We arrived in Krabi this morning at 6:30am and walked into the bus terminal to buy our tickets for the 9:00am boat to Ko Phi Phi. 400 baht each including minibus transport to the pier.
Once at the ferry port we grabbed an iced coffee and hung around until it was time to board the boat.
The good news is that despite warnings to the contrary, the weather is absolutely stunning here in Southern Thailand! We sat up on deck for the whole journey to the island, speeding across blue water under a blue sky, bathed in sunshine and enjoying the cooling breeze on our faces.
Compared to our night bus, on which we were the only 'farang' (foreigners), the boat to Phi Phi was packed to the rafters with other backpackers.
An hour and a half later the boat arrived in Ton Sai bay, which looks gorgeous, as it is surrounded by gnarled limestone cliffs covered in greenery and the water is brilliant turquoise. A moment of tranquility before you arrive in the port and get mobbed by packs of touts trying to promote hotels.
We got so fed up with them that we decided to just pick a hotel and start walking. Casita was recommended in the guide book thanks to it's pool and proximity to the beach. We had a look around and decided it was perfect for our requirements.
Once we had checked in we headed straight to the beach - another postcard perfect bay. Welcome to paradise!
We demolished a pizza and a plate of spaghetti carbonara for lunch and headed into the sea. We'd brought our snorkels along, but to be honest there was very little to see, just a few sand coloured gobies and a wrasse or two. We'll see a lot more tomorrow. We are planning to do a half day snorkelling trip to various parts of Ko Phi Phi Leh. Should be great.
When we we'd had enough of the sea we went back to the hotel to hang out by the pool for a bit. It's not a big pool but it does have a jacuzzi section. Nice to sit there and have my back pummeled for a bit.
After that we spent a bit of time unpacking and writing our diaries before heading out to explore the town. We almost chose to stay away from town on a quieter beach, but I am glad we didn't. Despite all the other travellers, the town had a nice buzz about it, and some great looking (and smelling) restaurants.
We opted to eat in a dinky little Thai restaurant called Pum. Apparently the woman behind these restaurants already has a couple of joints in Thailand and one in Paris. Her plan is to expand further across Europe, so who knows there might be a Pum near you soon! If you do get one, count yourself lucky - the food is fab.
After dinner we took a leisurely stroll along the sea front and then wound our way back towards the hotel. Bizarrely it was raining quite hard.
We eventually found ourselves in the fantastic Reggae Disco Bar, with a small bucket full of incredibly strong cocktail each, watching drunken tourists beating the crap out of each other in a Muay Thai boxing ring. Much hilarity, but nowhere near as funny as the guy we saw trying to beat the bar's burger challenge.
Basically if you can eat the burger, onion ring, coleslaw and fries in 30 minutes, you get it for free. If not, it's 500 baht.
The guy we watched got fairly close to finishing in time and had a huge group cheering him on. Unfortunately, with a few mouthfuls to go, his time ran out. And then, to make matters worse, he had to run off to throw up in the street...in front of everyone!
So funny. Probably not for him though.
The buckets were potent. We staggered back to the hotel!
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