Ko Phi Phi

Though I went diving on Phi Phi last year and I found it so crowded I swore not to go back, it took Dave a minute to convince me to go back there for a weekend with him. I am such a softy.. We booked the round trip with Mama for 1000 THB each, door-to-door (have to mention that 50m down the road, the next guesthouse only charged 750 THB per person, but hey..). Among the many boat companies, we took Phi Phi Cruiser and got soaked on the open deck within the first 10 minutes on the way. The ride was rather pleasant otherwise, with Nick, Brandon and co. from Mama’s too – we were heading towards the same madness. Namely, a boxing ring at the Reggae bar, and free buckets to all who get inside and give a fight a go. So there was Nick the day after with a lovely blackeye… of course.

Phi Phi – if you haven’t been there yet – is all about 3 things: bars/restaurants (best is Calamaro; an expensive and fancy one is Grand Blue where we had our most expensive meal on Thailand for 30 USD; and there is Phi Phi Bakery with apple and coconut muffins, yuuuuuum!), diving (there are about 200 dive shops) and tour-operator offices. We stayed at the Golden Hill Bungalows, was okay for the one night but for 1500 THB I wouldn’t be staying there again if I went back.

Right while looking for the bungalows, we bumped into Naomi, the owner of the SpiderMonkey bar (on Lipe), right at the SpiderMonkey climb shop – the world is small. Based on the great cocktails we had at hers during Christmas, we decided to sign up for a half-a-day adventure with her peeps; snorkeling with sharks, cliff-jumping, Monkey beach, Maya beach, sunset magic around Phi Phi Leh, for 600 THB each, including lunch, pineapples and water, and we had an AMAZING time! She also had some recommendations for food and drinks and places to go to – if you hit Phi Phi or Koh Lipe, make sure you do go and say hello to this amazing lady!

There was one little accident over that Saturday night: while cliff-jumping in the afternoon, the camera that I was holding onto snapped off the wristband and hit me right in between the eyes, and I decided to cure the pain with JD&Coke. Many of it! Practically, we did a pub tour, having a Jack in about 10 of the restaurants. My breakdown in the evening and the hangover that followed on Sunday morning was not pretty, and D's bookstore didn’t come up with the promised magical coffees for curing it either. What helped in the end was the climb up to the island’s Viewpoint in the 40C – a must go and see if you are there and have an hour free -, and the mango shake that we turbo-ed up with coconut milk; that was something to die for!



The week after the Phi Phi adventures was full of new things again: Dave left for Bangkok/Cambodia on Wednesday and I was left at Mama’s with more time on my hands than I honestly asked for… I played with my newest awesome amazing Canadian friend Celine for the most of it, hang with the gang by the pool, got a few massages in the books, went wakeboarding on Friday afternoon, to Fatty’s for that famous (and well praised) steak dinner with Celine, Marko and Steve and, to the BBQ Beatdown at Tiger; watched muay thai fights and simply loved them!

In the end, only 2 days after Dave left I decided to fly after him to Siem Reap. The Thai chapter (1) was coming to an end rapidly and I was en-route to Cambodia through KL, with delayed flights and a night spent at LCCT on the 30th of January.