Phi Phi islands + Krabi

Phi Phi Islands, pronounced “pee pee islands” are a small group of islands in the Bay of Thailand and can be easily accessed via boat (about a 2 hour ride from Phuket). On the ride, we passed spectacular views of neighboring islands, many of which are just huge limestone cliffs with greenery covering the tops. We arrived in Phi Phi Don, one of the more popular destinations for people looking to experience the classic “Thailand beach” vibe.

Views from the boat:After checking into the hostel, we took a 45 minute walk along a winding path that lead to a (slightly) less crowded area called Long Beach. The water was a delightful bluish green, and incredibly clear (though it wasn’t very refreshing because it felt like bath water!). As we swam around, we just kept saying “wow, this is beautiful.” After feeling pleasantly crisped from the sun (and our very strong Long Island iced teas) we decided to head back, shower, then go explore the town in the evening.

Walking path to Long Beach:The classic “long tail boats” of Thailand:One thing you should know about Phi Phi is that it is very much geared towards young travelers who like partying. As we’ve said before, we aren’t as young as we used to be and we have been feeling sort of.. geriatric amongst all the youngins, but we decided to try our hardest to be young, hip, and cool! So we got some beers and headed to the area known for beach bars (side note: you can drink in public, which was great because we could buy cheap beer at the convenience store and still enjoy it on the beach while listening to the music from the bars without paying insane amounts of money, score!). By bars we don’t mean a typical restaurant with a bar and a nice oceans view. We mean literal clubs with intense dance music, tight rope walkers, and fire dancers, right in the sand. That, combined with the hundreds of inebriated travels wandering the beachfront, made for se fabulous people watching. Did we mention it was only 8pm on a Monday? Apparently this is just how Phi Phi does it. We spent a few hours talking with other travelers on the beach, then decided to call it a night.

The next day, we did a boat cruise around the islands; it was well worth the $15 per person! The cruise was over five hours long, included lunch, brought you to multiple beaches/snorkel spots, and concluded with watching the sunset. To top it all off, we also went night swimming with phosphorescent plankton. We can’t really explain the scientific reason (so please consult google) but basically if you go under water and wave your hands around, you can see small specks glowing all around you, similar to seeing fireflies. It was super cool (and moderately terrifying swimming in the open ocean at nighttime).

First stop at the “Monkey Beach”:Taylor pumped about monkeys…from a safe distance:“Tristan make sure you hold the camera up high so you can see I’m wearing a bathing suit otherwise I’ll look naked”:More of the breathtaking landscape:Chilling on the long tail boat:David Hasselhoff, is that you?Sunset from the boat:

After a long day of swimming and snorkeling we were exhausted. We grabbed dinner then tried to get to bed early. Stress on the word “tried” because our two roommates were the absolute worst and kept us awake until 2am being loud and inconsiderate but that’s the price we pay for staying in hostels, it’s not always the best nights sleep. We managed to close our eyes for a few hours before we got up at 5:30am to attempt to see the sunrise. We read that the viewpoint was a 20 min walk from our hostel.. but after walking for double that amount of time, unable to find the view, and scared of some angry sounding stray dogs on the road ahead, we turned back. Basically we just went for a walk really early in the morning…uphill the entire way…in 95 degrees… and humidity. Needless to say, we got back to our room, sweaty and slightly disappointed. But there will be plenty of other sunsets!

After two days on Phi Phi, we were ready to get going, so we took a boat to Krabi, a town on the mainland. It was a nice change of pace from the chaos of Phi Phi. The area we stayed was actually quiet and low-key. As if we weren’t sweaty enough from our “sunrise” walk, we decided to kick it up a notch and head to the Tiger Cave for sunset. Don’t be alarmed, there aren’t actually tigers there. It’s a Buddhist temple with a massive gold Buddha at the top, overlooking the town. The kicker: you have to walk up 1,260 stone steps to get to the top and many of the steps/risers are over a foot tall (and very shallow) so yes, we were holding the railings the entire way up and down.

Smiling and not sweating? Clearly at the start of our climb:The climb itself was a meditation and really became mind over matter towards the then. As strenuous as it was for us, one of the most insane parts was seeing an elderly woman on her way down from the top (because she climbed the entire way). Talk about a badass.

Finally made it:Is that a sunset glow or are we just sweaty?The very fashionable shawl Taylor had to wear because women can’t show their legs in the temple:Viewing area at the top:The massive gold Buddha:The views were insane and we finally felt like we were seeing the true sprawling forrests that Asia has to offer. We eventually made it back down, legs jittery but feeling proud. For dinner, we walked to an outdoor food market and got an entire plate of fried chicken, rice, soups, chicken skewers, and a mango/coconut smoothie for $6 total…score! Our meal was also prepared by a very cute old woman who was basically a Thai version of Taylor’s memere (she just kept bringing out more food and smiling at us!). Our stop in Krabi was short but wonderful. Now, on to northern Thailand to Chiang Mai!