Day 6

After a nice refreshing sleep in my beach hut in Krabi I didn’t have much time to explore the hotel resort before my tuk tuk came to take me to the ferry at around 11. I’ve made a pact with myself not to strand any more Thai’s.

I got on the ferry for the 2 hour journey to Phi Phi. Despite having a decent nights kip I couldn’t help falling asleep again. There’s not a lot else to do!

Arriving In Phi Phi

Upon arrival it started raining! Great. The island still looked beautiful, quite tropical mountains surrounding a non-commercial looking tiny town with thai authentic shops, markets, food places and bars.

I loved the vibe of Phi Phi already. No cars, not even tuk tuks. Everything is within walking distance, the island is that small!

Not long after arrival, and ditching my bags at the hotel, I met up with a friend Kirstie for food who was coincidentally staying at Phi Phi the same time as me and agreed to be my tour guide for my 2 day stay.

She influenced me to have a Thai Green Curry, which I thing is now my new favourite Thai dish. Yes, over Pad Phai.

Night Out In Phi Phi

On the night of day 6 we went to a few bars and had a few Daiquiri buckets which are pretty lethal, but cheap if you’re trying to be frugal. I also met Kirsties old room mate, Sian – from Switzerland! He had also lost his bank card like me…

The nightlife was fairly busy, but not too crowded. To be expected for low season.

Notable bars in Phi Phi

• Dojo – Lots of beer pong going on in here – good deals on cocktails and buckets
• Banana Bar – a rooftop bar that is really chilled, plays  British films
• Live Bar – It is what it says on the tin – great acoustic guitar player and singer with a drummer playing classics from the 60s right upto modern day.

Day 7

Viewpoint

On day 7 we headed up to the highest point in Phi Phi. There is a lot of steps to walk up, I wouldn’t recommend doing this after drinking many buckets the night before. Theres a small fee to get in at the top but it’s totally worth the views. It was pretty rainy and foggy though, so the views could have been even better on a clear day.

Monkey Bay

Monkey bay is by far my favourite experience of Thailand so far. You go over on a taxi boat – which should only cost around 200 BAHT. The taxi boat driver will sit and wait for you in his boat while you go and see Monkey Bay.

Monkey Bay is basically a beach inhabited by, well, monkeys.

Everyone recommends taking bananas to feed the monkeys. Despite the big sign saying ‘DO NOT FEED THE MONKEYS’. I kinda agree with the sign now. I got attacked upon arrival after taking 2 big bags of bananas.

They swim unto the boat, climb in and try and take anything you’ve got. That includes wallet, bags, money…. phone.

They’re quite tame and won’t bite, unless antagonised, so don’t worry if a monkey starts climbing up you. Or in my case, if 15 do.

Maya Bay – The Island From ‘The Beach’

After Monkey Bay we decided to brave the ‘choppy’ water in our boat taxi to Maya Bay which was about 30 minutes away from Monkey Bay. Maya is the island made famous because ‘The Beach’ starring Di Caprio was filmed there. Most boats were not sailing to Maya bay because of the violent water. Our boat taxi guy seemed willing.

I looked at the sea. It looked fine. Like any other day. No choppy waves. Can’t be that bad.

As we got further out into the sea, I could understand why most boats weren’t running today. I thought we were going to capsize. As the waves hit the boat it drenched us wet through in the boat. Cold, shivering and fearful of death we carried on to Maya Bay.

Once there it was a mission to actually get onto the famous beach. You have to swim a good few minutes to get to ground, then the ground is rocks, with lots of sharp edges, crabs, holes and other things – it’s basically a beach assault course. Eventually we get to the beach.

Not gonna lie. There’s not much to see or do here. It costs 400BAHT to get in! Once you’ve seen the famous beach all that’s left to do is sunbathe or have a dip in the sea. There’s no bars or even any where to get water. There was a cafe but it was shut. Maybe because it is low season… we took a few pictures and left after all of 2-3 minutes.

All that pain of the choppy waves and hard trek to the actual beach hardly seems worth it on the surface, but actually it was. The journey over to Maya I would say was totally worth it, just because of how exhilaratingly scary and painful it was. More character building there.

On the night we went out again More buckets. Nice hangover in the morning.

Day 8

From Phi Phi to Phuket

So it was time to say goodbye to Phi Phi and head on over to Phuket. Definitely my favourite Island/place in Thailand so far. I got on the 2 hour boat journey this morning and checked into my new hotel.

To say I felt rough was an understatement…Upon walking through Potang, the area I’m staying in Phuket, I quickly realised this isn’t any place to relax.

It looks a bit like Bangkok, with a beach. Lots of nightlife going on. After drinking quite a  lot in my time in Phi Phi, I decide I need to have a chilled night so I’m sitting in a cafe writing this with a tea.

Takeaways

Go to monkey beach! Seriously

Drink buckets on nights out

Visit Live bar for a real live music treat

Maya bay is a little bit of a let down!