(14 November)

The 5 of us got up early to get the ferry to Ko Phi Phi. Had an awesome baguette and watermelon for breakfast from a lady by the pier. The views were pretty awesome, but I ended up sleeping most of the way haha, even though I was trying to get through Oli's book - Stephen fry's autobiography - before we separated lol.

We arrived at the island and it was crazily busy at the pier, but still stunning! We walked for what felt like forever in the heat with our rucksacks...but was really only about 10 minutes...to The Rock hostel, which Anna had heard was cheap. We checked a couple on the way to see if we could get cheaper but the only cheaper one was a complete dive lol...

The Rock was up a big pile of steps which was fun haha, and then we had to wait a pretty long time to get beds...the owner just kept telling us to wait even though he said there were no beds...I think he was just waiting for people to check out or something! We eventually got into our dorm which was...basic. Kind of like a big bungalow with about 20 beds, no lockers (well, a teeny one for passports) and no lock on the door. It was definitely a new experience haha! We met Hollie who was staying in Flower Bungalows across the road and went for some lunch. Most of them had a proper meal from a street kitchen and me and kristin sat with them then got street food from a stall nearby...had an awesome kebab! Just didn't fancy rice or noodles lol. Then finally we got to the beach! It was pretty awesome, chilled out for a bit and went for a swim. Oli, Anna and Hollie went for a mad swim out into the bay which they reckoned wouldn't take long...half an hour later they were still going! Unfortunately, around then it started to absolutely pour with rain! The 3 of us grabbed everyone's stuff and made a run for it, had to go like the whole way up the beach to find shelter! Absolutely soaked!

We stood for a while trying to see the 3 who had gone swimming but couldn't see through the rain! We were getting a bit worried when Hollie appeared: she had ended up coming back on a kayak! Apparently they had got pretty tired out there and it was getting choppy because the rain was blowing in, so even before the rain started they had all grabbed on to the back of a kayak. There was an old couple in the kayak and the lady had hurt her arm and could hardly paddle, so Hollie jumped in and helped paddle - she said it was actually pretty lucky she did cos she didn't think they would have made it to the shore without her! Anna and oli were holding on to the back and then figured it would be easier to swim back...so they let go and then the torrential rain started like 5 minutes later! They made it back ok though, maybe 10 minutes after Hollie!

There wasn't much point staying on the beach so when the rain eased off a bit we made a break towards the shops and stopped at a little bakery for brownies - yum! Then we headed back to shower etc because we were all soaked!

We met some guys chilling at our hostel and went to get beers from the shop and brought them back. Kristin and I shared a slice of amazing pizza from the stand on our road which was really good. Then we had a few beers and chatted to people from the hostel before going to dinner. A big group of us went to a place called (I think!) Tom Yam and I had a curry (standard!) - it was really nice. Then we had a wander and ended up in the Irish bar which had a free BBQ on haha - I'm aware today has become a lot about food! We were there for ages then everyone went to get more beers but we didn't realise so were waiting for them for quite a while...I was pretty unimpressed by the English guys working on the door who were winding me up saying I had an English accent lol. When the others made it back we headed for the beach, but Kristin and I went to get drinks first and arranged to meet them. On the way to meet them we checked out a bar that said it was looking for staff but the pay wasn't worth the effort! The bars on the beach were pretty cool, good music! Ran into Scott as well who was with some people from his hostel - he and Hollie had gone their separate ways lol. It was a really good night overall!