Today was another occasion for a trip from Phuket to Phi Phi Island. As we approached the island group, we were struck by the view of vertical limestone cliffs jutting straight out of the Andaman sea, especially on Phi Phi Ley and the two small Bidah Islands (mare rocks, but more famous for their diving below the surface). Already on first view it was obvious, Phi Phi Island will be absolutely gorgeous. We checked into our bungalow at
and headed straight for the beach. We knew immediately that we would enjoy our time here and we did!
Phi Phi Casita Bungalows
The following morning we headed out on a long tail boat for an all day tour of the surrounding islands and snorkeling. Unluckily, the weather on Phi Phi today was rainy, and we had some waves to cope with. Unfazed by all that, our boat driver began to race with the long tail boat beside us and most people had to wear their goggles as we were getting pounded by water!
Monkey BeachOur first stop was at
Phi Phi Monkey Beach, where we saw maybe around 20 macaque monkeys swinging from the trees, so close you could feed them. The cutest sight was a baby monkey carried by its mother.
We received a word of warning by the boat driver, those monkeys can be quite greedy: if they see something they want, to will not care that you are like 10 times their size, they will come and get it -- so do not hold food in your hand that you do not wish to give up for them!
Baby monkey at Phi Phi Monkey Beach
Next our boat took us to
Bamboo Island where it was time for our lunch-break.
The rest of the daytrip was then spent on Phi Phi Ley, the smaller of the two Phi Phi Islands, and totally uninhabited (at least with regard to permanent housing).
Viking CaveHere, we had a look into
Viking Cave, which is named after rock drawings that show ships seemingly very much like the Viking longboats. Cave swallows build their nests here, a very expensive commodity: they are collected and their essence is the base for birds nest soup, a local specialty.
Viking Cave on Phi Phi LeyThe most visited area of Phi Phi Ley is of course
Maya Bay, made famous by the movie "The Beach". It was low tide so we were told that the only way to get to the beach of Maya Bay was to swim, climb over a bunch of rocks, go through a tunnel, and then walk a short distance to the other side. It was very cool to walk through the jungle and emerge onto "The Beach".
Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley
Finally, after our day trip and to conclude the day, we went to dinner at Papaya Restaurant, a small and very good Thai restaurant. It is recommended to share a plate here because the portions are so large!
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