Phuket (part 2)

Day 2

Had to wake up at about 7AM to get ready for our trip to the Phi Phi islands. A van came to pick us up at about 8AM to the Chalong Bay. Reached there about 9AM (after fetching a few others). After that each of us were given a sticker, to be divided into groups and separate speedboats. We had to rent the flippers which cost 100baht per pair (which I didn’t use much since I’m not used to it and it just makes my feet hurt). After taking our photos (for insurance) we were guided into one of the speedboats with 3 V6 engines! After that we were off to one of the islands. The way there was quite bumpy since we were going quite fast and the boat is kind off small too. I don’t even remember what was the name of the islands that we went to for some snorkeling for only about 30minutes, which is quite short since the journey there took about 45 minutes. Did remember Maya bay, cos they kept mentioning that’s where Leonardo acted in “The Beach”. There was a strange looking cafeteria (cos it was like in the middle of no where!) about 2 minutes walk from the beach where they sell drinks and stuff. After some swimming and checking out some Japanese and Korean chicks around the beach (yes Adam! You missed it! hahaha) we were off to Phi Phi island for Lunch. The food was not something you would want to pay for, but since we have already paid for the whole package and didn’t want to pay more, we had to make do with what was served. After Lunch, we had a walk around the island, which is quite small. There were pictures showing how the Tsunami literally tear the whole place apart, we were still able to see some of the damage done to the place. There was this banner and some pictures which I’ve been giving some thought to, after the Tsunami hit, there were quite a lot of tourist (mostly Caucasians) who actually volunteered to clean up and rebuilt back the island. I was thinking if I might do the same thing if I was there that time. Maybe… if I don’t have a job, and I have the $$ to survive. Only later we found out that the island was hit really bad since it was hit from 2 sides, as the island is has something like 2 lagoons, therefore there was 2 beaches opposite of each other.

After about an hour spending on the Phi Phi island, we were off to Khai island, which was quite small (I think only the size of half a football field), but the place was one of the nicest islands we’ve went to. The beach is really clean, and you can see fishes swimming around near the beach (especially when you brought bread along!). I went out to snorkel a bit further out from the beach. I noticed that without the flippers & the life jacket it is a lot easier for me to move about and didn’t have any problems feeling too tired although I was quite far off from the beach (Always thought that with the life jacket on, I wouldn’t feel that tired, who knows it will be the other way round.) Was looking and some colourful fishes around the reefs, but was a bit disappointed in the dull looking corals, it was about the same as the corals I saw a few years back in Redang. Might have been because of the Tsunami that destroyed a lot of the corals, or it might have been the work of some “Tapak Sulaiman” or something like black urchins (which are known to devour corals) that I saw while snorkeling around the reefs. (had some pictures, but I haven’t developed the film yet since the underwater camera that I brought is kinda old school)

This was the place that we spent the most time as well, I think about 2-3 Hours. The crew was quite helpful, always providing drinks and fruits to every one of us. After some sunbathing and strolling around the beach, it was time to head back.

Had dinner at this place where they had a whole stretch of seafood restaurants. Quite surprise they have the menu in Chinese. Some other shops even have Japanese and Korean writings on their billboards. The food was not too bad, but taste kinda the same as what we have over here, maybe because Thai food are so common around nowadays. That dinner costs about 500 Baht, for a 600g grouper, 2 calamari/squid (big ones!) and a small plate of vege.

 Damn, it’s been a week and I’m still half way only…