Well I just got back from my holiday in the islands. Last week one of my fellow teachers Michelle and I went down to the south of Thailand for 10 days. We left late Friday night on a what's called a VIP Air Conditioned (very important) bus. It took about 9 hours to reach Phuket. We stayed in Phuket for 4 days. I was very fortunate to get a very good deal on a room as one of my student's fathers owns a hotel down there! We explored the beaches and city a bit and Wednesday left on a 3 hour boat ride to the islands of Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Ley (actually a national park). I have seriously never been anywhere more beautiful. It was absolutely paradise. Crystal blue waters, white sands... it was such a neat little island. You can walk across from the main pier to the other side of the island in about 10 minutes and so only pedestrians and bicycles make their way through the village. The adorable streets are filled with dive shops, restaurants and street vendors. It is amazing what an international hub it is and I must have heard at least 20 different languages every time I walked down the street. We stayed in a very inexpensive little beach bungalow and as each day passed we considered never leaving! One day we went on a guided snorkeling tour around Koh Phi Phi Ley. I've never seen such colorful fish!! I even found Nemo (and his whole family!). It was absolutely incredible. It was also very fascinating to think about how much of the island was truly wiped out by the tsunami and the efforts gone into restoring it's charm. We would joke a bit because you know the saying if the tide suddenly goes out a mile, run up and inland, well there the tide drops almost 3 feet!! One minute you have this gorgeous blue water and 10 minutes later it's rippled sand, protruding rocks, and scampering little crabs for hundreds of yards.
Michelle and I had an absolute blast. We had bought these mini styrofoam ice coolers back home and toted them around with us the whole journey there and back -- gaining many odd stares along the way. Whenever we went to the beach, we would stop at a local mini-mart and load up on cold beverages and ice. It was perfect!
I spent the holiday sun tanning and swimming and now have quite a fabulous golden tan. And Michelle spent most of the holiday under the beach umbrella. She is Filippino and was quite aware of turning "black" instead of a "tan". haha
The only mishap of the trip actually happened about 15 minutes before we left Hua Hin to head south. I hopped on my motorbike to go pick up Michelle (who lives literally 3 minutes from me) and on the way over, this stray dog runs out in front of my bike. I slam on the brakes and manage to stop the bike, my feet go down and keep me from falling, but then for no reason whatsover my bike decides to tip over and the end of the handle bar, carrying the weight of the bike, proceeds to come down on my toes. OUCH!!! Luckily, I didn't quite break anything, but did a pretty good job at messing up my foot and spent the 9 hours on the bus with ice on it. My first vacation in Thailand was spent limping like an idiot. Oh joy.

Anyway, Michelle and I have been daydreaming about being back on the islands ever since we got back. I seriously want to move to Koh Phi Phi. That laid-back beautiful island mentality would suit me so nice :)

*sigh*

Counting down the days til my next vacation...