Day 122 (Sunday 6th April 08)

Up early to be ready for the truck down to the boat at 7:30am. Another couple was doing the same thing as us and heading to Koh Phi Phi so we got chatting to them. Not long until we were in Phi Phi as it was under 2 hours on the boat. Collected our bags and walked up to the top of the pier with Neil and Meera, the couple we had met, to find out what accommodation was around. We decided to ask at the tourist information while Neil and Meera went for a walk to see what was around. Found out the cheapest accommodation around was 700Baht so quickly booked this and waited for the guy to come and collect us from the guest house. When a guy turned up on a push bike it wasn't exactly what we expected. We knew Phi Phi Island was small but didn't realise that there were no cars and just how small it was. The guy put our big rucksacks in a trolley and we headed off for the 10 minute walk to the other end of the island to our accommodation. Checked in and dumped our bags. Mark then finished the book he was reading as on the way up we had spotted some book shops to exchange books and wanted to get that done today. At about lunchtime we then headed back to the town and sold our books and bought new ones. It was very hot and struggling with the heat! Hungry by now so then stopped for something to eat. Wandered around the town and down to the sea to see what was around. Finding the horrible smell of drains everywhere hard to deal with sometimes! Back to the room to dump our new books and then walked down to the beach to have a look. Again wandered back to the town as Em wanted a vest top with Same Same but different on it. Got caught in a big storm and spent a while hiding under cover as the rain was pouring down! Decided it wasn't going to let up so as it was getting late knew we had to just go out in the pouring rain and find somewhere to eat. Since the rain had started everyone had poured into the restaurants. The small roads were so flooded that it covered your feet. Ended up stopping outside where we had eaten lunch as there were 2 seats under cover and waited for a table. Wasn't too long before there was a table so ordered some food. While we were eating a cute kitten appeared along with another cute cat. There was a little boy playing with Jenga on the bar by us and his Mum bought him out an ice cream sandwich! The first time we had seen that combination! Once the rain stopped we headed quickly back to our noisy room. The rain and storm then soon started again. Read our books and went to bed.

Day 123 (Monday 7th April 08)

A very sleepless night as the loud music went on until late and then the people in the room came in at about 2:30am making a lot of noise! Up and out for some breakfast/lunch! Then decided we would walk up to the viewpoint. Didn't realise just how much of a long walk it was and were very hot and sweaty when we finally reached the top in the hottest part of the day. Was definitely worth the hard work once you were at the top and got some amazing photos looking down. It was also clear to see just how the Tsunami must have devastated the area as it is so flat and low lying. Walked back down and bought some much needed water! Carried on into the town for another look round the shops for Em's top. We then bumped into Neil and Meera so headed for a drink and a chat. Didn't realise the time and ended up sitting in a little cafe for about 2 hours and hadn't bought much! Neil and Meera got some food and then we arranged to meet them later. They headed up to the viewpoint after we recommended it and we walked on to find the top! Eventually found what Em wanted and walked back to the guest house to have a shower and get our game - backpacker. Back into the town and used the internet and then carried onto the hotel Meera and Neil were staying at. Very jealous as it was a lot nicer than what we were staying in! All of us then walked on to find somewhere to eat. Us leaving the decision to them as they are vegetarians so more difficult for them. Found a nice little place for some food. Popped to Seven Eleven after to buy a couple of beers and then back to their hotel to play cards in the foyer. Good night teaching them how to play backpacker. Ended up walking back to our guest house at about midnight and tried to go to sleep with the loud music again.