Here we go!: Ko Phi Phi

With sore legs, very full bellies and weighing about 5 extra pounds each, we were off to start a nearly 24 hour trek from Italy to Thailand the next day. We flew from Rome through Cairo, Egypt in route to Bangkok for a flight to Krabi where we would finally land on West Rai Leh Beach. What was interesting about this trek for us, before we became completely delirious and disoriented after flying for so long, was that the only place in 2 weeks we were able to get free wifi was at the McDonalds in the Cairo airport! Apparently, Egyptians are ahead of the times!? We woofed down our value menu meals and checked about 2 weeks worth emails in 10 minutes.

We took an hour and half flight to Krabi which would be our gateway to West Rei Leh Beach. The discount airlines in Asia are awesome and so cheap! They took off right on time and before the door to the plane was even closed. Our ultimate destination was Ko Phi Phi island but because we landed in the afternoon in Krabi we knew we’d miss the last boat to Ko Phi Phi. So, we stayed on West Rei Leh Beach for the first night. After an hour bus ride from Krabi to Ao Nang beach, we took our first ride in a long tail boat to West Rei Leh! We had no idea what day or time it was and were beyond exhausted but so excited to finally be on a beach in Thailand!

Known for rock climbing West Rei Leh has the postcard perfect beaches surrounded by huge limestone cliffs jutting out of the water. Our hotel was tucked away in the jungle a little off the beach with mountains all around us. We watched the sun set behind the limestone cliffs and had our first taste of Thai food at a beach restaurant. It was such an effort to get here but I can see why people make the trek to get to such a unique and gorgeous beach.

We were off to Ko Phi Phi on a big boat for an an hour and a half. Pronounced Ko Pee Pee, the island was made popular and famous from the movie “The Beach”. With picture perfect beaches and pretty remote location I’m sure at one time it was a remote little gem. It is now pretty much a ton of young people partying on the beach every night and the island is covered with small resorts. This is also the island that was directly hit by the tsunami in 2004. The entire island has been rebuilt since then.

One afternoon we finally decided to give the famous Thai massages a shot. With NO happy endings...ha! What an experience. It was like a chiropractic adjustment for a full hour with tiny Thai ladies walking all over various parts of our bodies. There was also some random pounding all over us and then, the most unexpected- flicking on our ears?!

Getting ready for the beach party:

We had read there was decent diving off the island and signed up for a morning dive the second day. The first afternoon we hiked to Long Beach which was about 30 minutes through the jungle. It was a gorgeous white sand beach with not one person there when we arrived. This time of year is low season on the island and our dive master was telling us December is completely packed with people.

We went to two dive sites in the morning. The water was so warm I didn’t get cold once and the first dive was almost 50 minutes. The visibility wasn’t the greatest but we did see tons of fish and the reefs were very colorful. Apparently, some of the reef has been ruined by anchor drag and the increasing number of boats in the area but we still saw a ton of fish life. We saw a scorpion fish, (deadly if you touch them) hidden on a piece of rock which was cool. Lots of Nemos (clown fish), eels, lots of soft coral we haven’t seen before, starfish, and parrot fish. Overall, a fun day diving! Our dive master had lived on the island for a couple years and invited us out for drinks at a remote bar perched up high overlooking the bay for sunset. We had awesome mojitos with fresh kiwi that I will try and recreate at home sometime!

The island is known for its nightlife and moon parties on the beach. Any phase of the moon is used for an excuse for a full on rave on the beach with guys swinging balls of fire all over the place and djs playing all night. We apparently had just missed the half moon party but lucky for us there was another party going on that night. We decided to join in the fun...after all, I only had a few days left in my 20's!