Phi Peed it down

After a tordid day in Phuket experiencing things i sometimes pray i didn't experience we set sail for Phi Phi and a rather heated crossing. The boat we boarded had no indoor area and the sun was blazing from the moment we departed to the moment we arrived on the Island. Only towards the end did we notice a massive coolbox with refreshments although the lack of toilet facilities proved more of a problem for some.

Upon arrival we were swarmed by people requiring us to book accommodation with them, so we had no worries about finding a place to stay but to which person to go with...eenie meeny miney mo! We went with one dude who led us to his shack...i mean working establishment and we FINALLY booked a hostel after an hour's deliberation coupled with a further 15min discussion on whether we should view the place first or not. All i wanted to do personally was get there and rest after having a rubbish night's sleep in a fan room which had less air circulation than a man with mild flatulence!

We arrived at our hostel only to find it at the back of beyond and near enough on a building site with air conned rooms as requested (which worked worse than the fan in Phuket) and our "twin" was a spare soiled mattress thrown into the double room. For everyone's information this was Uphill Cottage or something of the sort and was such a dive. We weren't happy with what we had so decided to go back to our travel agency we booked through and ask for our money back. We got this without a problem and decided to find elsewhere. We met another girl with the same troubles in Uphill and she guided us to Kinnaree which was albut the same price but had a lot more going for it...for one the lack of a building site! Now, i can appreciate the immense levels of work needed since the tsunami which albut devastated the entire island but to not warn us of the works and keeping the prices at their highest is just wrong. Anyway, after checking in and some food and a fair few drinks later we crashed around 3am. This was my first encounter with the infamous bucket style of drinking which were buy one get one free in the first bar so i proceeded to have both myself (which apparently wasn't expected from the expression on the barmaids face), then the free shot which was offered and then we left the Irish Pub to go to another bar which surprise surprise had free drinks! This went on the majority of the night so after starting around 9pm and finishing all the deals by 12.10am with the final deal being a free bucket for all that could cram themselves in between midnight and ten past in a small bar. We headed to a more club like atmospheric venue where we danced a while after having a few light drinks on the beach and retired around 3am.

The next day we explored the areas and my aim was to get my much needed first Thai Massage which i had with great relief and hilarity as Sam joined me and was in hysterics for all barring 10mins of the hour session. The rest of the day and similar for the rest of our time in Phi Phi were spent chilling out, lokoing in the shops and i had a second massage. The girls had a few trips to the nearby beach but the main trip we had was to Island Hop.

The Island hopping was on a longtail boat which was a boat with an engine exposed to the elements with a pipe and a propeller stuck on the end and had a top speed of seemingly 1mph! Nevertheless we had many opportunities to dive in and swim with the fishes, capeesh? We managed to see Baracuda as one of the main, largest sights in the water along with plenty of other fish along the way. We stopped off at not any beach but The Beach from the film of the same name and had lunch there. The setting was beautiful, if only it were diserted like in the film. Unfortunately, with the popularity of the place there are many boats and tourists visiting the scene detracting from it's solitude. Either way, it was a really good day break and got our asses moving.

Well, we extended our stay in Phi Phi just due to teh nature of teh place and friendlines overall but then we had to move on to see what te rest of the country has to offer. To Ao Nang we go seeing as Koh Lanta, another prospect, was albut shut down as is low season.