The Most Beautiful Thing

We ended up with a bit of a raw deal regarding the boat journey to Koh Phi Phi. When I booked the tickets, I’d asked the dude how long the trip would take. He paused, just for a millisecond, before telling me it would take one hour. So I wasn’t particularly surprised when the trip ended up taking two, as his ever-so-tiny pause had sewn a seed of doubt in my mind as to whether he was being completely honest with me. However, that wouldn’t have been so bad if the boat had been in the least bit comfortable. No air-conditioning or cushioned seats to be seen! Aren’t we flashpackers now? How could this happen? Check out the life jackets… Anyway, I couldn’t whinge because we were on our way to one of the most beautiful islands ever.

It’s difficult to explain how gorgeous the island is. I can’t even really show you with pictures (although I’ll try) as they just don't do it justice. It certainly is one of those places that needs to be visited in person in order to fully appreciate its natural beauty.

Seeing the sheer size of the surrounding mountains and the way they shoot straight up into the sky from the ocean is a sight that will remain with me forever. When you combine an awe inspiring view like that with beaches lined by jungle, stunning crystal clear bays, great diving and very few vehicles, I reckon it could just about be called paradise (if you shut out the extremely pushy touts, one million speed boats, and over-the-top resorts).
After the ferry trip from hell (I’m exaggerating, but it was pretty bad), being harassed by touts the moment we set foot on the creaky old jetty, and nearly causing an all out brawl between them and our hotel porters (it’s complicated), we finally made it safely to our room. Later that night at Papaya Restaurant (good value tasty food), I couldn't help but photograph this clever little guy. He knows where it's at!On Saturday, we took a two dive trip with Hippo Divers. We had an awesome day and two really enjoyable dives. The scenery all around us was stunning. Hippo Divers provided a great service with yummy food and friendly, professional staff. The visibility on the first dive was better than the second, but we were still lucky enough to see loads of sort after species, including a reasonable sized shark, several turtles, two octopus lovers (they were holding tentacles), sea snakes, scorpion fish and loads of others that I won’t bore you with. It was very cool and some of the best diving we’ve had on the trip so far.

Dive Site #1 - Bida Nok

Dive Site #2 - Palong West

Phi Phi Leh

While all the delightful action packed travel was taking place, other decisions were being made. We're now in Krabi Town, on our way to Bangkok. We’d always planned to include Cambodia in our travels and have decided that now is as good a time as any. Might as well do it before ‘settling down’ in Phuket. Do they have mango sticky rice in Cambo?

So it was a bit of a whirl wind tour to Phi Phi this time round but we've promised to go back soon. I’m still shocked that I was able to leave such a beautiful place.