December 30, 2012

koh phi phi

so we arrived on phi phi island on the 24th by ferry boat from phuket. the ferry took about 2 hours but we just sat downstairs and slept the whole time. once we arrived we were hit by a wave of humidity and the salty smell of the ocean. we stepped out of the ferry and realized we were surrounded by lush green mountains and bright blue & teal water. the sight was breathtaking. we paid the small entrance fee to enter phi phi island and found a guy holding a sign that said "ibiza house," which is where we booked our rooms here. he loaded our luggage onto a cart with wheels and we set out to ibiza house. there are no cars, taxis or tuk-tuks here. only bikes & carts. after walking about 5 minutes through all the newness, we got to ibiza house reception and got our room keys. mirelle, dandi, dekel & i are sharing a 4-person room and my mom has a room to herself at the other end of the hall. the rooms are really nice and clean with AC and crisp white sheets. the bathroom is one of those where you just shower with the toilet and no shower curtain, there is just a drain in the corner of the bathroom.

so the first day, we changed into our swimsuits and walked the 1-second walk to the beach (our hostel is literally ON the beach) and since the tide was "down" we walked out so far into the ocean just to get knee-deep. the tide is down around noon or a little afternoon and when its down the sand is exposed and the water is kind of murky, but when the tide is up it feels like a picture off of google. you are standing there staring out into the ocean with mountains surrounding you and clear water beneath you. after we hung out in the water a bit, we went to shower and went to a place called banana bar. its a rooftop bar where they play a different american movie every night and since it was christmas eve, they were playing elf. we watched a little of the movie and ordered some mexican food & after that we just went back to the room to change and go out. since we are so close to the beach we can hear the parties from our room and we knew it would be chaotic. we went out in swimsuit tops and flip flops and danced for a bit. after about 30 minutes i started feeling really sick so dandi and i came back to the room to pass out and mirelle and dek stayed to party.

the two days that followed i was sick as a dog with dehydration and needed to go get an iv and some meds. after about 3 days i started feeling better and was back to my normal self. the heat here is just killer and combined with being on the beach, laying out and walking around all the time its crucial to drink at least 2 water bottles a day.

two days ago we booked a trip to some islands. the long tail boat took us to viking cave, snorkeling, to maya beach and to monkey beach (but it was afternoon so we didn't see any monkeys). maya beach was amazing, its the beach where they filmed the movie "the beach" and it was just like you can imagine. soft white sand, clear blue water and chill environment. there are no hostels to stay there, only a national park to walk around to see the jungely area.

yesterday we went to long beach, which was a 5-minute longtail boat ride away from where we are staying and it was beautiful. paradise. out of a dream. the sand there was a little more coarse, but it was still white and pretty with shells and coral everywhere. we swam and drank fruit shakes under the shade of a palm tree.  we left long beach around 3:30 pm cause we wanted to make it back in time to shower and hit up "happy hour" massages but 5. they are 100 baht (~$3) cheaper. we got to the massage place at 4:45 and they said we couldn't get the happy hour which was dumb, but we still got foot massages and mom got a thai massage.  after massages we met up with dandi, who went on a dive, and went out to dinner at paddys, which is an irish pub recommended by lonely planet. it didn't disappoint. they actually brought all our orders out together (unlike every thai restaurant here) and they were all really good. mine was the best though, i ordered fried chicken with cashews. yum! after dinner we went to cool off in the room and then we went out to banana bar for a hawaiian margarita, it had strawberries and pineapple in it. after drinks we went to book a 4-hour speed boat for all of us to go to bamboo island  & we were supposed to be there at 8:50 am.

we got up this morning and it was raining, so we got ready anyways and went to breakfast but even after we ate the rain was still pouring down so we went to the place where we booked the bamboo island trip and got a refund  :(  we googled the weather and its supposed to rain for the next 3 days, so i guess ill be blogging again soon.

in the meantime, here are some photos of our time in koh phi phi:

on the ferry from phuket to koh phi phi
walking to the koh phi phi viewpoiut
viewpoint 1 
 boxes & boxes of chang beer
random
 bike parking
 shopping
 pretty flowers
 cartons
 playing with my new lens

 this is what dehydration looks like
 koh phi phi pier
 pretty longtail boats
 i love how they decorate them!
 i think the alcohol impaired their judgEment...
 strawberry, banana shake
little swallow
 bananas everywhere
 buckets!
on the way to maya beach
 koh phi phi
drinking chang 
 dek chillin
 dancin at the beach party
 group shot minus mom @ paddy's

2 comments :

jackiek said...

gorgeous pictures!! glad to hear you're feeling better xo

Eliza said...

Looks like you're having a great time! Love the pictures!