The Phi Phi Islands of Thailand. Before you read that out
loud, let’s work on speaking like the locals. This one is pronounced,
“pee-pee.” So that’s settled now.
Our last days in Thailand were spent on the island of Koh
Phi Phi Don. We traveled on a nearly two-hour long ride by ferryboat to get
there. If you’ve ever associated Thailand with clear turquoise waters, white
sandy beaches and vibrant green palms, then those images probably come from
this general vicinity of the country. In short, the place was unbelievably
beautiful.
Once we were there, we traveled around only by foot or by
boat; there are no motorized vehicles on the island and even bicycles are few
and far between. After stopping for food and checking into our hotel, we had to
figure out the best ways to relax for the next few days. We soon discovered
that the options are plentiful.
Things we did: splash around our hotel pool, wander from
vendor to vendor trying to barter for cheap tank tops and souvenirs, capitalize
on the highly affordable massage and pedicure options, find a beach where we
could worship the sun, sign up for a half-day boat tour of the surrounding
islands, and hike to the highest point we could find and take in the views of
where we were. So yeah, our agenda filled up pretty quickly!
On a side note that I cannot omit, I must share how truly
weird our hotel shower was. That is, weird for us westerners. Basically, there
was no defined shower area. Unless you consider the entire bathroom to be the
shower area. The spray hose attachment on the wall got the entire bathroom wet,
including any toilet paper or towels that were left exposed. I’m not sure if
there were photos of the hotel bathroom online when I booked the place. I’m
guessing not, because that would have been a bit of a deal-breaker. Now, the
shower still got us clean. It wasn’t an awful experience. Just weird. And one
that I could do without repeating. Especially on that night when the water
randomly shut off mid- shower while my hair was saturated with water and
shampoo.
The view from the pool was gorgeous. I could have relaxed
there all week.
We let some fish chew off the crusty parts off our feet.
Yes, we went to one of
those places.
One where you stick your feet into a fish tank full of little fish that are
hungry for your dead skin cells. And then you let them feast! It is so hard to
be calm during this type of pedicure, but it was one of our most fun
experiences.
We found our beach too. But apparently, so did about a
hundred other people who thought they were top models on an exotic photo shoot.
And to that I say, good for them and their bikinis or banana hammocks!
The half-day boat tour was nice and scenic too, despite
some rude French tourists that ended up on our same boat. What’s up with those French
people? As long as I kept in mind that we were going to a place where The Beach
was filmed and that I just might be walking on the ground where Leonardo
DiCaprio had been, then all was well.
Hiking to the top of Phi Phi was no joke for this
four-months preggo lady. But once we were at the top I knew it had been worth
it. Not just for the view, but also for the snack bar.
The side of the island where we stayed was relatively calm
and quiet. Perfect for some old married folks like ourselves! But the other
side of the island was the party mecca. We strolled over to the source of the
loud music one night and we were not disappointed. Several of the bars on the
beach had live entertainment with…wait for it…fire throwers! Yes, indeed, there
were real live humans that would toss sticks back and forth that were lit
ablaze, spin flaming rings, and balance on a tight rope while juggling fire
things. Some places even invited tourists to do such activities as fire limbo
and fire jump rope. These are just the same as regular limbo and jump rope,
except everything is on fire and your hair might be too if you decide to
participate. Such fun!
