Page 70 - Phonebox Magazine April 2008

In this next leg of the journey ex Ousedale and Sharnbrook students Emma and Mark arrive in Southern Thailand going on to
Malaysa, Borneo and Singapore . . . .
Koh Lanta Pics
Southern Thailand
Hello again!
Since our last update, from Laos we headed over to Bangkok (again!), this time not for shopping but to make our way down to Koh Phi Phi, an island in the south of Thailand.
Once in Bangkok, we spent one night out drinking with an English guy we’d met in Laos and the next night having one drink and “bar snacks” (all we could afford) on the 61st floor open rooftop bar at the Banyan Hotel in the heart of the city after having it recommended to us by a friend.
This prestigious hotel was not for backpackers and cared not for Marks shorts and well-travelled smelly flip-flops, for which he had to borrow long trousers and shoes for!
We then took a cheap flight down to the island of Phuket, taking only two hours instead of 18 by bus and boat. Upon arrival it was obvious that this over- developed tourist area was not our thing and the majority of people that had criticised it were pretty accurate.
The problem seemed to be a complete lack of charm or Thai roots, and one too many fat-bellied sunburnt tourists looking for their way of life but with beaches, beer and too much sun. There was no respect for the Thai culture we had learnt and adhered to back up north and unlike places like Chiang Mai, the Thai’s seemed to give in to people disrespecting their culture for the money it brought them. And we didn’t even stay in the seedy area!
We promptly booked a boat for the next day over to Koh Phi Phi as we didn’t want to waste our time in Phuket. Koh Phi Phi is made up of two islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley. The first being inhibited and the latter instead being a national park and famous for where “The Beach” was filmed.
We spent a week on Phi Phi Don, or as we referred to it “The closest thing to
Paradise yet”. The island is blessed with white sands, blue seas, clear water coral reefs, lush vegetation and incredible views. We stayed at Phi Phi Hill Resort (as the name suggests, a lot of steps to get up there, but worth it for the view), for £10 a night in a hut with a fan and cold shower. This is more than we usually paid for accommodation is SE Asia but cheap for this island.
Every evening in our restaurant we were greeted to stunning sunset views as the skies turned orange, red and even purple behind the silhouette of Phi Phi Ley and the South West corner of Phi Phi Don. The sound of longboat engines in the distance amid the pure tranquility will stay with both of us forever.
The island is only realistically accessible by boat, even between beaches and longboats become taxi boats to get around the island, they were not the easiest to get in and out of (although funny when one woman’s grand entrance was ruined by falling out straight into the water!). We tried ourselves once, trekking through the islands wilderness (a snake darting across our path was a little unnerving) and even though extremely hard work it was worth it when we found a long secluded beach, which we shared with only a handful of people and some sand crabs.
We also found a few viewpoints and then Runtee Beach, our favourite beach on Koh Phi Phi. Lined with palm trees, brilliant white sand and a view of distant islands, this small beach was excellent for snorkeling with its clear turquoise water. Lazing on this beach during the day offered peace and quite from the busier tourist beaches which were often crowded and noisy due to the relentless slow of taxi boats.
During the week we also hired a boat for the day with driver and snorkeling kit which we used to visit the beautiful Maya Bay, known
to many as the area where the film “The Beach” was made. Luckily we took on board the advise to get there early and arrived at the entrance of the bay at about 8:30am when there was only a few other longboats and a handful of people walking up and down the beach.
This moment was a big highlight in our itinerary, so we quickly jumped off the boat and stood in awe of this stunning place, taking in the long arched beach and surrounding cliffs, creating an almost Jurassic look. After snorkeling, chilling on the beach and taking plenty of photos we decided to leave slightly earlier than scheduled at about 10:30am, after boat upon boat of tourists arrived and filled the beach up – every square inch of the beach! We then realised how lucky we were that our driver had made us get up early and we got to experience it as we did.
We sailed off around the west, riding huge waves from the ever increasing array of tourist boats, some huge some rapid. Luckily, our boat had seen worse before as had our driver who was equally skilled. Next we headed over to monkey island, where there was a very small but gorgeous beach with wild monkeys playing in the surrounding beachfront trees. Afterwards we set off for Bamboo island, just north of Phi Phi Don.
This was by far the most beautiful place either of us had ever been to, the island reigned supreme in beauty and scenic views over the rest of Phi Phi’s paradise spots. This island is a national park with jungle vegetation in the middle, clear blue seas and coral life that made for excellent snorkeling. While we were in the sea, still close to the shore, a school of tropical fish swam right through us!
After an amazing time on Phi Phi, we set off by boat for one and a half hours over to Koh Lanta after having it recommended to us by a friend for its chilled out
Koh Phi Phi Pics
atmosphere. We managed to get cheap accommodation in the form of another hut with fan and cold shower, only this one had an Asian style self flushing toilet which we hadn’t had in a while.
The great thing was these huts were behind a resort and we had full access to their facilities including a beach front swimming pool. With the sun beaming down, we quickly got straight into the pool which was the perfect temperature. It was only later that evening after a whole day by the pool and perfecting our “bat and ball” skills on the beach, that we noticed that the bottom half of Emma’s hair had turned blue! So only Mark could go in the pool after that.
Continuing with the chilled, laid back experience we mingled with the locals and some great times drinking and eating on the beach, quickly seduced by the easy-as-it-comes attitude of these very warm kind-hearted islanders. Koh Lanta was an idyllic ending to Thailand, an amazing country that we now have memories to treasure forever. We were reluctant to leave but the excitement of Malaysia kept us on.
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