Koh Phi Phi Don

The ferry carried a few hundred people, we had opted for the bigger boat hearing that it was safer. We sat inside on the middle deck on airplane-like chairs. The film Avatar was playing on a large screen at the front. All seemed safe and comfortable. Unfortunately half an hour or so into our trip, the sea became very choppy. We started to be affected by the rocking motion of the boat. The 2 hour journey felt very long as we tried to endure the motion sickness.

Arrival at Koh phi phi can only be described as sheer chaos. It was pouring with rain and people were rushing to get off the boat. But we were required to pay tax as we entered. This meant that there was lots of shouting over the sound of rain in attempt to direct us through a certain entrance and pay. The Chinese tourists with huge wheely suitcases added to the madness. We finally made it through and then had to find the escort associated with our hotel to take us there. There was more confusion as despite finding the correct person, he was trying to herd several people at once and kept asking us to wait in the shelter or perhaps he was just pointing for us to start walking. Eventually led by various Thai staff and at one point put in the back of a van, we made it to our hotel. Soaked, sea sick and hungry we were keen to sort our stuff out quickly.

Due to the rain we spent our first day exploring the shops, as with many Thai stalls, lots of them sold the same merchandise. However we came across a few hidden jems where we bought some really unique jewellery and presents.

We were relieved when the rain stopped for the evening and we were able to dress up a bit for our night out. I would describe the nightlife as being similar to that of European party places such as magaluf or aiya napa in that cheap booze was being sold at every corner and promoters tried to get you into their bars. The form of drink was cocktail buckets pricing about 150 bhat (3 pounds) - these buckets would contain atleast 350ml of various spirits. What made this island different from the usual boozy strips is that the atmosphere was a lot more chilled and people were more focused on chatting and meeting people rather than getting smashed and hooking up. This could be due to the great number of travellers coming here rather than Europeans intent of having a few days getting completely wasted.

Our first night out was really good fun. We ended up at a bar with live music. People were up dancing early on as the musician was great at playing to the crowd. He took music suggestions, sang remixes and got other people up on stage to sing. We ended up staying at the bar most of the night and we met so many people by just dancing with them. The only downside to this place was how sweaty we got - but we didn't care as we became so engrossed in the music.

We woke up pleasantly surprised by good weather. We took the opportunity to head straight to the beach and found a great spot on 'nice beach' further away from the pier. I found a massage place set up in a wooden hut right on the beach. I had been eyeing up the massage places ever since I arrived in Thailand. This was my chance. Taking David's advice I had a coconut oil massage instead of a Thai one as they are meant to be less intense. The setting was amazing. Enjoying the view of the beach, the sound of waves and the relaxation of the massage, I was in heaven.

The next day the weather was even better! We couldn't believe our luck, the sky was clear and the sun was out all day. We again spent some time on the beach but had also agreed to meet up with my friend Vicky who we had bumped into the day before. We met up with her at a pool party. The party was really lively and beer pong seemed to be the main activity. It was nice to compare our travelling experience with Vicky and her friend. We then headed inland in search of the famous viewpoint. We were determined to see it at sunset. The climb was easier than expected, there were many steps but it didn't take long. We had made it very early to the viewpoint and were able to spend some time just chilling enjoying the view. We met some French boys, one of which had moved over here to work as a scuba dive instructer. He seemed to be living the dream - meeting travellers all the time, getting paid for what he loved and spending next to nothing for the wooden hut he stayed in. The sunset was beautiful and it was great to get a different perspective of the island. Only a small part of the island was inhabited but we were shocked by the amount of construction going on across the island.

The next day we got up early to catch our ferry. Just as we were about to check out, one of the hotel staff came rushing into our room. Apparently the ferry time had changed as there was only one ferry a day in low season. We wondered why they had only just realised this but accepted the change of plan and headed to the beach to use up some time. Part of Thai culture appeared to be a lack of organisation and elements of confusion, you sometimes just have to go with it.