I am so glad that I went to Phi Phi Island twice before the Tsunami hit in 2004. Phi Phi Island has changed so much. The main island -Phi Phi Don, has turned into a mini Phuket. Souvenir shops, restaurants, internet cafes and diving shops motorbikes are all around this beautiful island. You have to be alert from time to time that a motorbike or bicycles will "honk" at you when they are behind you - give ways! Once we got down from the ferry, there is this huge 4 stars resort hotel with big swimming pool by the beach.  We used to stay at the Phi Phi Princess Hotel, it was a nice mid-range resort but unfortunately it was swept away by the tsunami…

We stayed at Phi Phi Paradise Resort which is located at Long Beach, it took about 10minutes long tail boat (the local called them taxi) from Phi Phi Don. Long Beach is so much more quite comparing to Phi Phi Don. There are a few resorts along the coast and one nice restaurant. The restaurant by our resort is ok but we preferred the other one that belongs to another bigger resort. All of the restaurants have nice sea view and you can hear the wave while having your meal. Our resort offer free continental breakfast but we prefer to go to the bigger one who offers more variety food!

The bungalow where we stayed is not a beachfront but is located on the 2^nd row from beach front. We still have

a pretty good view of the beach, not a bad location at all. The room is clean although they only gave us 2 towels and that’s it! No face towels, small towers etc. Amenity is limited and the bathroom is small. Only shower with low water pressure and very close to the toilet…

When I saw they have a mosquito net above the bed, I was like: this is romantic! For all you know we did have to use it because there were so many mosquitoes! We were scare to death about the mosquitoes and be in the “tent” all night!

After we have checked in on the first night, we decided to cancel the rest of the 2 nights and wanted to go back to Phuket! We tried to call the hotel in Phuket but our international cell phones won’t work (there were no land phone and TV in the room) we then went to the reception wanted to make calls. The receptionist gave us his cell phone, of course, it won’t work and he suggested us to walk to that bigger resort and use their land phone!

The other thing I think the resort can improve on, is to have a little water tap or place to wash our feet before we enter the room. We had to use our dirty clothes (there were no mat inside or in front of the room) to wipe off the sand we brought from the beach. We still brought some sand back to the room. Our room was so sandy and also there were sand on the bed…very unpleasant

The other big change about this Island is the sea. Before the Tsunami, water is clear, you could see your feet while you were standing up and saw a lot of fish swimming around you, you can almost touch them…However when we went back to the island this time…

Sigh…water is still clear but you can’t swim in it because is so rocky, we couldn’t avoid stepping on these rocks and hurt ourselves! We were there for 5 minutes and gave up!

Conclusion is: Phi Phi Island is not the same quiet and peaceful island anymore. We don’t think we will ever go back - So long Phi Phi !

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On our last morning in Phi Phi Island, we decided to relive the best parts of Phi Phi (minus the beer and hangovers).  In the morning we splurged with a $15 coconut oil massage at our good friend, Anita´s Salon.  I don´t think I can give due credit to exactly how much oil was dripping off me.  There was also at one point a ¨boob rub,¨for which I wondered if I had to pay extra.  In any case, by the end, I was not dry in any area except my eyeballs (although even they had some oil) and slightly more relaxed.  The masseuse assured me that the layer of oil doubled sun protection.  I´m pretty sure the dermatologists of America would not recommend coconut oil as a suitable substitute for any sunscreen over SPF 2.

I wiped off the excess oil from my face and we headed to a farewell lunch at Pearl´s.  Claire got her Massaman curry, and I got to eat something equally delicious (and probably just as spicy).  We headed back to our hotel for a dip in gorgeous infinity pool that we hadn´t had time to enjoy.  Like a travel video, there were a few blond and bronzed Swedes at the poolside and the sparkling bay in front of us.  Both, great views.  If the pool was slightly greener, there truly would have been an infinity effect...what an oversight but we´ll live! :)

We grabbed fruit shakes on our way back to the port where the awesome porter was already waiting with our bags.  Then we sadly left Phi Phi Island, minus our livers, but with such great memories.

On the way to Bangkok back through Phuket, we caught a thrilling ride on local motos to visit the On On Hotel, to complete my The Beach odyssey.  (It´s where Leo DiCaprio stays the first few nights.) By the way, I have read the book as well but it´s not as sensational.  We finished the day off with some "almost classic" from Starz Movie.

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I think I had 4 goals for the rager the night before:
1)  Don´t lose my camera and money
2)  Find our way back home
3)  Can´t tell you #3
4)  Wake up at 7am the next day to beat the huge tourist crowds to Maya Bay (where The Beach was filmed) on our very own longtail boat

I´m happy to say that we completed all 4 goals, but I forgot to put in a stipulation for not being incredibly hung over.  I guess like most things Newtonian, Chang´s supernatural alcoholic punch comes with an opposite but equally powerful hangover.  Suffice to say, we beat the ridiculous crowds of pale Asian and loud European tourists by about 30 minutes but had to spend about 25 (glorious) minutes of those napping...it was worth it.

It was a great set-up.  We rented the longtail boat for supposedly 6 hours and it came with our awesome driver, who was wearing a pimp purple velvet hat.  Not surprisingly, I took to calling him Jamiroquai since he could speak oh, about zero English, and us, not enough Thai to save our lives.  He also curiously wore long pants and long sleeves even though he always had to jump in the water. 

Anyways, after a fruitless effort to tell him we didn´t want to snorkel in one of the gorgeous spots (Me: ¨Vroom! Vroom!  We go to other beach!¨which was met by affable but uncomprehending smiles), we decided that we would stay in a place until we were bored with it and then get back in the boat and let him take us wherever he had in mind, which turned out great!  We first went to Maya Beach on Koh Phi Phi Ley where I got to live out my Beach dreams amidst thousands of annoying tourists and a rather incalcitrant hangover. 

We then went to an absolutely precious snorkeling spot on the other side of Maya Bay.  After not wanting to snorkel at the third spot (the rocking of the waters was encouraging some sort of gag reflex), we headed to the north side of Koh Phi Phi to Monkey Beach, aptly named for its ravenous simian population.  Claire and I took a much needed nap there.  Then we headed off into the open ocean and soon assumed we were for some reason headed back to Phuket.  We didn´t worry too much because even if we didn´t want to go back to Phuket, we couldn´t really communicate so decided to go along for the ride.  We ended up at this nearby island, Bamboo Island, where the cutest little girl was living.

After a good amount of time, we called Jamiroquai over, hopped back into the boat, well over the time we were supposed to have the boat.  On our way back, Jamiroquai stopped in what seemed like the middle of a large bay for our last snorkeling spot.  It was a great way to cap off the day and 2 days of Thai enjoyment.  We headed back to our place and grabbed some (a lot of) food, then headed back for our much needed nap.  We ended up waking up at 8 pm to rain and decided to stay in and watch another bad movie on Starz!  An absolutely wonderful day (after 10AM when the hangover nausea had subsided a bit)!

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Because I hadn´t had a proper (drunken and debaucherous) celebration in Singapore, Claire and I decided to re-celebrate my birthday in a bachannalian fashion suitable for such a momentous occasion.  I have to say, that it was one of the greatest birthday celebrations to date...close to my 21st, but with worse alcohol and more clothes.  It was indeed a big night out, but I can only retell some of the shenanigans, as I don´t want my mom reading about the details, but contact me if you want the details!

We spent the afternoon after I returned from diving watching XXX on Star Movies (the original, can you believe they actually made a sequel?).  What horrible acting and bad one-liners!  After a few beers, I challenged Claire to talk like the Russian double agent/mob whore in the movie, Yelena.  At first, she was timid and reluctant, but she fully embraced the role. 

After the movie, we hit our awesome balcony for some high(er)-class Singha Beer, which we later realized was way too weak after getting absolutely trashed at dinner with one small Chang Beer.  We had a grand time on that balcony of ours laughing over our travels and life and checking out the jail bait group of British boys that seemed to be walking back and forth in front of their rooms...weird.  After a too spicy dinner (I requested ¨mild¨), we returned to our room to get ready to go out (aka put on less clothes) and dance around the room. 

We then went to buy another huge bottle of Chang Beer at our local 7-11 and took it to Anita´s Salon for a cheap and awesome hour massage.  We then wandered down a small alley and found a cool cover band with an awesome guitarist.  I swear he was really talented, and the only talented one in the band.  I think they think we are their new number-one fans.  During that time, we went to pee in another bar, went on another 7-11 beer run (including a Chang-inspired dance-off), and ran into my German divemaster. 

The rest of the night passed stupendously, peeing in less convenional places.  My memories are simultaneously hazy and unforgettable.  The night ended with us buying Thai pancakes, me begging Claire to let me hold it, Claire telling me I was going to drop it but letting me do it because it was my birthday, and 30 seconds later, dropping it on the ground.  I told her not to worry, picked up the pieces of pancake and threw them back on the plate.  I soon realized that the black specks were in fact not pepper, and we had to buy another Thai pancake, which make great late-night snacks.  We arrived at home around 4:15 with plans to wake up at 7 for our trip around the islands on our own longtail boat.  What a great way to ring in my 26th!

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After the crazy and uncertain journey to Thailand, I was happy to get to Phuket Town and get on the 8:30am ferry with hundreds of sunburnt and soon-to-be sunburnt tourists to Koh Phi Phi (Phi Phi Island).  I was ready to celebrate but didn't want to break out the champagne until we arrived at our hotel, Phi Phi Viewpoint Hotel on the east side of Ao Lo Dalam bay.

After a 2.5 hour boat ride with extremely white tourists, I didn´t know what to expect when we arrived at the tiny port.  It was literally tiny AND under construction.  A tiny porter (literally tiny) from the hotel pushed our baggage on a hand cart at a lightning pace to the hotel.  We passed through ¨Tourist Village,¨a maze of tiny shops selling fruit shakes, Thai pancakes, snorkel masks, massages of all types, dives, and souvenirs of all types.  

We were very happy to finally arrive at the hotel, where they upgraded us to a junior suite for free.  Although the infinity pool was (not surprisingly) tiny and much smaller than I expected (like most things Thai), our room view overlooking the bay was impressive.  The difference in tides is amazing...leaving longtail boats stranded on the sand and reminding me of the enjoyable (and politically incorrect) children´s story, 5 Chinese Brothers (i.e. the brother who can swallow the sea). 

After dropping our stuff in our room, we decided to take a walk through Tourist Village to choose a scuba diving center out of the many and grab some grub.  We fell in love with the cheap fruit shake stands and developed a loyalty to the one near our hotel.  It was papaya shakes for me all the way!  The signs in pidgin English were hilarious.  I unfortunately did not try the ¨Fece¨(singular) massage, although I´m sure it would have been cathartic!

Based on a recommendation from a diving company, we decided to go to a little hole in the wall (although the majority of restaurants were holes in the wall) called Pearl.  There, we bonded with Malay, the waitress, who enjoyed caressing my elbow (it´s as weird as it sounds) and got a kick out of the face we were both from Asian origins: ¨Same, same¨pointing at me and her.  She commenced to interrogate me about my family, in a loving manner, ¨Your brother?  Where?¨...¨Boston? You are very separate.¨ Very insightful.  The food was amazing and amazingly cheap...each dish was $2-3.  Claire and I left with motherly ass slaps. 

I decided to go on a night dive, which was a bit disappointing, although we saw a bunch of lionfish, and then Claire met up with me to grab dinner.  At dinner, we were introduced to the alcoholic wonders of Chang Beer, which is guaranteed to make you drunk quickly.  It would play a big role in the re-celebration of my birthday the next night.  My friend in Bangkok was suprised to hear we enjoyed Chang beer so much and described it as ¨the construction man beer,¨which explained so much!  Good times!

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We were booked for a trip to Phi-phi island for a day.  So, we woke up at 6.30am, to be able to have breakfast before heading off to Phuket warf.  As soon as we finished breakfast, we both ran off to see the beach on the opposite side of the road.  The clouds are building from a distance, Camilo look at it with sarcasm on his face.  The waves were huge and hardly no one on the beach except for people who are jogging and some dogs running around.

We were picked up by a mini van and drive to Phuket bay was really long and boring, Camilo and I were counting the minutes till we arrived.  There were 7 other tourists with us in the van, and everyone is trying to break the ice by talking to each other.  Beginning of the trip the driver put on Bob Marley, Camilo and I was enjoying it but after 1 hour we started hating Bob Marley. When we arrived at the pier we wanted to go somewhere to detox ourselves from the music.  As we head to the ticket area, much to our surprise, there were thousands of tourists/people going to the same place where we were going.  Camilo and I looked at each other, we had a different expectation.  We thought it would be a smaller boat with less number of people and we can have a bit of privacy.  Hmmm, the boat we were in had a capacity of 450 persons.  The pier was dirty, you could hardly see life in the water.  And coming from the Maldives, our disappointment was over the top!  The sun was hiding most of the time, the AC was freezing where we were.  half way through PhiPhi Don island the rain started pouring and I felt really freezing.  Camilo was trying to sleep but he was also freezing.  There were 5 guys sitting in front of us.  They were so noisy, as if they were arguing all the time they talk to each other. The whole boat ride was boring and the music was only Bob Marley! (but of course!).  Half an hour later, Camilo and I can already tell whats gonna be the next song, we were somehow looking at how we keep our spirits up.  Although, we have already passed through the stage where we believe Phiphi is not comparable to the Maldives.

At last we arrived at Phiphi Don Island, apparently we were not supposed to get off, the boat was only unloading the passengers who will be staying for the night in the island.  There were many people at the pier and around the area.  Tourists and locals combined.  The place looks very commercialized and a lot of rubbish everywhere.  Something we didnt really expect. After 15 mins, the boat left to continue with our island hopping or whats more appropriate was island sight seeing. There were 7 other islands within however, the tour was only for 2 islands.  The weather was not at all pleasant, the rain was on and off and pours heavily from time to time.  We stopped by near an island where the captain announced that the movie "The Beach" was shoot there.  Camilo and I cannot believe it! But of course the movie will always look different anyway, and plus that was before the 2004 tsunami, so it probably was beautiful then.  And looking at the island with hundreds of people, I think it added to our disappointment.  As we saw hundreds and hundreds of people on boats similar to ours we started thinking that the tour agent in Bangkok was fooling us on this trip.  Camilo was already telling me with sarcasm that it could have been better to trip within the Maldives..hmmmm. The whole morning was only about island sight seeing, no comfortable place to sit and no privacy, if you get off your seats someone will take it...hahahah..crazy!

Around lunch time, the boat anchored nearer Phiphi island.  This time we had a choice of going snorkeling or going to the island via speedboat and have lunch in the island.  The sea and the weather wasnt promising so it was an easy choice for us.  When we got into the speedboat the rain begun again for the millionth times! So, as soon as the speedboat reached the jetty, we hurried our way to find a roof.  We managed to get a place amidst the crowd in a very congested restaurant.  The food was not that great but it was the only choice we had, so it felt like luxury!  I guess, coming from all the luxury life in the Maldives, we expected simple things in a different level.  Camilo and I ate lunch quickly and went around the island.  We found a bamboo swing facing the beach.  It was the best place we could find in the island, so we had time for ourselves and relaxed a bit just enjoying the view in front of us.  There were people passing by and children playing on the beach.  I was looking at the horizon trying to fit the whole view into a postcard in my mind... It's a beautiful place afterall, provided the place has less people. We stayed at the swing the whole time afraid that if we get off anyone will take our place.  The rain stopped and for the first time since the morning, we could feel the warmth of the sun.  The breeze brought some chills from time to time along with waves from a distance.  And for the first time we were able to appreciate the island.

Time went quickly and it was time to head back to the boat, at least we had that moment were we both felt good.  The boat made a quick stop in PhiPhi Don Island and we were allowed to get off to roam around but had to be back in 30 mins.  Since the sun was up, we thought of going around.  There were lots of shops around, so we made our way bargaining.  I bought a couple of blouses and Camilo picked up some T-shirts for souvenier.  Then we went to the otherside of the island not far away from the shops, there was a lady who was selling doughnuts that amuses Camilo so much.  She was going around and basically singing what she was selling.  She was so natural singing "doughnuts" all over the place.  Even if we didnt want to eat doughnuts we ended up buying some just to make her sing while Camilo take a video of her singing!!!! that was really cool.

When we head back the sun was shining to it's fullest! So, we decided to sit on the upper deck to enjoy the warmth and the view.  We did wished the weather was like that the whole day, the trip would have been great, somehow we felt betrayed by nature. 

When we arrived at the resort, we didnt know what to do, after a long day and half of it disappointment - the SPA came to mind first before even heading back to our room.  The spa was small but the presentation was not bad, they even have sauna and steam bath.  The spa menu was vast and looks good - at least how the menu was written was well thought of.  I decided to have a papaya honey wrap and Camilo decided for Thai massage, I also booked for the manicure and pedicure.  Half way thru my treatment I didnt understand how they did my massage and why it was done the way they did.  Having to do audits in our spa at the resort in the Maldives I can tell the difference between bad and worst.  15 minutes before my treatment was done, Camilo popped in to the room and told me he didnt like his treatment at all.  Something that I already expected from the way they did my treatment.  While waiting Camilo had already cancelled my manicure pedicure appointment. I thought that was a good idea.  So, when I got out, we headed to our room.  We didnt talk much on the way, it was as if we consumed all energy during the day.  As soon as we entered the room, as if it was scripted we burst out laughing, throw ourselves to bed and continued laughing! Apparently we both laugh at the thought of how this holiday went so differently from how we wanted it to be! 

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Paradise. We stayed at the Phi Phi Island Village Beach resort and spa. Going in May is a great time as it is technically the low season. The rooms are half price, there are half the crowds but the sun is still shining. The monsoon had not yet arrived when we were there.

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Phi-Phi Island is a 1.5hr boat trip away from Phuket. Arayaburi Resort, on Phi-Phi Island, is right next to the Bay View Resort (so close they even share the same recepton area and restaurant!) The rooms are bungalow type-things and ours were two which were adjoined. The views from the rooms were amazing as they were high on the hill tops, over-looking the ocean. The water was so clear and the sand really white, it was paradise! However, you had to walk through the Bay View Resort to get to the rooms and it was very far. (Thank goodness the staff carried all of our heavy bags) It was about a 15minute walk from all the resturants and shops and it was too far to walk back and forth all day. (you could also catch a long-boat but we never did so I dont no how much they cost) The resort also had a pool, but we never used it as the beach was so close and very nice. The resort also had its own private beach which was scattered in beach chairs and it wasnt very busy at all which was good. The rooms themselves were very clean and comfortable. They had amazing views with large windows overlooking the palm trees and beach. The bathrooms were also very nice as the showers were huge and everything was very clean. The balcony's were a decent size and had regular sitting chairs as well as deck chairs with mats to lay on. The Tvs had cable and movies running regually which was good for night time. The breakfast also had a variety of food which tasted great. (Omlettes, bacon, fresh fruit, pancakes, juice, noodles, toast etc) I would definitely stay here again!

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