The Wandering Two: Phi Phi

Remember when we said that Zanzibar was the nicest beach in the world? Well I think we found a strong competitor in Phi Phi Island. Just like in Zanzibar the water was this beautiful blue-turquoise color and so clear, the weather was so sunny and lovely and the beaches were fine white sand. What gives Phi Phi an edge is that it had some of the most amazing snorkeling I have ever seen. Our hotel, Phi Phi Hill Resort, was located at the end of Long Beach. About 100 feet from the shore was this massive coral reef. We found out that people from other parts of the island paid lots of money to hire boats to bring them to snorkel there, when we could just climb down some (very steep) stairs to the beach and swim out. On our second day we bumped into some family friends, Payman and Klara, who are living in China now but who I’ve known since I was young. We spent the next three days with them, exploring the beaches on Phi Phi Island and being entertained by their very energetic and wonderful children, Roya and Milad. One day Becky went diving and we went on a snorkeling trip. The boat took us first to Bamboo Island, an oasis in the middle of the ocean with the most incredible beach and clear water. We stopped at a couple of spots to do some snorkeling and ended our trip at Maya Bay where they filmed the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio. The “Beach” was alright but the snorkeling was one of the best I have ever seen. The fish were so large and plentiful and the water was so clear I could have spent the whole day there. On one of our last days I swam out to the coral from our beach and decided to climb onto the rocky coral island for a break. This was a very bad idea. I looked down and saw that there was blood all over my feet and in the water around me. While climbing out of the water I must have sliced my feet on the barnacles which were so sharp that I hadn’t even felt it happen. I got very scared that my blood would attract some nearby sharks that others mentioned having seen around the coral there. Panicking, I swam as fast as I have ever swam back to shore, resulting in many blisters on my feet from the flippers in addition to the multiple slices from the barnacles. Oh well, it was worth it to see the beautiful fish and coral. And I’m alive. Also our hotel had the best fruit smoothies ever, so big and so cheap. We got many of them each day but the strawberry one was to die for!

After our 5 days in Phi Phi Island we headed to Ko Lanta, another island further south. Let me give a suggestion to anyone planning to travel to Thailand: don’t even try to go to another island after Phi Phi Island because nothing can ever compare. Ko Lanta was very relaxing, we spent our days swimming, reading and catching up on podcasts. We had a great view of the sunset from our beach and enjoyed some delicious Thai food from several restaurants on the beach. One night we bought a floating lantern and had fun lighting it and watching it float away into the sky. It was really pretty. Nothing else to say about that. We’re on our way to Bangkok now for a few days of shopping and visiting some temples.

Love,

The Wandering Two