Phi Phi: perfect, peachy, paradise, parrotfish, palms.

This is the island of paradise, and it is reflected in the liberal use of this word everywhere; on the boats, hotels, bars - why use anything else?

The sun, sand and sea are so dazzingly and blindingly perfect here that you are actually still squinting with sunglasses on.

And yes, we had to go and see "The Beach" - aka Maya Bay, where the movie was filmed. We were mentally prepared for the crush of tourists and tried to go as early in the day as possible to try and beat the crowds (somewhat successfully!) Make peace with the fact that touristy places are touristy for a reason - everyone rightly wants to capture a piece of the beauty. Our longboat then took us around the rest of the island of Phi Phi Ley before moving on to Bamboo Island with its wide wide beach spilling into the pristine sea inviting some more snorkelling.

We had 4 nights on Long Beach on Phi Phi Don - only accessed easily by longboat, and therefore far from the backpacker craziness in the town. Which is not to say that we did not enjoy strolling through the town and people watching, but we may have passed our time for actually staying in this area and functioning well in it. (Although we are currently with a 16 year old who was constantly being recruited for the party by the revellers!)

And Troy saw a manta ray snorkelling! This is a first! This milestone may or may not have prompted Clare to snorkel excessively on the last day through the rain in vain to try and also spot one. (Or a sea turtle. They are out there, right?!)