Southern islands of Thailand
Crossing from Malaysia to Thailand we headed straight to Krabi. Chris and I have both been to Thailand a bunch of times, but the Islands of the South have always been missed off. With Islands such as Phi Phi, and Koh Lipe being names that bounced around the walls of every hostel in South East Asia, we were keen to hop around before the arrival of Pippa, Macca and Jimbo who were due to join us in a weeks time.
With Chris sick in bed after suffering with a stomach bug for a week, I headed out to visit tiger temple for a sunset view (and to work off a few tandoori chicken naan breads I had devoured daily in Malaysia). 1200 steps and a bucket load of sweat later i made it to the top. Golden Buddhas rising above greeted my summit and a ghost like mountain backdrop set the spiritual scene perfectly.
With Chris feeling slightly better by the evening we headed to the hostel bar to have a few casual beers and to meet some decent people. Naturally we ended up in the hostel’s beer pong championships representing Cambodia in a 16 country battle, where to our complete shock we found ourselves in the final against Antarctica (two Aussies) where we thankfully lost…the prize was a bucket filled with an unknown concoction of alcohol. Welcome to Thailand.
One of the greatest things about travelling is flexibility. You want to stay one more day, you can stay one more day. You want to head north instead of South, you can do that! Waking up with a sore head and message from Pippa, she excitedly mentioned her and Maccas arrival into Koh Phi Phi. Squinting at the chalk board of transfers on the hostel notice board there was a boat transfer there the very next day at 11am… we didn’t need much convincing. After a relaxing day trip to Ralay beach, a place Chris had visited not long after the Tsunami in 2005, we packed our bags and headed off to to meet our pals!
Home to Maya Beach, where “The Beach” was filmed, I was sceptical that the whole set up of Koh Phi Phi would be totally ruined by tourists filling the beaches in the hunt for the paradise that the film promised. Arriving by boat we passed the stunning hotel where we knew Pippa and Macca would be living it up at their honeymoon suite before checking into our delight of a place, “Ibiza hostel”, a 10 bed dorm party hostel on the opposite side of the island #livingthedream.
With it being Maccas birthday the day before, we headed out and got fully involved with the party side of the island. Beers, buckets and blazing fire beach limbo. I think it’s safe to say we fitted in pretty well with the 18 year olds living it largeeee.
After a day of hangovers, it was time to at least attempt to do something except sleep and party, so we booked ourselves onto a sunset island plankton snorkelling trip.
Heading out to all of the classic island stops we finally cruised over to Maya beach just before sunset. Let’s just say, I now know what all the fuss is all about. If I was to be washed up anywhere in the world, I think this would be at the top of my list.
A hundred photos later we just about managed to pull ourselves away from the caster sugar sand and glistening calm sea just in time for the sun to go down ready for plankton snorkelling.
When given energy, Plankton let out a bright turquoise glow lighting up the ocean around. Swishing and swooshing our hands and legs in a circle we created an underwater bioluminescent blanket of stars, impossible to capture by camera so you will have to try it out yourself one day!
As Pippa and Macca headed out on their own adventure for a few days Chris and I took a two hour boat to Koh Lanta, known for being a much quieter and untouched version of Phi Phi.
The island itself only takes around 50 minutes to drive from top to bottom and the best way to get around was by moped. Heading out for the day we found that each beach we passed got better and better. After a swim and some lunch on an almost entirely deserted beach we continued to zoom around, slowing down to watch the monkeys that would play and follow us as we passed.
On our second and final day in Koh Lanta we headed out to see the Emerald Cave, a natural lagoon hidden in the middle of an island, only accessible by swimming through the cave system.
Whilst the cave and inside beach was incredible in theory, it was almost completely ruined for me by what can only be described as a train of 1000 floating Chinese tourists all in bright yellow high-vis life jackets screaming and pushing there way through the cave (as if swimming through a cave isn’t scary enough), and then once inside taking up every possible view point to have photos in some of the most peculiar poses I have ever seen. I have really never seen anything quite like it, and unfortunately I think I will remember this part more than my experience in the cave itself. How amazing it would have been to discover such a hidden gem, just a couple of guys floating through the darkness of the cave to find it opens up in to a beautiful deserted beach surrounded by isolated limestone walls.
I think I will hold onto that image instead which we managed to catch a glimpse of on the way out of the cave where light began to spill in through the cracks in the walls and the water lit up a bright emerald green, clear and brilliant.
The final part of the day however truly made up for everything before as we were whisked off to a paradise island where I have never seen or felt water so clear and warm and we pretty much had it all to ourselves.
Heading slightly more north we my made our way to Phuket where we were joined back up by Pippa, Macca and a new addition to the group, Jimbo, who had himself spent a week backpacking through China and had many stories to share with us.
We spent the week lounging by the many pools at the beautiful Marriott Beach Resort which Chris’ Dad, Kerry, has a time share and kindly donated to us for a week of bliss.
As Kerry knows, a trip to Phuket is not complete without a strange night out in Patong. Filled with neon lights and ping pong shows galore it broke up the week of relaxation with a night of complete and utter madness. I’m sure you have all seen the photo but just incase you haven’t, here it is again in all it’s glory!
Next stop, Bangkok-Chaing Mai.
