Day 11: Island Hopping to Phi Phi Island and Krabi

8/13/15

Of course the weather would be nice today, the day I'm leaving Phuket. I even hear birds chirping. Taunting me. I can only hope that the rain moved in the opposite direction of where I am going! At least this will make for calmer seas for the ferry to Phi Phi and then later Krabi!

To anyone who gets a gibbon post card from me, I apologize! I swear I didn't commission a 3 year old to write them. I wrote them in the back of a van on the way to the port to board my ferry. It was a bit of a winding and bumpy ride!

I boarded my boat and we set sail. Minus the sails!

We passed some fishing boats in the waters and legit after I snapped this pic

I looked back and off the back of the boat there was a man, pants down, hanging his ass off of the back of the boat, taking a shit into the water, wiping with paper and throwing the paper into the water. Don't drink the water in Thailand. I can't emphasize this enough.  The boat ride seemed long, but maybe that was because it was full beyond capacity and because my cab arrived 5 mins before departure, I definitely didn't have a seat, leaving me on the upper deck, in the blazing sun, and rocking waves!

If Phuket is the dirty underbelly of Thailand, Phi Phi is definitely a tiny little jewel. I was shocked at the natural beauty. Sure there are the standard touristy hints and vendors pedaling goods but if you like water activities this is the place for you. The water is stunning. There are places for diving all up and down the Main Street so I imagine that's something amazing to do here. I ended up buying an elephant sarong (I packed light remember) since I didn't bring my trusty Turkish towel here with me. The Sarong was thin and light enough to lay on the brake with then wrap around me later on. I did quite a bit of shopping for people too, also not slaty since I just have my backpack to carry things. Oh well. Enjoy your souvenirs people. 

When you arrive in Phi Phi you pay a 20 baht land tax (to keep the island clean and beautiful) which I was happy to do. Even if they do run raw sewage directly into their water. I have to think that the water here can't possibly be shit infested. It's so crystal blue. That's what I'm going with. Especially since I went swimming in it!

I arrived around 11 and had to be back to the pier by 3pm. This is exactly how you see Phi Phi island without spending more. You capitalize on a long layover between ferries. 

There are a lot of Europeans. Europeans=teeny male bikini. Some provide nice eye candy as they are like finely sculpted roman gods. Some, not so much. 

I tried not to get too much sun. While I had sunscreen on, I still didn't want to get burned so after a while at the beach I packed up and walked around a bit at which point I was offered a massage by a  "ladyboy" as the Thais call them. I respectfully declined. Wasn't in the mood for a foot massage!

At 3 it was time to line up to board the next boat! A nice hour and a half boat ride on a boat with seats for about 1/4 of us and I was to Krabi! I wish I had taken a picture. I was on the top deck, the sun deck if you will, we looked like a human trafficking boat there were people sprawled out all over that thing, you couldn't walk and certainly couldn't access the stairs to get down to the main level. 

Krabi is not nearly as picturesque as Phi Phi. The area where my hotel is seems to be in walking distance to shopping and restaurants (and street food, I'll take that over a restaurant any day) but I'm not sure what else. Tomorrow is for exploring since I got in just before sun down today!

I'm staying in a Green hotel. I like to call it a nature resort. When you walk in it looks like Swiss Family Robinson, and let me tell you, you have to hike a mountain of stairs to get to my room. This place has no elevator just stairs. I'm at the very top of the property which provides a nice view, but is a pain in the ass to get to (or to go down to the street)

Here is my view from my room...

And here is just the stairs to my buikding, this is after hiking other stairs for 10 mins to get here!

After catching my breath and getting settled in for a second. I hiked down the mountain, I mean stairs. I was on a mission to eat!

There are so many things that I love about Thailand but tonight brought about two of them, the drink holster seen here...

And that everything in jail and has a price, then there is the barter price. Everything can be battered. I went to the pharmacy not even expecting the barter game and what do you know she offered me a lower price (aloe/coconut oil cream to douse myself with because of this burn). I used to hate bartering, I'd avoid it, probably because I sucked at it. I'm so afraid of offending or hurting someone's feelings. Thailand has given me some serious bartering skills. I may still be taken to the bank so to speak but I barter down to a price I'm comfortable with and if not I walk away. You have to be able to walk away!

No plans for tomorrow so we will see where the journey takes me! I do want to explore and see as much as I can! I might have to find a tuk tuk to drive me around!

Travel tip:

If you are wanting to see Phi Phi but not spend the money on accommodations there are day trips from the various islands. I would recommend doing wha to did though. To be honest I would forego days in Phuket or even Krabi to spend more time in Phi Phi. Just my two cents though.