Koh Phi Phi

Of all the places I travelled I think I enjoyed Koh Phi Phi the most. From Koh Phan-gan, I went to Phuket. What a sh*t-hole - I only spent two days there but it was two days wasted. IT's basically an island designed so that old (and not so old) Western men can come and pick up Thai prostitutes. I had one night in Karon and one night in Phuket town before catching the boat to Phi Phi. On Phi Phi, I staye in "The Rock" backpackers hostel. It was 200 baht (~ 4 euro) for a dorm bed, which was about times cheaper than anything else on the island.

The island was hit pretty bad by the tsunami. Even up to April last year, there was still no reconstruction or clean-up started. While along the main beach, all the buildings and businesses are back up and running, the middle of the peninsula is still wasteland. The picture below shows an area that was covered in huts and alot more Palm Trees before the Tsunami hit.


Here are some of the guys and gals that were staying at the hostel. A great place - apart from all the Mozzies that came out to feed on my blood every evening.
I was actually staying on KohPhi Phi Don. Koh Phi Phi Ley is a smaller, uninhabited island that contains "the" beach from the film "The Beach". I took a trip there one evening.

This is monkey beach (the third or fourth beach with this name I've seen in SE Asia). Because the tide was in, there were no monkeys about. Vicous feckers , by all accounts.

We also passed by this cave that swifts nest in during the summer. The nests are used to make some medicinal soup that's considered very potent. Thus there are guards posted at the caves to protect the little fellas.

And here it is...THE beach. It is pretty beautiful.

Phi Phi is noted for its diving, so myself and Noel went on a day's diving. The first site was a sunk car ferry that was basically crashed into the reef so the owner could claim the insurance. He didn't do a very good job of disguising his efforts though - he's now in prison. The feery is lying a 30 metres below the surface and was a really good place to dive to. We saw a bamboo shrak lying beside the ship.

The second dive was to a site called Shark Point. Not a Shark to be seen though! PRetty disappointing. The last one was Anemona Reef. This was nice. Huge shoals of fish and beautiful coral.

Below is an idea of a dive boat. You can see all the air-tanks lined around the lower deck.

This pic's not very clear but it was taken just after the Tsunami hit and it gives an idea of the distruction the waves caused. There looked to be up to 3 feet of wreckage on the streets. The Tsunami actually hit Phi Phi from both sides, trapping anyone that hadn't made it to high ground. The waves were travelling at 30mph and were 30 feet and 10 feet high when they hit the island.