Thailand

Day 17 : Phi Phi and Maya Bay

The Phuket Docks.
Eeks! Ok, seriously, how old is this damn thing? The boat is picking us up for a full day of outer Phangna Bay sights.

While in Phuket, we took a day and rented a jet boat to take us snorkeling and sightseeing around Phang Na Bay. If years of unchecked development have spoiled parts of Phuket, remember that this slice of west coast is only a teeny weeny fraction of what lies beyond.

Phuket is just one of 39 main islands and a hundred or so smaller ones dotted about the region. If you’re prepared to stretch your horizons, you’ll unearth a raft of settings with such unspoilt natural beauty you really will begin to wonder what all the criticism was about.

 

From the Phuket Docks. Local Fisherman just off the shores on Phangna Bay. The longboats are typical of what the fisherman use and also smaller shorter tours.
"I like riding in boats", says Ryan! We, however got a speed bat ride, seeing we were headed ot pretty far for the tour - we have a lot of ground to cover

We Stopped at about 5 locations (which you'll see in the pictures). This was the last leg of our trip before heading back to Bangkok for a few days.

1. Nineteen kilometres off the south coast of Phuket lies a beautiful island few bother to visit. Koh Racha is surrounded by crystal-clear waters and has two gorgeous Dulux-white beaches to boast about. At Siam Bay we found paradise in the shape of a rustic bamboo beach restaurant that served the best banana curry we’ve ever tasted. Have we sad how much we love lunch here?

Ko Phi Phi Pulling up for a lunch stop where we had the best banana curry ever. I swear to god, the lunches we had here were so crazy good. And it is all "Tour" food.
Ko Phi Phi. Me, at the "old balls" table. No takers on a shot ...anyone? Anone? This is what you get when you are lolly-gagging aroubnd outside. All the good seats are taken and we have to get split up!

2. And the Viking Caves: Viking Cave, or in Thai, Tham Phaya Nak, is a cave on the eastern
side of Phi Phi Ley, the smaller of the two major islands of the Phi Phi
archipelago. The cave's Thai name Tham Pya Nak was given by King Rama IX when he
visited Viking Cave in 1972. There is a particular boulder in the cave the
resembles the head of a great serpent in Buddhism, the naga, and he named the
cave after this peculiar shape.

Us on the Boat to The Pirate Caves.
Tham Phaya Nak is more popularly known as Viking Cave. It got this unusual name not because it was visited by ancient Vikings, but due to the ancient cave painting found there that depict long boats resembling those of the Viking.Bird nests are harvested from the cave walls, hence Viking Cave is out-of-bounds to visitors. Can you even believe the color of that water?!

3. We Visited Monkey Island and its macaques. I don't recommend going there with food - they are twitchy and aggressive and unpredictable and probably card carrying rabies hosts. 

 

Monkey Beach is a must see It’s a typically Thai experience: the beauty of nature paired with the spectacle of advantageous tourism. Hundreds of monkeys descend upon the beach, but it’s all business: once you’ve run out of bananas, they have no interest in anything except stealing your bag. Quirky tip: feed them crisps and watch them wash off the flavouring… apparently they don’t like Salt & Vinegar.

3. What needs to be said about Phi Phi that isn’t already known? Despite the crowds, Maya Bay – where ‘The Beach’ was shot – is as stunning a vista as ever but there are plenty of other coves within easy reach.

 

Maya Bay: The Beach Maya Bay is a stunningly beautiful bay that's sheltered by 100-metre high cliffs on three sides. Inside the bay there are several beaches, most are small and some only exist at low tide.
The guys - on a romantic date. As you can see, we got lucky with the crowds.
Long boats at Maya Bay. Maya Bay has become the main tourist attraction of Phi Phi since The Beach was filmed here in 1999. It was always very popular before the film but now people around the world who haven't even heard of Phi Phi have certainly heard of Maya Bay.
Us, taking a bathwater swim. You can seriously see for EVER in this water.

4 and 5.  We took a dip at Pileh Lagoon, nature’s grandest swimming pool and snorkeled in waters so clear you can see further than 50 meters. And on our way back to the mainland, we pit stopped at a teeny tiny island called Koh Racha in the middle of nowhere for some free time. 

 

 

Snorkeling where we saw 1,000,000 fish.
On Koh Racha. Johnston, you want in in beach volleyball?
Koh Racha, its all by itself in the middle of the ocean. A tiny island, complete with bamboo pottys, a volleyball net and a small hut/food stand.

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