We left Ton Sai & jumped into a long boat to take us over to Ao Nang - Krabi's much more built-up & commercialised beach resort. Just getting into the long boat was quite an adventure as we had to literally wade thigh deep through the sea, fully loaded up with our backpacks! At Ao Nang, a bus picked us up to take us to Krabi town ferry port & no sooner had we got onto the bus, when we were introduced to Justin, Toby & Ben from LA, who were also making the journey over to Ko Phi-Phi.

The guys were great & we all hit it off straight away. It certainly helps to pass the travelling time when you have 3 crazy American guys entertaining you with their stories of drunken debauchery & blow-up dolls (don't ask!) Justin kindly bought us all a few beers while we were waiting for the ferry& before we knew it we were on our way. The 2 hour ferry crossing was quite choppy & we all ended up a bit drenched when some huge waves crashed against the side of the boat, but we soon dried off in the scorching sun. On arrival at Phi-Phi, the boys had a porter waiting from the very posh hotel they'd booked themselves into & somehow they managed to blag the porter into taking all of our bags on his trolley as well, even though we weren't staying at the same place. Once again, the 3 Chicks had no accommodation booked, so out came the Lonely Planet, which told us that the cheapest digs were on Long Beach (next beach along) so while the boys went to check in, we got a long boat to Long Beach (very amusing experience as for some reason our 'driver', felt the need to strip down to his Y-front pants before getting into the boat)!

We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got to Long Beach, so weren't too impressed when we had to walk the entire length of the beach to find the cheap bungalows (walking in sand is hard enough at the best of times, let alone with 4 bags weighing you down!) We scored yet again though when we finally made it, a shack that was big enough for the 3 of us & only 2.40 each a night! We gratefully dumped our bags & went for some grub & then spent the rest of that night chilling - playing cards & sitting on the beach looking at the stars. Long Beach seemed to be even more deserted & peaceful than Ton Sai (not a single shop, bar or restuarant open past 9pm), so we made the most of having the beach pretty much to ourselves before heading in for an early night!

2nd Dec

While having brekkie at our resort, we couldn't believe our eyes when Toby, Justin & Ben rocked up to Long Beach with their backpacks! Turns out they found their place to be a total rip-off for the amount they were paying, so they decided to come & rough it with us on the cheapo side. It turns out that ever since the Tsunami, Ko Phi-Phi has become very expensive (by Thailand standards anyway) & it's probably the only place in Thailand where you can't haggle for the price of things. Anyway, after a bender the night before & with a stinking hangover, Ben hadn't wanted to get out of bed & mission over to new digs, so he proceeded to throw a hissy fit, which was very hysterical to watch as Justin (his brother) was doing everything he could to wind poor, suffering Ben up even more! While Ben went for a snooze, Justin for some reason took it upon himself to don Jill's teeny-tiny bikini (check out the photo album). Each to their own I suppose.

The rest of that day was spent chilling on the beach with Toby & Justin, sunbathing, swimming etc - the sea was amazing that day, so clear that you could see all of the beautiful fish swimming around & a perfect temperature for cool-down dips. That night, the 3 Chicks plus Toby & Justin headed back over to the main beach for some dinner & a few drinks. For some reason, Justin temporarily forgot (?) that he was allergic to crab & ate 2 whole boiled crabs for his dinner. We were all slightly concerned when his lips started to swell up but luckily he was ok & they returned to normal after a while. Along the way to the next bar, we saw some more fire dancing shows (they are amazing) & then stopped for a Sangsom bucket & a bit of Thai boxing to finish off the night!

As we were only spending 2 nights in Phi-Phi, we sadly didn't make it to Phi-Phi Leh (where 'The Beach' was filmed) but hey, that can be something for next time in Thailand!