DAY 1

Headed back to Ao Nang by the same method as arrival. Jumped on to the long tail boat to catch the big boat going from Koh Lanta to Ao Nang. Our UK friends from the bungalow were on the same boat, so we chatted some more. We arrived at the Ao Nang pier and took a taxi back to the Goodwill. We checked in and this time got a much bigger room. As usual we were starving and headed back to Janette's for lunch. The food was great again, especially the Pad Thai and coconut juice (we learned to ask for young coconuts - we'd hate to suffer with an old coconut).

We then went back to Railey for some swimming and sightseeing. The day was clearer then on our previous vist, and it seemed all of Thailand was at the beach. It was also high tide so about half the beach had been swallowed up by the sea. Efren swam for a bit and we laid in the sun before Efren decided to tackle the steep and muddy hike to the viewpoint. Craig opted to pass and instead watched the monkeys. The climb involved scampering up ropes and Efren cut up his knee a bit and also complained of a sore back afterward. It sucks to get old!

We returned to the hotel and had dinner at Massaman and had some great curry. We then headed back to the hotel for some rest before our big adventure tomorrow - a visit to the famous Phi Phi Islands. This is where the Leo DeCaprio movie "The Beach" was filmed several years ago, and unfortunately the islands were devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Looking forward to the visit!

DAY 2

We were picked up at 8:30 am for our tour to the Phi Phi Islands. We were brought to the Ao Nang pier and met by our very nice tour guide from Sea Angel Tours. We then boarded a speedboat and headed up to the front of the boat were we got great view and breezes and met 3 girls from the UK and a couple from Seattle. Our first stop was Bamboo Island. This place has the most gorgeous beach. No one lives on the island so it is cleaner than some of the others. Makes a great stop for awhile and we took lots of pictures. Back on the boat we made several stops around Phi Phi Lei to capture some truly amazing scenery. We also stopped to snorkel which was fun, but the water was a bit rough.

After snorkeling we made the premier stop of the trip - Maya Bay on Phi Phi Lei. This is where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking - although it is unfortunately overrun with tourists now and not isolated like in the movie. After Maya Bay we had a mediocre lunch on Phi Phi Don before another snorkeling stop. We where then headed back to Ao Nang after a long day. We both got some sunburn but nothing too bad.

Back in Ao Nang we both got massages and Craig also got a foot peel. After that Craig's feet were like brand new! We made appointments for aloe vera massages for the next night and went off to dinner. We went to the seafood restaurant that tempted us the night before and ordered a whole red snapper to be cooked on the grill. Lucky for us, this was the wise choice as a group of 15+ had come into the restaurant earlier, and the kitchen was backed up for hours. Food on the grill was fast and we were in and out before some people seated before us even placed their order! The food was good, but it was even more entertaining watching the wait staff try and manage the situation.

We then headed back to the hotel to get some rest for our tour of James Bond Island tomorrow.

DAY 3

The day started similarly to yesterday with an 8:30am pick up. This time we traveled by minibus to the pier at Phang Nga town - about a 90 minute ride. We then loaded on to a big long boat for the visit to James Bond Island. The island was made famous as a James Bond movie was filmed there in the 70s. It is a limestone " exclamation point" that sticks up straight out of the water and looks like it should topple over at any minute. On the ride we passed through mangrove swamps. The island next to James Bond where we stopped to view it is simply gorged with people. These places are clearly not "undiscovered". After James Bond we did some sea canoeing through caves and mangroves. It was nice to get out on the water, but the sight of hundreds of canoes floating around us made the experience a bit less enjoyable.

We then went to the island of Koh Panyee for lunch. This was the pit stop for a recent leg of the Amazing Race. We had lunch before returning to the pier for the drive in the minibus back to Ao Nang. On the way we stopped at the Monkey Cave where hundreds of monkeys guard a cave filled with buddhas and other statues. The last stop was an underwhelming visit to a series of waterfalls in the jungle. We didn't swim as the water seemed a bit dirty. We were then on our way back to Ao Nang.

We cleaned up for getting our aloe vera massage and then had dinner at the Boat Noodle house and had some amazing soup. Yum. We also tried the papaya salad which is far more delicious than it sounds. We then returned to the room to pack up as we are leaving tomorrow. Our time in Thailand is way too short, but we are looking forward to our next destination - Cambodia.