Was In: Phi Phi & Phuket, Thailand
When: May 29th, 2011 Weekend
Why: 5th Year Anniversary!
[Finally have a few moments to catch up on the goings-on over the past couple of weeks here in Asia. Work has been crazy].
We arrived in Ton Sai Bay, Phi Phi on Saturday morning. Friday night we spent in Karon Beach at the Kathanhani hotel, which is right outside Phuket about thirty minutes from the airport. Nice place (Karon is) this time of year. Quiet. No one around.
The entire weekend Roger kept pronouncing Phuket like he was speaking French. For some reason, Roger gets away with this. With anyone else, they would just sound pretentious.
To get to Ton Sai and Phi Phi, you have to take the ferry from Phuket or Krabi. This time around, we did Phuket. Ton Sai is the jumping off point for a lot of main attractions in Phi Phi Don/Ley. I prefer to get away from the town in Ton Sai Bay because it is usually filled with stinky bratty backpackers. And there is a beautiful quiet spot in the northern most part of Phi Phi Don. Zeavola is my favorite spot. They have a few teak traditional houses, all open to the environment except for the glass enclosure around the bed, wardrobe, and AC. Even the bathroom and shower is outdoors.
This area of Phi Phi Don & Ley is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen in the world. The bad news is that many other people in the world agree with me on this.
.. So early Saturday morning, after a breakfast of lychee, mango and coffee we hired our long tail for the day and headed to Phi Phi Ley, the tiny island with the beautiful bays. All through-out the shallow part of Phi Phi Ley, the water is sparkling light blue and quiet, great for snorkeling. I keep wondering how much more involved the experience could be by sailboat.
My favorite spot of all is Pileh Bay - it's almost completely enclosed by the island, so as a result, in the middle of the Andaman Sea, you have hardly any waves. The only waves come from the wake of the long-tail boats.
Next is Maya Bay and it is drop dead gorgeous, which is its main draw back because the beach is crowded with large speedboats plus many tourists. Probably 15 boats and 200 people. We took a less traveled way and swam in through the back via Loh Samah Bay and climbed up the jagged rocks and wet rickety ladder. It was a little dicey at first. The waves were strong and tossing us (well, me) around like seaweed. And still wearing my fins, it made it difficult to get up the ladder. Obviously, fish haven't evolved to climb on ladders. My next time at Maya, I will figure out how to see it without everyone else. By sunrise, or sunset. After everyone else has left.
After Maya, we headed to Monkey Beach to see the beach-bumming monkeys beg for food. They eat bananas like humans. Or should I say, humans eat bananas like monkeys. A monkey ran off with someone's pink shoe. I don't think he mistook it for a watermelon, he just wanted the shoe. Two other monkeys were drinking cokes out of a plastic cups like they were downing pints. I could have watched for hours. They act so human. They know that they are being watched. They perform. They have fingers that wash the sand of the bananas before they eat them.
I should mention Roger's favorite part of the trip. I was wearing a lime green bikini - the color of an unripe mango. And two monkeys either wanted my bikini because they thought thought it was food, or they just wanted attention. One started pulling down the bottoms. The other jumped from the trees to grab my top. I did what any good American girl would do. I screamed but did not nothing but stand there. Two American dudes and an entertained Spaniard looked on.
I guess the difference between male monkeys and Western men is this: what men think, monkeys do.
When: May 29th, 2011 Weekend
Why: 5th Year Anniversary!
[Finally have a few moments to catch up on the goings-on over the past couple of weeks here in Asia. Work has been crazy].
We arrived in Ton Sai Bay, Phi Phi on Saturday morning. Friday night we spent in Karon Beach at the Kathanhani hotel, which is right outside Phuket about thirty minutes from the airport. Nice place (Karon is) this time of year. Quiet. No one around.
The entire weekend Roger kept pronouncing Phuket like he was speaking French. For some reason, Roger gets away with this. With anyone else, they would just sound pretentious.
To get to Ton Sai and Phi Phi, you have to take the ferry from Phuket or Krabi. This time around, we did Phuket. Ton Sai is the jumping off point for a lot of main attractions in Phi Phi Don/Ley. I prefer to get away from the town in Ton Sai Bay because it is usually filled with stinky bratty backpackers. And there is a beautiful quiet spot in the northern most part of Phi Phi Don. Zeavola is my favorite spot. They have a few teak traditional houses, all open to the environment except for the glass enclosure around the bed, wardrobe, and AC. Even the bathroom and shower is outdoors.
This area of Phi Phi Don & Ley is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen in the world. The bad news is that many other people in the world agree with me on this.
.. So early Saturday morning, after a breakfast of lychee, mango and coffee we hired our long tail for the day and headed to Phi Phi Ley, the tiny island with the beautiful bays. All through-out the shallow part of Phi Phi Ley, the water is sparkling light blue and quiet, great for snorkeling. I keep wondering how much more involved the experience could be by sailboat.
My favorite spot of all is Pileh Bay - it's almost completely enclosed by the island, so as a result, in the middle of the Andaman Sea, you have hardly any waves. The only waves come from the wake of the long-tail boats.
Next is Maya Bay and it is drop dead gorgeous, which is its main draw back because the beach is crowded with large speedboats plus many tourists. Probably 15 boats and 200 people. We took a less traveled way and swam in through the back via Loh Samah Bay and climbed up the jagged rocks and wet rickety ladder. It was a little dicey at first. The waves were strong and tossing us (well, me) around like seaweed. And still wearing my fins, it made it difficult to get up the ladder. Obviously, fish haven't evolved to climb on ladders. My next time at Maya, I will figure out how to see it without everyone else. By sunrise, or sunset. After everyone else has left.
After Maya, we headed to Monkey Beach to see the beach-bumming monkeys beg for food. They eat bananas like humans. Or should I say, humans eat bananas like monkeys. A monkey ran off with someone's pink shoe. I don't think he mistook it for a watermelon, he just wanted the shoe. Two other monkeys were drinking cokes out of a plastic cups like they were downing pints. I could have watched for hours. They act so human. They know that they are being watched. They perform. They have fingers that wash the sand of the bananas before they eat them.
I should mention Roger's favorite part of the trip. I was wearing a lime green bikini - the color of an unripe mango. And two monkeys either wanted my bikini because they thought thought it was food, or they just wanted attention. One started pulling down the bottoms. The other jumped from the trees to grab my top. I did what any good American girl would do. I screamed but did not nothing but stand there. Two American dudes and an entertained Spaniard looked on.
I guess the difference between male monkeys and Western men is this: what men think, monkeys do.
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| Monkeying Around on Monkey Beach |
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| She needs a bra |
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| Hola, I speak 4.5 languages. Love me. |
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| On ferry from Phuket to Ton Sai. |
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| Roger (sort of) smiles when you face him into the sun |
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| Loh Samah Bay |
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| Zeavola, Phi Phi Don |
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| My 'front yard' view @ Zeavola |
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| Pileh Bay, Phi Phi Ley |
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| Viking Cave, Phi Phi Ley |
