We set off to Phi Phi on the 24th. We took a boat from Samui to Donsak, then a bus across the mainland to Krabi. We were slightly worrying about if we'd be able to find anywhere cheap to stay on Phi Phi. On the journey we got talking to two girls from New Zealand. One of them had been before and told us not to worry about it. She knew the name of somewhere clean and cheap that she stayed in 2 years ago. So at least we had somewhere to start.

When we arrived on Phi Phi it was very different to Samui. The island looked amazing with huge rock formations sticking out of the crystal clear water. As the boat pulled into the harbour we could see all the fishes swimming near the bright coloured coral. The island is very small with no proper roads, no scooters or cars. Instead just small streets with shops on them, winding in and out everywhere. As soon as everyone got off the boat it turned into a mad rush for people to find accommodation. We didn't have a clue where to go, so we just followed the girls we'd been talking to. As we walked down the streets we passed numerous hotels and guest houses, all with signs up saying 'full'. We'd heard a few people say that it's better to book in advance when coming to Phi Phi as places get booked up very quickly.

We arrived at the hotel that one of the girls stayed in a few years back. She went to the main desk and asked how much a room was. It was 2000baht a night which was way out of all of our budgets (500baht a night). It didnt matter anyway as this hotel was fully booked like all the others we'd passed. The girl said that 2 years back it was only 600baht a night, good old tourism pushing them prices up.

We then walked around for about an hour in the heat, walking past even more fully booked hotels or finding ones which were very pricey. We eventually found somewhere with some rooms. Very dark gloomy rooms, but rooms none the less. They were only 500baht a night and had free wifi, so we gave up the hunt and made ourselves at home.

The next day we got up and decided to have a little explore. We walked down to one of the beaches, then walked along the coast trying to get around to the other side of the island. Half way around we realised it wasn't going to happen. So we turned around and walked back onto the beach. On the beach was a gang of monkeys looking for food, one of them had found a crab and was bashing it onto a rock, clever little monkey.

That night we bought a bucket of rum for just under £3. We let the person in the shop mix it for us, she poured the entire bottle of rum into the bucket, then mixed it with one can of sprite, it was soo strong.

We sat on the beach with our bucket and watched a fire show. The fire show was cool to watch and felt very unsafe, but fun. It was just lots of Thai guys spinning sticks set on fire around, then they'd get out fireworks that were attached to sticks and swing them around as they were going off. Occasionally a stick would get dropped and fireworks would fire in all directions, including into the crowd, like I said, unsafe but fun.

The next day we woke up to rain. We found somewhere to have a full English breakfast to soak up the rum left in our stomachs from the night before. The rain past and we decided to book a half day tour to some places. After buying our tickets we were led down to the harbour to where all the long tail boats were. When we got there, there was already a large number of people waiting to go on the tour. We all piled onto a long tail boat, there was clearly too many people on the boat as there wasnt enough seats for everyone. But the captain was determined to squeeze everyone onto one boat.

The tour took us to Monkey Beach first, the boat pulled up close to the beach but couldnt go all the way up due to the low tide and a large amount of coral everywhere. When everyone got off the boat and into the water we all stood on the coral, loads of people cut their feet open. There was a warning sign on the beach saying 'beware of the monkeys'. As we walked down the beach loads of monkeys came out of nowhere and started running around. Everyone was taking pictures, one guy got too close and a monkey started to attack him. It jumped up and locked onto his leg, everyone started shouting, it was quite funny to watch.

We left Monkey Beach and headed towards Koh Phi Phi Leh (the second island that makes up Koh Phi Phi), the boat across to the island was absolutely crazy. The water was so rough, the waves were so high. Our poor little boat looked like it wasn't going to stand a chance in getting across. As the boat crashed over the waves water started to come over the side of the boat. The boat would nearly tip over so the captain would tell everyone to lean to one side, and then to the other, to counterbalance against the waves. Every now and then the boat would stop as the waves ahead were too high to try and go over. The boat was rocking from side to side so much that one of the children on the tour started to cry. We carried on crashing over the waves all the way across, every now and then a cracking noise would come from underneath my seat, I hoped it was nothing serious and held on as tight as I could.

We eventually made it across and into the shelter of Loh Samah Bay. It was so calm and tranquil, it was made even more peaceful due to the ride we'd had to go through to get there. While we gently sailed through taking in the sights, we past a rich looking guy who had been swimming in the bay. He was showering himself down on the back of his private speedboat. I don't know what he must have thought of us, 25+ backpackers crammed onto one small longtail boat. Ahh well, we probably had more fun getting there than he did.

We left Loh Samah Bay and went around the island until we came to Maya Bay. This is where some scenes from 'The Beach' were filmed. As the boat stopped in the bay the captain got out snorkels for everyone. We had about 45minutes snorkelling in Maya bay. The water here was soo clear. The visibility was just as clear under the water as it was above. There was fish of every shape, colour and size. It was really amazing to see. After we'd been snorkelling we ate fresh fruits on the boat and then pulled up onto the beach. We explored the island a little and took some nice pictures. Then it was time to get on the boat to be taken to watch the sunset.

As soon as we left the safety of the bay the large waves started to hit us again. Everyone held on tight and hoped we'd make it back in one piece. This time the waves felt even more rough, water was coming over the sides and soaking everyone. A girl sat next to me kept on repeating, 'he's done this a thousand times, everything's going to be alright'. We carried on towards the viewpoint for the sunset but the waves got worse. At this point the captain said we can turn back and go back to Phi Phi if we wanted. Everyone was happy to hear that and we all agreed that it would be the best option.

The next day we climbed lots of steps to get to the viewpoint of the whole island. It was defiantly worth the climb. The view was breathtaking, partly because of all the steps. After taking in the view and soaking up some sun we decided to head through the jungle towards some different beaches. We weren't really dressed appropriately for walking through the jungle (flip-flops and swimwear) so we got bitten to pieces by mosquitos. It took us a few hours to get through the jungle and reach the beach. The sun had started to set as we arrived so we only got about 10 minutes on the beach before heading back. On the way back there were even more mosquitoes. I had to push Sarah up all the hills as she'd walk too slowly and get bitten a lot. I was happy to help as it meant we'd get back quicker and less bites for Sarah.

The next day we set off for Koh Lanta.