Day 399-400 “The Beach”

We arrived in Phuket at around one o’clock and we were hounded in the airport by millions of travel agents, each wanting us to go on their taxi’s and to avail of their special offers for Phi Phi Island. We got a taxi and tickets for the ferry at a reasonable price. The ferry took two and a half hours. We were pretty tired and so we didn’t get to see the views on the way to the Island. We arrived on the Island and to our surprise it was very up to date. Internet café’s, restaurants you name it!!! Ko Phi Phi is considered to be one of the most naturally beautiful islands in the world (in fact, there are six islands in Phi Phi). They lie 50 km south-east of Phuket and are part of Hadnopparattara-Koh Phi Phi National Park which is home to an abundance of corals and amazing marine life. There are limestone mountains with cliffs, caves and long white sandy beaches. Ko Phi Phi was devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, when nearly all of the island's infrastructure was wiped out. Redevelopment has, however, been swift, and services like electricity, water, Internet access and ATMs are up and running again, but waste handling has been slower to come back online.

We booked a tour that would bring us to all of the main attractions around the Island. The following morning we were greeted by the glorious sun and headed off on or adventure. The last stop on this tour was Maya Beach…”The Beach” and this was probably one of the main attractions that tempted me to travel in the first place!! Our boat was pretty small and had 6 other passengers. We chatted to two London girls for a bit who absolutely loved Thailand and had been to some of the other Island’s a few years ago. Our first port of call was Ao Ling (Monkey Bay) on Koh Phi Phi Don. This was hilarious and full of Monkey’s….hence the name!! When we stopped to get off, the Monkey’s surrounded us and wanted food. One of the Monkey’s even took a drink of water out of a bottle! We then snorkelled at the famous Hin Klang which was amazing. It was my first experience of snorkling and it lived up to its billing. The water was so clear and there was millions of fish in my face. I just started singing in my head….”UNDER THE SEA!!!!!!”. When we finished we relaxed and had a swim in Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island). This Island was in peak condition and the weather helped make this a great experience. Our tour included lunch so we filled our bellies and headed back to the boat. On our way to Phi Phi Leh (Maya Bay) the weather turned from the sun shining to the rain pounding down on us. The tide was rough and we couldn’t even make out the island such was the amount of rain. We were hanging on…quite literally!! The rain was smacking me in the face and I was worried that this would ruin the one place I was desperate to see. Fortunately (luck of the Irish) the sun came out again and before you knew it we were snorkelling again in some of the clearest waters on the planet…wohooooo!!!

Then, the moment I had been waiting for. The boat started pulling into Maya Bay, which is partly enclosed by the high sea cliffs. This particular Bay was used in the famous film “The Beach”. One of the reasons why Andrew Macdonald, producer of "The Beach" chose the Bay was the sea cliff’s as they make the place a secret. It's like a big secret, a swimming pool and a beach in private. It was like we were hidden from the world and that this was our own little Island. The time we spent on that beach, allowed us to free our minds from everything….football, football, football and in my case the dreaded Australia visa!!! We took photos and all had a little think about what it would have been like to live on this beautiful Island. I did a few of my Leonardo DiCaprio impressions and we all had a good laugh at that! The tide was in which meant that the rocks in the water could be felt by our feet but that didn’t spoil the moment. Our time here was up and we said goodbye to Paradise!

“And me, I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it's not some place you can look for, 'cause it's not where you go. It's how you feel for a moment in your life when you're a part of something, and if you find that moment... it lasts forever...”

Gary