Yey....we arrived in Phi Phi on Monday 8th Dec (still not heard a xmas carol and seen only a few pathetic attempts at decorations!!) Ferry took a few hours but gave us free croisants and tea...BONUS!!! Arrived into the Koh Phi Phi Don (the bigger island which is inhabited) and headed in any direction to find the cheapest accomodation going! The town is really small, its hard to describe unless you look at a map of the island as the harbour beach and the north beach are only about 100m apart and the town is sandwiched in the middle! Its cute, no traffic, only bicycles and their bells, lots of shops and pubs etc....it had a real laid back feel and we thought 'hey i think we're going to like!' The Tsunami destroyed the town here in Phi Phi and as I just descibed, the beaches are so close together, it would of just swamped the entire area.....there is some evidence left at one area of the town but apart from that...new buildings/shacks have been built and Phi Phi is back into the full swing of what it does best...serve the westerners with a little bit of paradise!

Budget accomodation in Phi Phi...we think not!!!! You can get a few very basic rooms for 500 baht (10quid a night) and a dorm bed in The Rock for 250.....we checked it out and I was not staying there!!!! We ended up in Sacha's, had a lovely clean room for 700baht (14quid a night) and a balcony!!!! well...of the next building but who cares...its a balcony!

We had'nt really researched Phi Phi much...we knew The Beach was filmed on the smaller island, Phi Phi Le and we wanted to head 'Maya Beach' its location...but when we headed to one of the main beaches near us we did not expect to see absolute paradise! The waters were at low tide and the crystal clear waters was like a pond! Two big limescale rocks were the entrance to the bay and we found a quiet spot on the soft sand to relax....hmmm we were only planning to stay here the night because we knew it was a tiny bit more expensive than other places...however Elizabeth and Tara (from hostel in Phuket were already here and the other boys were heading out tomorrow) We decided two nights wouldnt hurt!!!! Its just too beautiful not to stay longer!

One Oz guy who we met in Vietnam told us Phi Phi was third world and nothing special! What planet is he living on??? Did he go to the right islands? Phi Phi is gorgeous.....its the perfect size and for this time of year it wasnt too over crowded (maybe the Bangkok airport strikes have effected it) We didnt care.....we wished we'd come here sooner!!!!!

Our 2nd day we met the guys off the ferry and took them to our hostel as we were keeping in touch via facebook....Scott and Jason are from NI, Ola from Denmark and Greg and Samire from USA (who worked in S.Korea with the girls) So we had lunch together and headed to the beach again...its just such a relaxing place...there is definately no need to worry about anything here!!!!!

Because Da and I knew we were going to leave the next day we really wanted to go to Phi Phi Le to see Maya Bay....and really see if its like it is in the film! All the others just wanted to chill at the beach, fair enough they'd only just arrived! So we hired a longtail boat with a couple for Israel (quite expensive) and did the 30 minute boat trip across the calm waters....it was afternoon, which we were told was best time to go as not so crowded with speed boats and people! The island is a national park and nobody lives there, they do bird harvesting on the island and since the film was made it has brought thousands of more tourists to southern Thailand.

so we arrived in Maya Bay....oh my word....there are literally no words that can describe the beach and the crystal clear turquoise waters...which stretch the entire bay. Our boat slowed down and you could see the coral and fish swimming around...we were still a good 50 metres away from the beach....we have never seen water so clear and clean. Just like the beach on the main island, the bay is enclosed by limescale rocks, but the gap is smaller and it truly is like what you see in the film. We had to pay 200 baht each to stay on the beach for 2 hours (ah well we didnt care we were on 'the beach') and we just took in the surrounds and wandered around the jungle area and swam and lazed on the beach...obviously we were happy snappy with the camera!

You can tell the film was shot from all angles as if you've seen it the first view you have of the beach has a backdrop view of just rocks so it looks like the bay is completely enclosed...there is a tiny beach which this angle would of been used from....but they didnt play around with the colours...the sea is turquoise and the sand is like flour...ah it was our best day so far....something we wont forget..so beautiful....do not come to Phi Phi and miss this one out, we nearly did because of the cost but oh my word it was so worth it!!! Darren did some good snorkling and I did what I do best, catch some rays!

After a few hours we headed back to the main island and ended up having a big night out with the gang from the Phuket hostel at a beach party! Was pretty fun as there was a fire show and we participated in fire limbo and skipping!! We crawled into bed about half2 (pretty good for me these days) and decided we'd stay a third night! (Its a place you'd visit for 2 days and end up staying a week!) But we knew a third night was our last as we had to get down to Malaysia and singapore for our flight next week!!!

On our last day we kayaked to Monkey Beach about 20 mins from the main beach and sunbathed with monkeys....literally. The sun shone every day and we only had one thunder storm on the first evening. We visited the Phi Phi Tsunami Memorial Gardens which pays tribute to those lost in 2004....about 250 names and lots of photos surround the little garden, was really sad as so many were on holidays and many English/European/American names. It's good that they have done that, there are now Tsunami evacuation centre posters across Phi Phi and Phuket....but some feel this effort is a little too late.

We had some great fun with the guys and girls, heard lots of stories and got lots of hints/tips/ideas for Oz as Scott and Jason have been working on a farm in Mildura for 15 months! They head back there in New Yr so we'll try catch up with them in Sydney or Melbourne. We were sad to leave Phi Phi as its our version of a paradise island...but maybe leaving wanting more will make us come back....one day!!!!!!

We caught the Ferry to Krabi on Thursday morning and ended up in Hat Yai (a close to the border of Malaysai town) in the afternoon. We headed to Penang in Malay on Friday morning and had a smooth trip over the border! We're both well and have had the best chilled out week in Phuket and Phi Phi so far!! Hope the photos dont make you all too jealous!!!! Its still hot hot hot!

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