Hi there everyone!
My final days in Southern Thailand have been quite wonderful. I arrived at Ko Phi Phi last Monday and stayed at a lovely resort up on the hills.
I trekked to a viewpoint of Phi Phi on my second day (above). As you can see, there is a strip of land that connects two long mountainous parts of the island. This strip is where all of the action happens in Phi Phi, featuring lots of bars, shops, and tour booking spots. Beautiful beaches rest on each side of this strip.
As you can see it's hard to take a bad photo on the island:
The tide would go out so far on the North side of the island that boats would be left stranded on the sand.
The most popular activity for people visiting Ko Phi Phi is to find a boat and jump around to the beautiful surrounding islands. While most join a major tour group that travels by speedboat or fishing boat, I opted for a company that went on a longtail boat with a max of 6 people. We left earlier to avoid any crowds and also had the ability to navigate into the smaller bays.
My boat crew :)
Snorkeling around Phi Phi was wonderful. I had the delight of seeing 4 baby blacktip sharks as soon as we jumped in the water. Although the landscape is spectacular around Phi Phi, some of it's beauty is lost due to the sheer quantity of people that visit each day. Maya Beach, depicted in the Leonardo Dicaprio movie The Beach as a pristine spot that only a lucky few would ever visit, is now ironically jam packed with tourists who will pay 200 baht just to touch their toe to the sand. Regardless, there is a reason why so many people visit Ko Phi Phi and I'm glad I got to see why.
I arrived to Phuket on Wednesday to have some quality final days on the beach. Phuket is the largest island of Thailand and is separated by the mainland by only a short bridge. I opted the stay near Hat Karon, a dreamy beach with soft white sand and plenty of space to lay down and relax.
Sunset on Hat Karon
At night I got a ticket to one of Thailand's famous cabaret shows. These shows are unique in that all of the beautiful women dressed up in exquisite costumes are actually ladyboys. The performance was fabulously gaudy with a sprinkle of humor. We weren't allowed to take pictures at the show but here is a picture from the brochure:
After a short plane ride to the North, I now reside in Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand.
More exciting stories to come! Love you all!
Laura
We have loved the south. Now we are wondering if you are going to see some baby elephants!!
ReplyDelete