Koh Phi Phi part 2

We left Koh Yao Noi on the 20th January, unfortunately not having got to camp or climb as the weather was not good for the last few days. We headed to Koh Phi Phi, getting the ferry to Bang Rong Pier in Phuket then a cab to Rassada Pier and ferry to Koh Phi Phi. We left Yao Noi at 7.30am and got to Phi Phi at about 1pm.

That first day we wandered around and went to see some more fire dancers in the evening. Getting an early night ready for our trip the next morning. Now i dont like group excursions but in some cases you have to make an exception, so i booked a days snorkeling trip to a couple of different islands by speedboat, with only 13 other people (so it could have been worse!)

We set off from the Pier at 9.30am, very quickly might i add. I have never been in a speedboat before and sitting at the front of the boat going that fast was quite and experience. But being that really i was born to be whizzed around the world by speedboat i quickly started to enjoy it.

The first place that we stopped was monkey beach (Phi Phi Don), and surprisingly there were lots of monkeys, a few with babies. They were very tame and friendly until a 6 year old Chinese boy kicked sand in one of their faces and it went for him (to be honest by the end of the trip i had started to feel the same as the monkey about him).

 

 

 

 

 

Second stop was another bay in Phi Phi Don, where we got to do some snorkeling.

 

Next stop was Mosquito island, but it was too choppy to snorkel, so we took some pictures and moved onto Bamboo Island for some beach time and lunch.

 

 

 

After lunch we moved onto one of the bays in Phi Phi Leh, here is a little clip of heading towards that island.

Phi Phi Leh is where The Beach was filmed, specifically at Maya Bay. I had this plan that we would be able to kayak there and kind of discover it like in the film, that was never going to happen. When we arrived the two other bays that we snorkeled in were not that busy, but when we pulled into Maya Bay, the speedboats and longtails were literally fighting for anchor space. I can imagine and after talking to people who came to the islands before the film, that they were totally different. As soon as the film was released, the islands went crazy, then the tsunami basically tore straight through the middle of Phi Phi Don and wiped a lot of it out. We spent some time talking to a shopkeeper who had to evacuate the island, and was not allowed to return until March. In that time nothing had been done by the authorities to start to tidy up the mess. He said that it took a year for people to have the basics of a home and business up and running. After some time the authorities said that they would not allow the island to become over developed as it had been. Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened and the whole place is like a mini Ibiza, noone comes to see the island they come to drink and party. The area is beautiful and the upside is that there is no development on Phi Phi Leh, but just the amount of boat traffic that goes on around the island has a massive impact on the coral. Most of the beaches are littered with coral, and the boats dont seem to take a lot of care where they are wedging their anchors. Saying all of that i bought into it, and for £20 spent an amazing day seeing some amazing sights that i will never forget, its an ongoing argument that does not have a simple answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last stop of the day was Viking Cave, this is where the bird nest collectors live. A couple we met in Koh Yao Noi had spent some time with the bird nest collectors there, and they told us that a few species of swift, the cave swifts, are renowned for building the saliva nests used to produce the unique texture of this soup.  The edible bird's nests are among the most expensive animal products consumed by humans. The nests have been used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years, most often as bird's nest soup.  In Hong Kong, a bowl of bird's nest soup would cost $30 to $100.  A kilogramme of white nest can cost up to $2,000, and a kilogramme of red nests can cost up to $10,000. The white nests are commonly treated with a red pigment, but methods have been developed to determine an adulterated nest. Natural red cave nests are often only found in limestone caves in a bird nest concession island in Thailand.  There are men on Yao Noi who have been collecting all their lives, but recently things have changed and the contracts to collect these birds nests are now worth millions. It used to be the local men on the island that did the collecting but now the 5-8 year contract goes up for auction and the person willing to pay the most gets the work.  The nests are boiled with twigs, feathers, poo and all, and there you have birds nest soup. The collectors on Yao Noi said that this is sustainable as there is a limit to what can be taken and they never take nests with eggs in, you can make your own mind up about that....

The snorkeling was really good and the different spots that we went to were all different as well, with some being really deep, some really shallow, and the variety of fish was fantastic. Some of the places the boat men did feed the fish some bread, but in others they were just there. Here are some of the best pictures from the snorkeling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Then we took our tour guide out for a drink, he was a very interesting guy from Burma.

The next few days were spent partying on the beach for Craigs birthday and recovering by the pool.

 

 

We then took a walk down to Long Beach which is a beach on Phi Phi Don that you can snorkel off the beach.  There were plenty of fish, but as soon as Craig came into the water with his flowery swim shorts on, there were hundreds around him.  The visibility was not that great, but again a great range of fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just after that last photo was taken on the walk back from Long Beach, a Thai lady went past with her 3 children (all under 5) on a scooter.  She lost the bike on the slope, and with the reactions of a ninja Craig caught the smallest child (about 2 years old), and I made a feeble attempt to grab the handle bars.  The kids were totally unconcerned and all bundled back on the bike, where she nearly lost it another 3 or 4 times before she made it the bottom.

 

 

Craig had been joking for sometime about getting a tattoo of an ant on his foot, so thats what he and Elliott did.  Craig on his foot and Elliott on his thigh, they were done with bamboo, which was very interesting to watch.

 

We spent another evening watching the fire dancers.  Now anyone that knows me knows that i dont volunteer to go up on stage ever, but after a couple of cocktails, here i am.

 

 

A couple of totally random things that happened whilst in Koh Phi Phi - Elliott jumped into the water on our snorkeling trip, and in the deepest water we had been in (20 foot) dropped his snorkel and mask.  We then had to pay the boat driver 300baht to go down and get it.

 

I went to the shop on my own, and saw a massive jumping spider crossing the road, right near the shop.  So obviously i kept an eye on it, when the shop keeper asked me what i was watching and i showed him, he said something in Thai.  Then the man on a scooter on the other side of the road ran the spider over for me, what a true gent!



 

Our last day on Koh Phi Phi was the 26th January, when we make our way to Cambodia.  We are flying as it worked out to be the same price as the combined train ticket, and i have booked 3 nights accommodation in Phnom Penh.  So until then........