As the tiltle suggests, Phi Phi has restored my faith in the Thai islands after the disappointment of Ko Samui. It's seems such a fragile island, slender beaches with massive imposing cliffs either side. At it's most slender point it's around 100 metres to walk from one side to the other!.It certainly creates the 'wow' factor as the boat turns into the mouth of the small harbour, powder beaches, crystal waters, palm trees dramatic green hillside, you just know this is paradise.

As the boats pull in every man and his dog is trying to sell accomadation, it's not cheap, but that's only in relation to other Asian areas. I barter and get a bamboo bungalow, at 700 baht it's as cheap as it gets unless you take the dorm at the Rock. It's callled Snow With?, or something like that, just out of town, it's very basic, small hut with mattress and bathroom (cold water). That's it really, but i love it and it does have a fan, oh and a padlock so it feels safe. It's funny, i just spent a night in pure luxury then come to this and i feel more at home.

The small town is fab, not spoilt but loads going on, no fast food joints, good quality restaurants (reasonably priced), good shops without the tack! and lots of variety. The first night i take a good look around and head towards long beach, there's a couple of really chilled bars, right on the beach, great music, with fire shows, a bit like the full moon without the crazyness!. My favourite is carp diem, you can just sit on the beach with a drink with a pillow and just relax. In town i hit and Irish bar, well there had to be one, met up with a few American guys and some swedish girls, which turned into a bit of a party, great atmosphere!.There's a great party scene here, lots of beach partys and a few decent bars in town, in my short time here i sence a really great vibe about the place.

Next day i feel rough as!, common theme seems to be going on?. I decide to get up early and walk it off, i want to see all the island, which i do. The viewpoint overlooking the beach is awesome, it's a really steep walk, lots of steps and takes around 30 mins - it's well worth it - wow. I decide to spend the afternoon snorkling, i choose adventure dives, they are more expensive but only have small groups, wetsuit, quality gear and the guys are from Scunthorpe - decent fellas. The trip's on a long tail boat, first stop in a bay, best bit of snorkling i've done (with the exception of the barrier reef). The waters crystal, you get around 8 metres vision, there's a whole host of fish, the parrot being the most dramatic. We take the obligatory visit to Maya beach (where 'the beach' was filmed), it's now swamped with tourists!.The best bit for me was just as the sun was about to set we went to a really quite site, we were the only boat and swam with turtles, they were pretty big and we saw around 5 - another wow factor. After a cave visit it's back on board and watched the sun go down as we headed back, i love that time of day, i've experienced some amazing sunsets, this one was up there, just love it.

I'm pretty bushed after so much activity, i head for Papaya restaurant, it's mentioned in lonely planet and does not disappoint, great Thai food, cheap and busy.

That's pretty much it, i'm checking out today and heading for Ko Lanta. I'm now going for a swimm, have a tasty fish lunch and then take the 14.00 ferry to the next island. I'll probably have 2 nights in Ko Lanta with pretty much the same agenda, just chilling and taking it easy. I would love to have more time in Phi Phi, will definatly be back and with more time will do some scuba diving which everyone raves about.

Until next time.....