Koh Phi Phi

We were off to Koh Phi Phi, or as the locals called it, PP Island for the day to explore and take photos galore of what paradise truly is here in Thailand. We set off on a trip to explore the Phi Phi Islands, and those in the nearby area for the day to see some beaches, monkeys, and gorgeous water.

First stop was Mosquito Island (which fyi is a horrible name for an island firstly because who would ever want to go to somewhere named after mosquitoes, secondly because we did not see a single mosquito... false advertising). Here we got to explore the beaches, check out the applicable tsunami evacuation routes and most importantly swim. All the turquoise waters and fluffy white sand beaches that you hear about in reference to Thailand were coming to light on this trip, and this was just the first stop.

From here, we were off to Bamboo, aptly named due to the large amount of bamboo trees at the top--they're super creative here--- for some snorkeling. As we anchored, they threw bread into the water and what followed was madness. "Piranhas of Thailand" flocked to the bread and after a few moments, they were so dense you couldn't see through, it was chaotic. Here we got to jump in and snorkel for a while, seeing some more aquatic life in its natural settings minus the bread and surveying the reefs. Unfortunately, the flocks of piranhas remained and if you stopped swimming for a period of time you became surrounded and it was terrifying...

After this experience, off to Phi Phi Don, the larger and inhabited of the two Phi Phi Islands for lunch, followed by a stop at monkey beach. Here our guide didn't allow us to get off the boat as the monkeys had a reputation for attacking humans so we got to watch as he fed them bananas from the bow of the boat. Interestingly enough, while we were there, a tourist from one of the boats that did allow them to get off and walk amongst the monkeys was chased into the water by an angry monkey that wanted more banana... Jon and I were both perfectly happy to stay and watch from the boat from that point on.

After watching monkeys attack people it was off for more snorkeling along the shores of Phi Phi Ley where they managed to withhold the bread and the fish were in much less of an attack mode...

Underwater James Bond

Phi Phi Ley

Swallow Nest Caverns

After this adventure we got a history lesson of the island formations, and passed by many caves along the way to the next beach. In particular, we passed by a cavern that was home to locals with a license to harvest swallow nest's for exportation to China. Apparently, it is quite the delicacy over there however the practice is extremely illegal without a government contract to do so.

Unfortunately, it was at this point that Mother Nature got mad at us all and decided to take away the perfect day that had been bestowed upon us thus far. It started to rain... Double unfortunately, rain on a boat hurts as denoted by Jon's face below. It was like little bullets and there truly wasn't a place to take cover on the boat so the only option left was to suck up and take it like a man which Jon did, I complained a wee bit though...

Thankfully, by some grace of Buddha, the skies did clear up just enough for us to have the opportunity to enjoy Maya Beach, more famously known as the filming location for the film 'The Beach' with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Maya Beach 

The beach would have been gorgeous if it weren't for the insane amount of tourists and guide boats at the location. Undoubtedly, the location had gained fame through its Hollywood debut and the tour trips were going to take absolute advantage of it... 

La Sala Bay

With a little exploring, we were able to come upon La Sala Bay not far from this location was about as picturesque as you could get, long-tail boats, turquoise water, cliffs... it had it all.

This was the last stop on our tour around the Phi Phi Islands sadly and it was indeed time to head home to Phuket, even sadder was the fact that the very storms that we had outrun before had now caught up to us and the weather had taken a serious turn for the worst.

Reading 'The Beach' on the
beach of 'The Beach'... oh the irony. 

The crystal clear, smooth waters that we had made the hour long journey from Phuket on had indeed developed white caps and swells during our time at Maya Beach, and the ride home was rough to say the least. Given the choice between the angry and irritable French and Indian family in the cabin or the amicable German group on the open bow, we went with the latter... The waves were intense and while the captain did an excellent job of navigating and not losing any of us in the process it was a rough ride to say the least. Furthermore, while the majority of travellers in the cabin were putting on life jackets, our first instinct was to go for the masks and snorkels to help protect our faces and allow us to both see and breath in the downpour... 

The first half of the journey involved us grabbing the sidebars with our lives, and complaining in unison as we took a hard landing from the top of a swell. Yet the second was distinctively quieter due to the swells shrinking just a bit and exhaustion undoubtedly. While during no part of the long trek home did either of us feel unsafe or unsure of the course ahead, the trip did in fact certify our journey to the Phi Phi Islands as an adventure. The islands and surrounding areas were absolutely pristine and gorgeous, and the day was going too perfectly for there not to be some sort of bump in the road, in our case a monsoon.

Old Town Phuket

Sunset at the Marriott, one of the best we have seen yet...

Sunday evening, our plane touched down in wonderful Phuket, and we were off to our accommodations at the Marriott (thanks Jon's dad!!!!). The resort is absolutely amazing as you can interpret from the image above and it was great to be able to settle in somewhere for more than a couple nights, not to mention get some laundry in! Additionally, our extended stay here in Phuket gives us a chance to actually explore an entire place without having to rush off to the next destination...

towel statue in our room... this one is for you ms. emerson rose (my two-year old niece) 

On the agenda (hopefully) is a Thai cooking class, a day trip to some islands, a trip to Patong Beach, and exploration of Old Town Phuket. We were essentially playing it by the book for this leg of the journey--Lonely Planet Phuket Encounter book to be precise.

We started off with the Old Town Phuket trip one our first day on Phuket.

Old Town Phuket is a hypocritical little place. Stuck in the heart of the ever populated Phuket Town, Old Town is home to stark contradictions of old and new as new businesses and residents have made home in some of the oldest buildings in Phuket, some with pretty amazing architecture. To start things off, we ate of course... at the China Inn recommended by Lonely Plant of course. What you are seeing below is the world's most amazing spring rolls.... total I think we have about 12 pictures of these things because they were so amazing, not to mentioned the flower made of a pepper that was included. Stuffed with pork, crab, prawn, and a myriad of other forms of delightfulness, these things were amazing and in all the meal was probably some of the best we have had on this whole trip.

World's Best Spring Rolls 

Some of the buildings I had mentioned previously... plus an adorable ambulance that anyone could enjoy a good ride in... 

After meandering through the city streets, and dodging scooters and taxis from every direction (Jon is quite the wimp about walking out in front of moving vehicles...) we stopped by the recommended Chinese Shrine to get a little culture in our spare time. It is dubbed the Shrine of Serene Light, and was mentioned as the most impressive Chinese shrine in town... while beautiful and colorful, we both were expecting something a whee bit more grandiose... 

Following this and a few more pit stops along the way, it was back home for massages, drinks and of course the sunset which was truly spectacular.

JONATHAN'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Koh Samui is absolutely amazing. 

The beaches are gorgeous, the people are friendly, and the resorts and spectacular. More importantly, it is Jonathan's 24th birthday while we are here on Koh Samui and a celebration is in order!

To begin things off for his big day was a villa at the Bhundari Beach Resort on Chaweng Beach at which we have a private villa with pool and an ocean view. Pretty spectacular. For the big day, the celebrations included massages, my beautiful singing, and feasts.

One of these very feasts included a Private BBQ on our villa's patio and involved a vast assortment of food and a private chef to prepare it all. The lunch was amazing, but involved way to much food being served. The quote of the day had to have been Jon's, "There are starving kids in Africa... no forget that there are probably starving kids on this island why do they keep feeding us?"

Regardless, the meal was delicious, and between trying to hide food on our plates and throwing it into the bushes nearby as to not make the chef believe we didn't like it and had in fact eaten it all, we had an amazing meal to celebrate. After that it was nap time of course and then off to explore the nearby Chaweng town and spend some time at the recommended Ark Bar for the evening. 

Ark Bar was an adventure to say the least... Located right on the beach, the setting was amazing but the surrounding atmosphere could have been better.  Almost outnumbering the vast number of tourists at the bar were Thai children pawning off about anything and everything they could. There were necklaces, swimsuits, bracelets, and glowing clocks among other items, all being sold by children no older than 10 at the very greatest everywhere you looked. Also being sold was a game of Connect Four against the children for a mere 100 Baht although they would undoubtedly win every time. If you said no they would either move on/fake cry/pout/lower their price or harass you as Jon got to experience. His refusal of a game of Connect Four led to a 7-year old girl flipping him off and flicking his ear for a matter of minutes before just continuing to pull his leg hair and then push him as she threw her fit... It was very very strange... nothing like being attacked by a little girl to say 'Happy Birthday!'

We spent the rest of the weekend in Koh Samui for the remainder of birthday celebrations minus the evil little girls before our final farewell to this side of Thailand and heading our instead to Phuket.

DIVING TRIP

Today was our first dive trip of Thailand. We were off to Sail Rock to hopefully see some whale sharks (didn't see any...). All of the books mentioned this as being one of the must-do sites, and the diving on this side of Thailand is supposed to be some of the best in the world so we couldn't miss out on this opportunity. Our last day in Koh Phangan and we just had to go for a dive.

This was actually my first dive ever without considering the certification dives that I went on. Even then, those dives were just in the Arizona lakes... The ocean was a whole new experience to me, and after overcoming the fear that a shark was going to eat me the moment I jumped in, the entire experience was pretty amazing. 

Our dive master was from Finland and had moved to Thailand a couple years prior to lead dive trips throughout the region. He had dived all around the world, yet still felt as though Thailand had some of the best dive sites to offer. Sail Rock--even to him--was one of the best sites in Thailand and he was going to be showing us around.

Sail Rock is a large formation halfway between Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, and is the only rock habitat of the sort in the nearby area. Because of this, most of the nearby marine life congregates to this area, bringing the divers right along with it. Furthermore, it features a large vertical swim through chimney that you enter at 18m and exit around 7m.

Jon was given control of the camera for the trip and managed to take tons of amazing photos of both the sea life and my dorkiness alike! While we didn't get to see any whale sharks this time (the last one was spotted three weeks ago) we did get to see a myriad of fish, including the large school featured that looked a wall in the middle of the water as they moved together throughout.

Overall, the dives were a pretty great amazing experience, and a great way to end our time in Koh Phangan. Unfortunately, Jon's jaw seemingly will prevent us from taking anymore dive trips while here in Thailand as it is causing him more pain that seems reasonable having to hold a regulator in his mouth for hours on end. 

Off to Koh Samui now for a birthday celebration, and to say goodbye to Thailand's east coast before heading off to Phuket!

Sukothai Bike Ride

The second stop of our trip included a visit to Sukothai and the Sukothai Historical Park. We all rented bicycles for the day and set out on a journey through the park, visiting the various ruins throughout.

Sukothai was the first capital of Thailand centuries ago, and the ruins in the park dated back to the 13^th century. Most of the statues throughout the area were once covered in gold, but most of that has now either deteriorated or been stolen over time.

Getting to see the ruins was pretty spectacular, and getting to do it all from the seat of a bicycle made it even better. Although I don’t remember the last time that I actually took a bicycle ride—do not fret, as the saying that you never forget turned out to be true.

Included between all the Buddha and other religious relics was a statue built to honor a late king of Thailand. This was in fact the weirdest exhibit we had seen; as a woman was present during the visit repaying the king for the blessings he had granted her. As part of her retribution, she was offering the heads of six pigs and whiskey to the king. Come noon, she would then offer the feast to those also visiting the statue as part of her offering, and refusing the food wasn’t an option out of respect… given that it was ten minutes before 12 when we were there, the visit was cut short as we pedaled out of there.

Another aspect of the park was the releasing of animals that was offered as a religious gesture. With this you could release anything from eels, turtle, and fish to mussels and baby birds all bringing various blessings upon their freedom. Seeing the animals trapped in their plastic bags was pretty heart wrenching so we both bought into the trap and paid to release a bag. Undoubtedly, the evil trap lady probably just went and caught the same animals as soon as we departed, and us paying to release only encouraged her to continue doing it but it was really hard to avoid…

After spending the day at the park and getting in our cycle workout for the day, it was back to the hotel for dinner in the town of Sukothai and to prepare for another bus ride—this one only four hours—to the town of Lampang.

Koh Ma

Koh Ma

We spent another day exploring the island, and with map in hand, we ended up at Koh Ma just as planned. Koh Ma is on the northern coast of Koh Phangan, but is typically cut off from the main island due to the tide. Luckily, due to the very full moon we just celebrated last night, we were able to walk across.

Our adventure took place yet again from a scooter, and we got to meander around the smaller towns and lesser known areas. 

We ended up near the fisherman's pier where the boats lined the shore in from the morning. Also at this site, we finally got a glimpse of the pristine turquoise water from all the travel books. 

From here, off to find more waterfalls, the one shown actually being pretty spectacular. It extended several stories out of the jungle and was quite the site. 

The weather was just hot and sticky today, I believe it is around 93 with 80+% humidity... makes the hiking a little strenuous. 

After the remainder of exploring, we returned back to the resort to catch our final sunset on Koh Phangan! 

We head to Sail Rock tomorrow morning for our first dive here in Thailand (if no more posts, assume we got eaten by a whale shark), and then head to Koh Samui upon return for the duration of the week.

Jungle Cat 

 

Scooter Riding

A serious threat...

Full Moon Party

Every month, a festival--known as the Full Moon Party--takes place on Koh Phangan to celebrate the Full Moon. It takes place on Haad Rin beach, and runs through the night till the new sun rises. Everyone dresses in neon, covers themselves in body paint, and dances. Needless to say it was an experience of which we are both glad to have taken part in.  

Full Moon Party- notice the updated sign... apparently it is still 2010 over here, quite the time difference.

Body Paint- I got a turtle, Jon went with a skull and crossbones

The Masses.

Fire Slide which I chose to go down, Jon preferred the picture-taker role

So the first time either of us actually wears walking shoes this trip and I completely slip and fall while walking down to the party. Thankfully, the lovely ladies at the Full Moon's clinic cleaned it up for me. Nonetheless, my reputation as being graceful is now tarnished, and have road rash-iness down my leg--thankfully it doesn't hinder my massage getting ability. Don't worry mom I'm completely fine I promise!! Notice the turtle.

Mr. Jonathan

Group photo! The sign was initially on fire saying Full Moon but by the time the British lad taking the photo got the job done it had gone out...