Phi Phi Island

Breakfast at The Scene Cliff View Villas

Today we head to Phi Phi Island. However before heading out, we spend a little time enjoying breakfast at our hotel: The Scene Cliff View Villas. Because of my arrival late last night, I didn’t get a chance to see how lovely our accommodations are. However, in the morning, I finally get a sense of it and am impressed!

Breakfast consists of a mix of Thai and western cuisine. Everything is very tasty and great to start the day with!

Bus and Ferry to Phi Phi

After breakfast we head out to the front of our hotel where a “bus” is waiting to take us to the port. While not new to Cactoose and Gimpy, sitting in the back of a truck on benches is a new experience for me and likely what constitutes as our bus for today! After making a few stops at other hotels to pick up passengers, we eventually arrive at the port where we board our boat heading to Phi Phi. The ride out to Phi Phi is pretty spectacular and I really liked seeing the small rocky islands jutting out from the water.

The ride takes about two hours and for the first half of it, the three of us spent it seated on the main deck. However, the circulation isn’t really great and it starts to get quite stuffy. What’s interesting though is that Gimpy discovers that the bottom deck (which is virtually empty) is air conditioned and so we quickly head down and ride out the rest of the trip in comfort!

Phi Phi Islands

Eventually, we arrive at Phi Phi and disembark to start our exploring. Another big reason for us coming out this way is to actually meet up with another friend of ours from San Francisco! In fact this is the same friend that explored Antarctica with me back in 2015! He just so happens to be in Phuket (for a wedding) and after some coordination we have a window to meet! Our first order of business is to head to the opposite side of the island to Loh Dalum Beach. From here I get my first sense of these beautiful South Asian beaches and we spend some time to take it all in.

RS Corner

Because our time is limited (Our ferry arrival and departure times give us a limited window). We decide to grab some lunch. Walking through town we eventually stop at a place called RS Corner. Each of us order something from the menu to share and feast away. The food is pretty good and we spend the time catching up and sharing stories about how we all ended up here. I don’t say this enough, but being able to catch up with friends from around the world in places around the world is one of the things I love about travelling.

Unfortunately all good things come to an and after lunch, it was time to say good bye. We walk to see our friend off on his ferry back to Phuket.

Monkey Beach

We return to Loh Dalum Beach in hopes of finding a boat to take us around. Normally you can book boats for tours around the entire island. However because of the ferry schedule we only have time to visit one location. So after a little back and fourth negotiation we agree for the boat to take us to Monkey Beach where we can explore a little before returning. The ride and view of the Island itself is spectacular. Everything you could imagine when thinking of a tropical south Asian island is here! The beach is lovely and the surrounding bay is also breathtaking.

Monkeys

However, the one thing I didn’t enjoy much is the namesake of the beach: The monkeys! Don’t get me wrong, I really like wildlife and seeing them go about their business. What I didn’t like is the amount of trash that’s been left, over time on this beach. It saddens me a little when I see these awesome monkeys playing with plastic water bottles or other trash. It really does emphasize the impact humans can have on ecosystems. Seeing a monkey trying to drink from an empty plastic water bottle that washes up on shore is a bit of a downer.

Now I’m not a big environmental advocate, but I do have an appreciation for how we affect the world around us. And being able to travel all over the world gives me glimpses into some of the big impacts we have on the environment. So it is scenes like this that reinforce that we do have an affect.

Scary one leaving Monkey Beach

Monkey Beach doesn’t have a dock, so to get to the beach you need to hop out and wade through the water to the beach. On the return, the current is much stronger and the three of us struggle to get to the boat. Because the waves are bigger, the boat is further out. On top of this we are now fighting against waves to get to it. We’re also trying to grab onto the boat before being crushed by it. Gimpy and I make it onboard after a little struggle, however looking back we see Cactoose having a tough time getting to the boat. At one point a big wave hits us, and the boat lurches forward. From our point of view, it looks like the boat has bounced on top of Cactoose and we thought it had crushed her! Thankfully, we see her head pop up on the side of the boat moments later and after a little more struggle we get her onboard.

McDonald’s

After returning to town. We have a few minutes to kill before our Ferry is to depart. So we pop into a McDonald’s to get some ice cream and use the facilities. We chill in the air conditioned comfort for a while before it is time to board.

Ferrying back to Krabi

Upon getting onto our Ferry, we head directly to the bottom deck to enjoy our discovery from the outbound trip. The ride back to Krabi is pretty uneventful and we spend a little time napping. Closer to Krabi we learn that due to low tide, the ferry can’t get back to the dock we initially departed from. So all the ferry’s passengers are loaded into small motorboats. Then they transport us back to a beach in Krabi. Similar disembarking procedures as our Monkey Island boat followed. So if you decide to do a similar type of trip. Expect to have wet muddy feet at the very least. Nonetheless the motorboat ride does afford a great sunset view of the area. We also have a comfortable accommodation to return to so no complaints there!

Kodam Kitchen

After getting cleaned up and resting some at our hotel, our thoughts turn to dinner. Doing a bit of research we find Kodam Kitchen. It seems highly rated on Trip Advisor and we decide to give it a shot. All of the dishes we order are top notch. From the satay to pad thai to curry all of it is very tasty. The lively outdoor atmosphere of the restaurant adds to the great environment for a memorable dinner. We spend the evening talking about Cactoose almost dying, and all the fun things from the day.

After dinner, we head back to our hotel and start to settle in for bed. We leave tomorrow morning to head to Bangkok where our adventure continues!