Swimsuit

This is the first of a series of 5 blog posts dedicated to Thailand.

I want to kick off my Thailand posts with my favorite part of the trip – visiting the Phi Phi Islands of Thailand. Have you seen the movie The Beach with Leonard DiCaprio? I saw it on a double date in college – while the movie and double date were meh, I remember loving the movie for the sights! What a dream to see it in person!

To get an idea of where these islands are located in Thailand – see I highlighted Bangkok in blue. We took a short flight to Krabi, then took a ferry boat to the Phi Phi Islands. These things all need to be booked ahead of time – especially the ferry boat since it runs only twice a day so you need to coordinate it with your flights.

We stayed on Phi Phi Don, the main island and really the only island you can visit. Full of shopping, taxi boats, hotels, clubs and bars, it’s such a fun scenic place. Phi Phi is pronounced as pee-pee.

The sunset was that orange, and it changed colors from orange to purple really quickly.

We found a private taxi boat driver who would drive us for 6 hours for 3000 baat ($100). They typically start at 9 am but we begged to get started earlier and he asked if we could be ready at 6 am. Rachel and I had been in the habit of waking up early with our tour group that it wasn’t a problem for us.

And boy, was it worth it to be the absolute first to reach Maya Bay – the exact location where The Beach was filmed.

Maya Bay

Swimsuit

Bamboo Beach

Next stop was Bamboo Beach – we went there fairly quickly after more people started arriving at Maya Bay. We do regret leaving as early as we did once we realized Bamboo Beach would be a little underwhelming.

It’s OK though, I just kept collecting seashells. We laid out for a little while just relaxing since we walked quite a way to get from our long tail (low tide so early in the morning) to the beach.

Then, we discovered a little hut with the best fried rice – with fried egg. It was the best fried rice we’ve ever tasted in our lives for under $2! Goodness I love Thailand!

Monkey Beach

Last stop was Monkey Beach – I hadn’t seen a monkey for the first few minutes when I decided to dump the rest of my Coke out and put the can in my trash bag. Apparently the sound of that attracted the monkeys telling them there was food – so suddenly I saw one, then two and then a gang of monkeys start walking towards me.

I panicked because I was told by several people before I left for my trip that the monkeys can be aggressive and if they grab anything from you, to let them have it to avoid any bites. Well, if you saw my video you know what happened on Snapchat! I later heard someone got bit by one and had to go the hospital while another said he let a monkey walk up his arm to his shoulder and took a selfie with his GoPro!

Either way, I wouldn’t chance it – just don’t throw anything at them because a tourist did that (to make them look at the camera) and about three monkeys launched themselves at him screaming with teeth out and they weren’t happy – and I think he will never do that again.

When they came toward me I backed up until a little monkey tried to open my bag and look inside – no not my camera! So I immediately snatched my bag because there was no way I would let him take my bag! He started to walk the bench toward Rachel’s things and he grabbed her water bottle that was sitting there before she could grab it away from him. He ran away, jumped on the swing (the one I’m sitting on here) and opened the top of the bottle with his teeth! It makes me wonder if these swings are for the monkeys and not the tourists!

Phi Phi Don

We arrived back on the main island by noon! We had a Thai massage (which is out of this world for several reasons – mainly the back cracking and interaction – have you ever had one?). We discovered the other side of the island (we stayed in the main skinny part) and found out the other side was the beach side – with the clubs. Not our thing, but we enjoyed the sunset longer.

Swimsuit / Pants

We stayed at Phi Phi Banyan Villa, two nights with a garden view for $210 booked through Hotels.com.

The next morning we woke up at 5:45 to start hiking to the Phi Phi viewpoint. First, let me tell you it was an awful hike. It was already hot at 6 am and if you’re going to do it, I’m going to give you a piece of advice.

I had entertained the idea of paying a motorcyclist who was already going up the hill 100 batt just so I could jump on. Do this! If anyone is willing to let you ride to the top or as far as they go, pay the man! I was really having a hard time and not happy about it. But you could say once I got to the top I calmed down and then I got myself a Thai Coffee as a reward – there is a gift shop and coffee bar at the top, haha!

Dress

Then we caught our ferry boat back to Krabi and came to this view. By the way, this strappy lightly padded bra I’m wearing under my dress from Macy’s, it cost me $3. I should have bought 5. Thailand, I love your sights and your shopping prices.

Photographs taken with a Sony NEX-5R and Canon G7 X.

Thailand post series:

• VIDEO – Exploring Thailand + Phi Phi Islands

1. Thailand Phi Phi Islands
2. Floating Market + Temples in Bangkok
3. Jungle Rafting in River Kwai
4. Thailand Eats
5. Historic Ruins in Ayutthaya