It's SingTime

Trip – Thailand – Phuket – Phi Phi Islands

© by Agnieszka Soska
July 25, 2006 on 2:30 pm | In Aga's Blog, Patric's Blog, Thailand, Trip
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The Phi Phi Island in Thailand was our last travel destination during our internship in Singapore. We have heard so much about this paradise on earth, that we decided to see on our own how this one of the most beautiful islands in Thailand looks like.

Almost everybody knows that Phi Phi Islands, as well as Phuket and the whole Thai west coast have been heavily devastated by the Tsunami on 26. Dec 2004. We also knew it before going to Phi Phi and therefore were prepared to see many signs of the catastrophe that happened and took as many as 800 casualties. This is a huge number of people taking into account that the island is actually very small and there aren’t so many permanent inhabitants. In the dry season (Nov-March) however, there are thousands of tourists, as it was when the Tsunami came….

The greater was our surprise to arrive on the island and discover a true paradise. Actually, a huge deal of work has been done during the last 1.5 years, and in order to find the “tsunami” on Phi Phi you have to look for it pretty hard. On the opposite side to Ton Sai Beach, there are many palms without tops, and leaves, and the coast still looks a little empty. You can also see many houses and new hotels being built. On Ton Sai Beach, where the “down town” is situated everything looks NORMAL. Like nothing happened. Most shops and mini markets look and smell very new….the only proof that there has been a lot of reconstructing action taking place in the last 18 months.

Now let me present you some facts from our romantic weekend on Phi Phi We stayed in the Bay View Resort – a definitely good accommodation tip from Stephan. The chalets were very cozy and clean and all of them with closer or more distant sea view. The hotel is situated about 15min walk from the busy Phi Phi Village at the Ton Sai Beach and about 10 minutes away from the Long Beach where we spent very lazy and relaxing Saturday.

The sea was pretty rough at that time, since we went to Phi Phi in the middle of the monsoon season. Yet, we had two beautiful sunny days on that weekend, which is actually considered as very lucky! and we really appreciated and enjoyed that delightful weather! On Saturday evening we set off to town and found that you can have a real fish feast! Numerous cosy restaurants situated by the beach offer enormous variety of sea food, you simply cannot miss if you ever have the opportunity to spend your holiday on Phi Phi.

On Sunday, after a very relaxing first day, the time has come for a real adventure: a boat trip to Ko Phi Ley, a small island nearby, about 20 minutes ride. It is a real “tourist” destination since “the Beach” – the famous movie with the Lenardo di Caprio was shot there. However, since we set off pretty early, we managed to avoid the crowd and enjoy almost alone the breathtaking Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley (check the pictures)! And the weather was beautiful again, despite the rainy season Only a bit choppy …so the boat trip to this small rocky island was really exciting! After the Maya Bay we did 1 hour snorkeling! We were really really impressed by what we saw underwater.

Phi Phi has one of the most beautiful corals in the world. And even Tsunami did not destroy too much of this nature’s miracle. We were lucky to have a very special guide during our Sunday escapade. Andrew has been living in Phi Phi for 12 years now, and he was one of those who survived Tsunami and with his “dive camp” team contributed greatly to the Phi Phi’s restoration and bringing the island back to life . He explained that they removed tens of tones of rubbish from the coast. If you would like to find out more about the Island’s restoration, take a look at the divecamp website: http://www.phiphidivecamp.com/. Thanks Andrew for the great snorkeling trip and for saving the paradise for all those that are still about to spend their unforgetfull holiday on Phi Phi.We really can recommend him and his crew from the Adventure Tours for a great snorkeling trip.

Oh did I forget to mention how we got to the Phi Phi Island from Singapore? I always have problems with the chronology, sorry about that So first we took a JetStarAsia tiny plane to Pukhet, and then took a ferry to Phi Phi (about 2 hours), depending on the weather conditions… Our weather conditions on Friday afternoon were extremely bad – meaning, I , and many other people on the boat, got really sea sick. I should have taken some medicines before the ferry trip, did not know however that it could get that bad.

Well, for the way back on Sunday I really prepared myself, mentally and physically….to our relief the weather got much better, and I managed to get by without throwing up. So after this experience I can only tell you: “always be prepared!” Don’t let the monsoon destroy your good mood and exotic holiday! It didn’t destroy ours for sure – we had a wonderful (last for me, and second last for Patric) weekend in South East Asia! A perfect end of our stay in Singapur and a perfect beginning of the next part of our lives!