Island hopping

Day 62: Cruising

This morning, we got up and headed over to the pier for our cruise around the islands. On the boat, we got our snorkeling gear and then headed out to our first destination: Monkey Island. Our boat anchored and we kayaked to the island, where we were supposed to see tons of monkeys but sadly didn’t see any (later on, we found out others on our boat had seen tons of monkeys!). Then, we snorkeled a bit by the boat and continued to two other islands, where we kayaked and snorkeled with tons of beautiful fish in each spot! We had lunch on the boat and cruised by a cave and then stopped by a lagoon. We kayaked into the quiet lagoon and then came back and snorkeled again by the boat. The captain decided to throw some rice into the water and watched the fishes go crazy and swarm the swimmers (including us)! The water everywhere was so clear and the snorkeling was great!

After that, we went to our last stop: Maya Bay. We had to anchor our boat offshore at another bay and swim through rough waters to a rope ladder that we had to climb the rocks with to a set of stairs. Then we had to walk through the island to the other side! Maya Bay is actually the location where the movie The Beach was filmed. There were tons of people on the beach, mostly youngsters, so the experience wasn’t as peaceful as it could have been, but the beach was still beautiful. After the beach, our boat stopped in the middle of the waters to watch an amazing sunset behind the mountains and water, before heading back to Ko Phi Phi Don. 

We went back to our hotel, dropped off our stuff and then went for dinner. After dinner, we walked over to the noisy side of the island, where the bars were just as they had been the night before: with more crazy partiers. The sad thing was there was garbage all over the island everywhere. People were just throwing their plastic cups and garbage in the water and on the beach, and it was really disturbing to see how little everyone cared for their environment. We thought that especially young people would be more aware of pollution and taking care of nature, but we were sadly wrong. I’m sure that the local Island people never hoped for this to happen to their home. We went back for some sleep and quiet (thankfully). 

Fisherman boats on the shore

Kayaking to the beach

Tons of fish around us

Maya Bay

 Sunset at sea

What used to be a remote island

Day 61: Backpacker heaven

This morning, a van picked us up to take us to the pier where we caught our ferry to our next destination: Ko Phi Phi Don. Our boat to the island was huge, and definitely not what we were expecting: air conditioning, muffins and coffee, and a movie! We made the two hour trip, arrived in Ko Phi Phi surrounded by throngs of tourists, and walked around looking for a hotel. Most places were booked but we were lucky to find a place, checked in, dropped our stuff off, and went to walk around the island.

We walked through little alleys full of shops and restaurants and arrived on another side of the island that was packed with young tourists sunbathing on the beach. The beach looked like a little lagoon with very few waves and some fisherman boats anchored near the shore. We stayed on the beach and sat in the warm water for a bit before heading back to our side and relaxing a bit.

Then we went out for dinner, booked a tour for tomorrow, and a few more flights and hotels for the next few days. After dinner, we walked back to the touristy side of the island and it was like a huge outdoor rave on the beach. All of the tourists were young, and it looked like it was an island run by teenagers! They were all carrying around buckets full of drinks and straws, getting tattoos in parlours, and walking around being carefree party animals. The beach was completely lined with bars with neon lights everywhere, and the music was loud, you couldn’t hear yourself think. We realized that we’re old now, and went back to our side of the island, thankful for peace and quiet before we went to bed!

Interestingly, Ko Phi Phi Don was apparently “discovered” by a few adventurous backpackers a few decades ago. Back then, there were only a few bungalows on the island and it was mostly inhabited by a community of sea-faring gypsies who called themselves the Chao Ko, or Island People. There was no pier and only one public boat each week made scheduled trips to the island. Sadly, the fight began over whether to make this a vacation destination or preserve its character, and the business world (unfortunately) won.

The beach at Ko Phi Phi Don (somehow, a picture with no tourists!)