a very nice English couple named Kirsty and Andy, who we chatted with about traveling, feral cats, and the possibility of celebrating St. Patty's. We decided it was a good idea. After grabbing dinner with them, we stopped by Jordan's Irish Pub, which was semi out of control. We got some drinks, and met some Irish travelers who joined our group as we walked back towards the beach.
We returned to Apache Beach Bar, a stone's throw from our bungalow, to find the Irish celebration in full effect. A fire show was going on, including a giant ring of flame that Sam and I jumped through, and serious jams were playing on the stereo. We stayed and had a great time with the English and Irish couples, then when the music ended, we headed to bed, very fast.
Now for Sunbathing Sam:
The trip to the ferry was terrifying. We were a little late out of the hotel and where scared we might have to spend the rest of the morning in Phuket. Nooooo!!!
We made it, got sunscreened, and took a seat in the front of boat. After a bit of a wet ride we made it to Koh Phi Phi and were immediately awestruck by the sky high limestone cliffs and white sandy beaches which contrast beautifully with the crystal clear blue water.
Koh Phi Phi is an interesting little island. It has a local population of about 1,000, and has been quickly rebuilt after being demolished by the Boxing Day Tsunami a few years ago. This however is not evident, since it has been completely rebuilt since then. The island is small, you can walk across it in minutes, and there are no motorized vehicles on the island. It also sports a cool little inner town with thin stone streets and about 10 7-11s.
We made our way to our hotel for quick change before we collapsed in the sand. The hotel is actually a simple bungalow merely 100 feet from the water. The afternoon was spent with a combination warm blue water, hot sun, and some good reads. Not too shabby.
After some downtime in the bungalow we made our way to the beach front bar to watch the sunset. Here we met Kristy and Andy. Kristy shares the common story of being laid off from her lawyer job, and instead of looking for a similar job has decided spend this time traveling. Still seems pretty cool to me. I digress. We got along pretty well, so we headed out for some dinner and eventually some celebrating of St. Patrick's day. Although the beach was empty during the day, the tiny streets were filled with mobs of people. Interesting.
We visited an Irish pub and the beach bar in front of the hotel which had transformed into quite the scene with firedancing, music, and tons of people. We did jump through a ring of fire. It was hot. We then went to sleep, we like Phi Phi.
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