26 April

We had to get up early today - 6h15 - so we can at least be in time for the sangtwa… (a bakkie with two benches along the sides and a canopy on top) picking us up and taking us to Krabi beach where a speed boat is picking us up for a tour to the Phi Phi Islands. I really meant speed boat, it had 2 x 225hp engines and had no difficulty speeding between the islands with 20 people! We headed for Bamboo Island first where we did a 40 minute snorkel session before heading to Pilay Bay - a secluded spot where you can snorkel or scuba dive. Our next stop was monkey Bay - where monkeys hang in the trees a few feet above the water while foreigners fed them fruits. We did not jump ship to feed them but headed to our next snorkeling spot 50 m away. The snorkeling was very enjoyable but the visibility was not comparable to that of the Perhenthian's nor were the marine life, but then again with hundreds of people floating around (if you're Thai or Japanese you snorkel with a life jacket) most fish would have headed for deeper, quieter waters. We drove by the Viking Cave where the locals always collected the birds nests for their famous birdnest soup (we have not tried that - don't think we will J ). After this we stopped at Maya Bay where the Beach was filmed. One quickly learns that tourism is the largest industry in Thailand and that they are really geared for it! There were almost ten other speedboats in the small cove. After this we headed to the Tsunami devastated island of Phi Phi. What an amazing island! Here we had lunch chatting with two Americans, the one did 6 months of her business degree in China and with Joanne from Canada who had toured Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand for two months. The lunch was amazing, fish, chicken, Tom Yam seafood soup and vegetables - more than enough!

After this we explored the inner part of the island, ie we went windowshopping (very expensive ) and strolled on the beaches, we could just as well have been at Canes in the south of France if you know what I mean, Europeans aren't shy, but what a beach, we had found where all the tourists our age had disappeared! Already a little late for the speedboat we headed to our landing point, we jumped on and headed for the last snorkeling spot - it was somewhere in the open ocean. A very full day J

Back home we collected our bags and walked 50 m to our new accommodation, at least we saved 150 Baht ($1 US = 35 Baht), not much but its dinner and considering the past two days had cost us 3 500 B we had to save somewhere. We took a shower in our new room at Blue Juice Guest house and headed for the night market to find some more of those divine Tempura Prawns for only 40B (R10 for 9!), deep fried banana, vegetable noodles and a ice coffee shake before heading for bed - not the most nutritious meal but it's nice to try all the strange and different foods.