SOJUles: 3- Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Friday, January 21st-Tuesday January 25th: Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

On Friday, we took an early afternoon flight from Penang, Malaysia to Phuket, Thailand. It amazes me that an island like Penang has an international airport, but it definitely benefited us.
We had an easy 2 hour flight to Thailand and even had a scheduled transfer to our hostel- smooth sailing.

Quinn with our 8 backpacks. I am 4 from the right (not a small one).

We were only staying the afternoon and night in Phuket (prononced Poo-ket) before taking a ferry to another island, Koh Phi Phi.
Phuket, more specifically Patong Beach, only needs one world- sleezy. Unfortunately, what used to be an untouched, beautiful beach has now turned into a chain-business, dirty, sex tourism filled place. At the end of the night, 1 out of 3 men are seen walking around with a scantily clad, young Thai woman. You could not walk more than a block without girls offering a "massage". I personally do not like being in that kinda of scene and one night in Patong Beach was more than plenty.

Although Phuket was an eye-sore, I am soo happy that I went for a night because I got to see an old friend, Amarin. Amarin is from Australia and studied at UW-Madison for a year where I got to know him well. He had told me he was going to be in Thailand and I gave him my hostel name and he found us! It was very fun to hang out for a night.

Amarin and I :)

The only pretty picture from Phuket. I will say it had a nice sunset.

The following morning, we left the island of Phuket to head to a much smaller island, Koh Phi Phi, on a two hour ferry.
When we all arrived in Koh Phi Phi, we were all grinning from ear to ear. It is an absolutely stunning place. We were whisked away in our boat taxi to our hotel "Vikings Nature Resort".

I will admit that although I had a backpack on, I did not do so much "backpacking" on this trip. We arrived at the resort to find our own private beach and private beach bungalows merely feet from the beach. All you could see was amazing blue water and white sand. INCREDIBLE!
Our beach bungalows complied with the theme of nature resort- outdoor shower (no hot water), no sink, and a mosquito net to sleep under. I liked it minus the fact that mosquitoes find me wherever I am!
The other nature aspect of the resort was that there were no cement pathways, but you had to hike to get from bungalows to beach. The place is definitely not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.

The beach bungalow.

I want a hammock everywhere I live.

One distinguishing factor about Koh Phi Phi is the "long-tail boats" that are on the waters. They are obvious when you see them because their motor and rutter are extremely long. But, they create a very nice picture when set against limestone rocks and clear, blue water.
Our first full day in P.P. for about $25 per person, we got our own long-tail boat and driver for about 8 hours (so cheap its a joke)

All ready to go!

We got to go island hopping, snorkeling, swimming, see the actual beach from the movie/book "The Beach", and drive through beautiful limestone rock islands and picture perfect lagoons. We even got lunch included as part of the tour. It was an awesome way to spend the day.
Snorkeling was really fun for me because it was only the second time I have done it. It took me a little while to get the hang of the breathing thing, but then I liked it. Our boat driver would throw a piece of bread into the water and the fish would come surround you, it was really cool.
One of the islands that we stopped at for a couple of hours was stunning. You could only see the people you were with, no businnesses, and just beauty.
Did I mention the water was a perfect, clear blue?

At night, we would all walk into town for dinner and drinks. The walk to town was a nature hike for about 20 minutes and then a little walk down the beach. The town was cute with a few shops, restaurants, and an ATM (what more do you need).

Each night, we all ate some great Thai food and banana nutella pancakes for desert.

Another highlight was that when it was low tide, you could walk out really far into the water and even straight into town sometimes.
We also got to celebrate Chris's 23rd birthday in P.P., which was spent at Carlitos our favorite spot where you sit in plastic chairs in the sand while the ocean comes up at your feet.