I liked, but did not love Koh Phi Phi, where Judith and I spent three days relaxing and exploring neighboring islands. Paradise has been tarnished by thousands of tourists and the endless sound of motor boats.

23 November, 2019 – Arrive on Phi Phi

Another early start. We ate breakfast at our hotel and caught a 7:00 taxi to Rassada Pier in Phuket where we caught a speedboat to Koh Phi Phi. In hindsight we should have sat further back in the boat or taken the ferry; it was a rough ride. A longboat shuttled us to our hotel, Phi Phi Bayview, nicely placed a ten-minute walk from the crowded pier area and far enough to not be bothered by the party crowd. There are no cars on the island, though we saw a handful of pickup trucks and motorcycles.

After getting settled we walked to aptly named Long Beach. The rolling path is clearly marked, much of it on nice concrete blocks decorated with leaves, the rest a mixture of pavement, beach, and sandbags. We swam a bit, and read books on the beach. I got my first Thai massage, fully clothed without oil. It involves more pressure and twisting than in Cambodia, but equally satisfying. We have a lovely early dinner, broccoli with chicken and a berry slush.

24 November – longboat tour

 After a hearty Thai breakfast, included with our room, we took a longboat tour of neighboring islands. We paid extra to get a private boat with an English-speaking skipper who would tailor our tour for us. We got neither, but we did get an earlier start then the group tours and had a good time anyway. Our first and furthest stop was Bamboo Island (Ko Mai Phai). A fee is charged to go ashore, which is probably a good thing otherwise this idyllic spot would be covered with people. We spent an hour or so strolling the white sand beach and snorkeling a bit, then continued on to other spots, including Maya Bay. The shore of this tiny cove is now closed to allow it to recover from the hordes of people who descended on it after the movie, The Beach. At Monkey Beach, the monkeys clearly recognized water bottles; they grabbed them off shored kayaks, pulled of the tops, and guzzled down the contents. We were also entertained by a very active baby monkey, the first I’ve ever seen. We stopped at several places to snorkel, our favorite being near Viking Cave, where swifts’ nests are harvested for Chinese bird’s nest soup. I missed a section while applying sunblock and came back with two bright red crescents just below my bathing suit on the back of my legs.

It was early afternoon when we go back and I don’t recall doing much of anything for several hours. Later we walked into town, had an early dinner at a combo Indian/Thai restaurant, got a very nice Thai massage, and stopped for a cup of rolled ice cream, created in front of us on an icy slab.

25 November – Phi Phi Viewpoint

We started the day with a hike, taking a long circuitous route up the mountain, through the jungle, past an oversized mega resort under construction, complete with a manmade lake, to two of the three viewpoints. From there the shape of the island is clearly visible. Our route back  was shorter, down a few hundred steps and through the town. There are lots of happy looking cats on this island, with regular tails. They wander in and out of restaurants and shops, getting plenty of food.

After breakfast, Judith headed over to lounge at Long Beach, while I lounged in our nice hotel room overlooking the bay and finished my Angkor Wat blog post, a strikingly different location. When I joined her at Long Beach, we had another massage and early dinner.

26 November – goodbye Phi Phi

I didn’t get back to sleep after the 5:00 a.m. call to prayers; the singing sounded nice. Thailand may be primarily Buddhist, but this island has many Muslins. I took a short stroll on the beach, had one last yummy breakfast, then waded into the water to take the longboat shuttle to the pier where Judith and I parted. She’s heading to Koh Lanta, where she is meeting up with Jolene for a week of island hopping, while I’m headed to the mainland for a dive trip.