So I had been to Phi Phi the week before with Kim and although we had a good time, we partied a lot and enjoyed the beaches it wasn't until I went back that I realized how cool Phi Phi is.I arrived back to Phi Phi and had a couple of hours to find a place to stay before my parents were due to arrive, I also went and found my Irish friends Michelle and Siobhan who I had met in Krabi the week before.But all morning I couldn't concentrate, I just kept looking at the clock excitedly watching the minutes go by and before I knew it, it was time for me to head to the pier and wait for my parent's boat to come in.It was one long hour late but eventually I saw two familiar figures at the end of the pier; I ran down the wooden boardwalk straight into my mum's arms, after 4 months I was so pleased to see both of them and so excited to show them what my life was like now.It's weird letting them in, allowing a person from home into my new life which I'm living so far away and so separately, it's odd to see a fixture from my past coming into my present if you get my gist? My parents where in Thailand on one of the most beautiful islands … with me! I can't even remember our last holiday abroad together so seeing them in the 36 degree sun was kind of surreal.

We had a wonderful time together though, I showed them around and made sure they had a brilliant holiday, my mum was adamant on the first night that she wanted proper back packer style Thai food, in other words, big portions of authentic Thai food for practically no money and I knew exactly where to take her.Papaya is a little café with plastic tables, graffiti on the walls and a chef which can whip up the best Thai curry I have found, my parents loved it, they sat for ages watching the Thai girls hammering spices in a pestle and mortar and were pleasantly surprised when the food I had ordered for all of us came and not only looked amazing but tasted amazing too.

The following day I had signed us up for a day trip that I was dying to do, especially with my parents - we would be having a bit of an all rounder day including monkey feeding, snorkeling and cliff jumping.The trip cost about 15 pounds each which is pricey for Thai standards but it was so worth it, it blew me away in every sense.After getting kitted up with snorkels, fins and rock climbing shoes we set off with the other 10 people on the trip to our first stop which was snorkeling at Shark point.I had come to Shark point with Kim on a cheaper trip on my previous visit to Phi Phi but we didn't so much as get a whiff of a shark, that wasn't the case with this trip, our guide dropped us into the water and promised we would see at least one shark if not more.I didn't believe him and so snorkeled along happy that a close encounter was extremely unlikely, after 5 mins in the water I caught site of a big fin, naah I thought to myself I'm seeing things, aren't I? Then a couple of seconds later I saw it again and this time in plain view only a few feet away, a long thin silver reef shark.I couldn't believe it, I was so excited I called my mum and dad over, we swam towards where I saw the shark heading and that's when I saw it again this time it looked a lot bigger, I tapped my mum and pointed, then I realized she was doing the same to me but pointing the other way! That's when I realized there were sharks everywhere just swimming around completely ignoring us, it was amazing! I was so happy I actually started laughing into my snorkel that was until one shark turned sharply and swam with speed straight towards me - oh my god! I froze to the spot in complete surprise until the shark shifted its direction slightly and swam straight past my head.We all got back on the boat buzzing with our swim with sharks and as we made our way on the boat to our next stop I told them all about how swimming with wild sharks was a tick off of my bucket list.

Stop 2 was monkey beach but not the monkey beach I had been to before where tones of boats and huge groups of people swarmed around the monkeys like they were in a zoo, no this was a little beach were only we could go.The monkeys came down as they saw us approaching and waited patiently for our guide to hand us lychees and bananas, we were warned that 2 of the males could get aggressive but all we had to do was step out of their way and into the water and the monkeys wouldn't follow.It was nice to see them so close without the pressure of other tourists and hundreds of camera flashes going off.

Our third stop of the day was the one which excited me the most, cliff jumping! Everyone who wanted to do it, including me and my dad donned our rock climbing rubber shoes and swam over to the cliff face, whilst my mum along with a few others watched from the boat.Our shoes meant we could grip the rocks easily and within minutes everyone had made their way to jump one which was 8 meters, believe me this is a lot higher than it looks however with clear instruction from out guide on how to jump safely we all flung our selves off and into the water.Jumping was great fun, it's kind of scary and exciting at the same time.However it didn't end so well for me as on one of the jumps everyone thought I had entered the water perfectly but I hadn't, I knew straight away I had hurt myself, it wasn't until a couple of hours later I realized I had broken my tail bone.It still hurts quite badly 2 months later but if someone asked me if I would do the jump again I would have to say … definitely! The exhilaration is well worth the pain, the way I see it is that at home I rarely push myself, I wouldn't witness this kind of experience, I kind of feel more alive out here, I experience extreme pleasure and extreme pain but its part of being on this planet.If I don't take some risks I won't know what life's really all about, right?

Anyway I pushed the pain to the back of my mind and decided not to tell anyone until later, I refused to put any form of downer on what was turning into an amazing day.I got back on the boat with everyone else and headed for Maya Beach, famous for being the beach from the film "The Beach" which is played at tea time in a lot of the bars around Phi Phi, it's a beautiful alcove set on the side of tropical un inhabited island.Most tour boats enter from the sea and park up in the alcove, but our boat decided to park up at the back and we all jumped into the water with our rock climbing shoes on and climbed over the rocks, walked through the jungle and came out onto the beach just like they did in the film.I bought us some beers then me and my parents sat as the sun started to go down on the sand enjoying each others company and getting pics for the family album. On the way back to Phi Phi our boat stopped in the middle of the ocean so that we could all enjoy the sun set together, the perfect end to the perfect day trip. I followed this by taking my parents to a fish restaurant where you pick your fish alive and they cook it fresh for you, tasty! And then we went to watch a fire show on the quieter Long beach, and whilst the guy twirled his flaming sticks me and my mum shared a bucket and my dad as per usual caught the moment on camera.

Our second and what would turn out to be our last day together was spent just as wisely, I woke showered and ate breakfast before climbing the hill to meet my parents at their mountain side guest house.We had decided on my mum's request that we would climb to the viewpoint, which was the highest point accessible on the island and supposedly had a panoramic view of the island which was to die for.Oh the guy who wrote the review wasn't kidding, after a hot and sweating half our climb up a path which seemed to do nothing but go up we reached the top where I realized just how breathtaking Phi Phi is.Now I haven't spoken much about my first time on Phi Phi only 10 days previous because apart from bumping into some friends, getting ridiculously drunk every night and booking a rubbish tour which made Kim sea sick there isn't much to tell, I spent too much time partying and not enough time exploring, Phi Phi part 2 was a much more exciting couple of days and therefore something worth writing about … 2 months later.

After the view point we decided to walk down the other side of the island where the quiet beaches lay, little did we know that it would be a 2 hour walk in the baking heat and involve us having to hack our way through some bushes, but we eventually got there and it was worth the trouble.A palm fringed beach with only 2 other people on it, the water was clear as glass and aqua turquoise and the sand was a lovely creamy white, it looked like a post card.

After 2 days it was time to say good bye to my parents, I wouldn't see them again for a good 8 months or so and so it wasn't the nicest experience for me to say good bye.In my mind I would spend longer than 2 days with them and they had thought the same and so when I waved them off at the pier I had to try my damned hardest not to get upset, its like someone waved a bottle of water in front of a thirsty man - kind of unfair I guess.But after an hour of sulking I pulled myself together and made a plan to leave the island and get back travelling again. It would be Phi Phi, Krabbi, Bangkok and then Cambodia - why Cambodia I hear fellow travelers ask? That's not the right route at all I hear you say, yes I know I know but its my trip and I fancied seeing Cambodia next J