After one night in Phuket, we took a ferry over to the island of Phi Phi Don. The "tourist village" is made up of small lanes full of restaurants, bars, and shops. No vehicles allowed! Very nice not having to dodge cars/trucks/motorbikes...but you can still get hit by a bicycle. Luckily, most are not well maintained, so you can hear them squeeking up behind you.
The village is set on a small strip of sand...so a beach on each side. This is the "harbor" side. Boats as far as the eye can see. So glad we were here in the "green season". Tourists poured off the ferries, but most left at the end of the day.
The other side. Beautiful white sand beach...and much less boat traffic. Perfect spot for sunset drinks and dinner right on the beach.
A corner of sunset! The beach didn't exactly face west...
The cliffs on either side are amazing. Kept the waters in the bay nice and calm for swimming.
At night the beach transformed! Fire dancers, strings of lights, torches lit, music pumping. Unfortunately for them, England and the USA World Cup games were being viewed in town. I'm sure they benefited later in the evening after both games were won!
The next morning we hiked up to the "Viewpoint". We (of course) took a wrong turn and went the LONG way (SE Asia is not known for good signage). You can see the "spit" of sand...the harbor on the left and the swimming beach on the right. You can also see how the Tsunami wave devestated this island. It went over the spit and back again. Thousands were killed. It has been completely rebuilt...
That afternoon we hired a speedboat for snorkeling. Ended up being a private boat, as the Chinese couple with us wanted to go back to shore. The woman got dizzy when the speedboat hit some big waves. First stop, Monkey Beach. We watched as the youngsters dove into the ocean and swam around. They get fed by tourists all day, then head back into the jungle. At the end of our boat trip, we came back here to snorkel. We saw a huge puffer fish and a seahorse....and then we both got stung by jellyfish....we were covered in welts. Darn those jellyfish.
Maya Beach on Phi Phi Leh...famous for being the spot where they filmed the movie "The Beach". In order to get to it we had to be pummeled on the rocks by waves and climb a slippery ladder..then hike across the island. When we reached our destination, a speedboat pulled up to the beach. No fair.
As the tide came in, we were able to drift back into the other lagoon on Phi Phi Leh. We had snorkeled outside the lagoon earlier. Amazing....beautiful coral...tons of colorful fish. In the lagoon it looked to be only sand...but we found schools of white/translucent fish swimming around.. that really wanted to nibble our feet. We also saw long skinny Gar fish and a small fiesty fish that appeared to want to "kick our *sses". My guess is she was protecting her young....she almost seemed to growl. Now off to Railay Beach for some climbing....that is, if I can fit my broken toe in a climbing shoe!
After one night in Phuket, we took a ferry over to the island of Phi Phi Don. The "tourist village" is made up of small lanes full of restaurants, bars, and shops. No vehicles allowed! Very nice not having to dodge cars/trucks/motorbikes...but you can still get hit by a bicycle. Luckily, most are not well maintained, so you can hear them squeeking up behind you.
The village is set on a small strip of sand...so a beach on each side. This is the "harbor" side. Boats as far as the eye can see. So glad we were here in the "green season". Tourists poured off the ferries, but most left at the end of the day.
The other side. Beautiful white sand beach...and much less boat traffic. Perfect spot for sunset drinks and dinner right on the beach.
A corner of sunset! The beach didn't exactly face west...
The cliffs on either side are amazing. Kept the waters in the bay nice and calm for swimming.
At night the beach transformed! Fire dancers, strings of lights, torches lit, music pumping. Unfortunately for them, England and the USA World Cup games were being viewed in town. I'm sure they benefited later in the evening after both games were won!
The next morning we hiked up to the "Viewpoint". We (of course) took a wrong turn and went the LONG way (SE Asia is not known for good signage). You can see the "spit" of sand...the harbor on the left and the swimming beach on the right. You can also see how the Tsunami wave devestated this island. It went over the spit and back again. Thousands were killed. It has been completely rebuilt...
That afternoon we hired a speedboat for snorkeling. Ended up being a private boat, as the Chinese couple with us wanted to go back to shore. The woman got dizzy when the speedboat hit some big waves. First stop, Monkey Beach. We watched as the youngsters dove into the ocean and swam around. They get fed by tourists all day, then head back into the jungle. At the end of our boat trip, we came back here to snorkel. We saw a huge puffer fish and a seahorse....and then we both got stung by jellyfish....we were covered in welts. Darn those jellyfish.
Maya Beach on Phi Phi Leh...famous for being the spot where they filmed the movie "The Beach". In order to get to it we had to be pummeled on the rocks by waves and climb a slippery ladder..then hike across the island. When we reached our destination, a speedboat pulled up to the beach. No fair.
As the tide came in, we were able to drift back into the other lagoon on Phi Phi Leh. We had snorkeled outside the lagoon earlier. Amazing....beautiful coral...tons of colorful fish. In the lagoon it looked to be only sand...but we found schools of white/translucent fish swimming around.. that really wanted to nibble our feet. We also saw long skinny Gar fish and a small fiesty fish that appeared to want to "kick our *sses". My guess is she was protecting her young....she almost seemed to growl. Now off to Railay Beach for some climbing....that is, if I can fit my broken toe in a climbing shoe!
Good job keeping up the blog, we love reading it and seeing what you guys are up to! Your pics and descriptions are awesome. Sorry about your broken toe Trish. Any dark beer in SE Asia or is it all lager?
ReplyDeleteAllllllll Lager! We are in Malaysia now...and did have a Guiness last night. Glad you are enjoying the blog! I'm doing a hash run tomorrow night...so we'll see how the toe does!
ReplyDelete