PhiPhi!

We got the boat from Koh Phangnan to Surathani and then a bus for a couple of hours to Krabi then another boat to PhiPhi. This is the post card island - unfortunately destroyed by the tsunami in 2004. They have rebuilt all that was ruined and some bars have the before and after pictures and dedications to the ones they lost :( We went to one bar called sunflower where the owner had rebuilt the bar and made 4 long tail boats for the bar in memory of the four loved one they lost, so was nice to see that. The boat ride over there was so bad - there was a storm and it was crashing through the waves, pretty much everyone was being sick - the thai ladies next to me were not feeling well and I gave one lady a plastic bag and some water - at the end of the boat trip she tried to give me a hair piece as a present but I said it was OK :)
Before we did anything we had to check into the hostel which was nice - we had to wade through a massive river that had developed over one of the paths - right up to our legs!
We were so tired aftet the journey so went out after we checked in for some food, the main town is a bit haggered - just with lots of bars and tour operators etc but we said we would go back for a nap at 7 and wake up again at 9pm and go check it out... the alarm went off at 9 the following morning haha! We slept the whole way through. So the next day we walked all the way up the hill to the viewpoint - was amazing! We stopped at the first viewpoint and you can see where the two beaches meet one on the left and then on the right. It looks so amazing! We went to the top and stopped at the second viewpoint also. Then we decided to take a walk to the long beach - the best beach on the island. We must have walked for about 1 hour and were sure we were getting lost but all the locals said it was the right way (all really friendly) We ended up walking down some mud road and Rob got his flip flops completely stuck lol! He kept slipping over! But we finally made it to the beach but it was some resort section and the tide was in so couldn't walk round the cove, so we stayed there for a bit and then walked all the way back! We went out for some food and they were playing 'The Beach' as this is the island where it was filmed and based. They play it everywhere in Thailand - we had just caught the end so the manager put another film on but then a group of guys walked in and put it back on! It started to rain so heavy so we made quick escape back to the room.
We had constantly been debating when to do the camping tour on maya bay - there are two islands Koh Phi Phi Don (where you stay) and Koh Phi Phi Lee where Maya bay is (the beach) and it is a national park so no one can stay there.. unless you do the camping trip where they take small numbers! We didn't want to do it in the rain but all the forecasts said different things so we just took a chance and booked it when we woke up and saw the sun! It left at 3pm and there was only 19 of us! We got the boat over and went snorkelling in the Viking Cave where the pirates used to live! Was good but really choppy! We then got back on boat and jumped off from the top! We arrived at the back of the island - the tour guide was completely crazy lol - he told us we were going to swim 50 metres out from the sea to this cave and climb through onto the island! Was amazing! He said 5 at a time so Rob and I went first we swam out from the boat to the cove and there were ropes like a spiders web waiting for us - we had to try and stand on the rocks and pull ourselves in! There were so many big waves and they kept knocking us off the rocks - but we finally made it and then walked throught the jungle to the amazing opening 'the beach' It was like the scene in the film when Leo walks onto it for the first time - it was amazing! We stayed up and had a camp fire, beers and buckets and then areally nice thai dinner. The guide took us to the jungle in the middle of the night and he showed us the massive crabs! They were so massive looked like king crabx from deadliest catch lol. Rob picked one up and then CoCo (guide) put the crab on the tree and it climbed up, was fun. We were so lucky with the weather it didn't really rain we ended up actually sleeping in sleeping bags on the beach!
We went in the sea in the middle of the night to see the phospherence again - but you could haardly see it maybe one or two glowing bits but in Cambodia it was like glitter falling off you.
Rob said at break of dawn he saw I had sand all over my lips and a fly on my head haha! Woke up to the sea and then after breakfast we had the beach to ourselves again! Then all the tour boats started to arrive and we left. We went back out the way we came in, this time it was so much harder! The waves were big and we kept falling off the rocks and trying to grab the rope! Finally made it out the cove and we swam back out to the boat - Rob was so scared he didn't think he could swim all the way but he did :) Then we did a bit more snorkelling and arrived back at the hotel!
We had a big nap and then went out for some drinks along the beach. They had all these fire dancers doing some really interesting shows and then we ended up at another flaming skipping rope bar! We ended up meeting a nice couple from Nottingham and stayed for some more buckets and enjoyed the party on the beach! We booked the boat to Railay which is supposed to be really pretty!
PhiPhi was beautiful and we loved maya bay obviously!
Hope you had a great birthday Gramps! I'm sure nan took you to a nice meal!? Hope Fran and Kyle had a good time on holiday too :) Lots of love to everyone! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hope the weather picks up! - especially for your fishing trip Aunti Pat - hopefully you won't get snow that would be awful for June!? Thanks for your help also with Australia - will keep in touch maybe skype in the next few days. Lots of love to everyone! xxx