Sister Act

After a great night in the luxourious (well, luxourious for me anyway) hotel we took an expensive taxi to our hostel in Phuket town where we found we had been upgraded to a private room which was an extremely pleasant surprise. After settling in we decided to take a walk around the town to see what we could find. Maybe 5 minutes into our walk we were approached by a taxi tour guide and offered a trip around the main sights of the city for 100baht each. Bonnie and I exchanged looks and decided that we would take a chance and agree to the tour. We hopped into the taxi and, after having lunch at a restaurant the taxi dirver recommended, were taken to the Phuket viewpoint

After enjoying the panoramic views and a mint choc chip ice cream we drove to the Big Buddha slightly further down the hill than the viewpoint. Next to the giant golden Buddha statue we met a Buddhist monk who had been living there for 20 years! He asked us to wait and went to get his smartphone to take photos with us! He then showed us his room and gave us each an orange, which was an extremely touching gesture (even if the orange didn't taste that good). He offered us coffee in his tiny room but we had to decline as the taxi driver was waiting for us. How much bad karma do you get from rejecting coffee from a monk?

We found out why the trip had only been 100baht when the driver took us to three seperate shops who I am guessing paid him commission for his services. After buying a couple of souveniers that we had planned on buying anyway and skillfully avoiding having to buy the diamond jewellery for sale at one of the shops, we were taken to see the bay and finally the old town. The old town was very quaint and had a rather Europian feel (even though Thailand was the only country in south east asia not to be colonised by Europeans) with beautiful terraced buildings and shaded archways either side of the narrow street. There were many cafes and trinkets shops for the tourists but also shops like a bicycle repair garage which you can imagine has been there for decades. 

The following day was our trip to Koh Phi Phi and after a couple of hours on the boat we arrived at the busiest port I have been to so far. We bustled our way through the crowds and found an information office where we booked our accomodation for the next three nights. Bonnie had never stayed in a dorm room before so we picked the cheapest dorm room we could find on the main beach so she could experience the "joys" of dormitory living. The hostel ended up being one huge room with 25 beds, most of them bunk beds apart from three single beds which me and Bonnie were allocated. The room had wonderful air conditioning which was heavenly after the heat of the afternoon sun outside. That first day we just walked around the town to get used to it and booked ourselves onto a snorkelling tour around the second, unihabited, national park Phi Phi island. That evening we witnessed what Phi Phi is most famous for among our generation, the nightlife. Every street we walked down was full of bars and blaring music but on the beach we found some amazing fire shows, the best I have seen so far, and sat there watching them for a while before we head down the beach and into bed.

Our second day there was the day we went on a snorkelling trip around the second Phi Phi island.We jumped in a longtail boat that afternoon and where taken to a couple of spots for snorkelling. I saw loads of sealife including clown fish, a baby eel, box fish, pipe fish and angel fish. It was nice to be able to name the stuff I saw using the knowledge I had gained in Koh Tao but I have to admit I would have loved to have been diving again. We then went to see the famous Maya Bay which is where they filmed the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Beach. We got there in low tide and had to walk through a cave before we reached the beach. The great thing about going at low tide is that no boats can get very far into the bay itself so most people come during high tide. I have heard from many people that the beach gets unconfortably crowded at these times. We had very few people on the beach and although the bay may look more impressive with the tide in I was glad it wasn't busy.

After seeing the bay we watched the sunset and briefly swam with some glow in the dark plankton before heading back to the main island. That evening we met with some of the people who had been on the trip with us and spent the evening on the beach, ending up in a Muay Thai boxing arena watching two of the guys we were with fighting to get a free drink (quite a surreal occasion!).

The following day Bonnie wasn't feeling very well so we slept in. When we woke up we met two other English girls who had moved into the bunkbed next to us, Georgie and Jess. We went for food with them and then decided to climb up to the viewpoint to see the sunset and climbed what seemed like endless steps to reached the top, extremely sweaty, and see the sun disappointingly disappear into the low mist that sometimes hangs in the air in Thailand (never mind, at least we got some exercise!). That evening we entertained ourselves with more fireshows and even volunteered to be part of a couple which was terrifying and hilarious in equal measures. 

Koh Lanta, known for being much more chilled out than Koh Phi Phi, was our next destination. We said goodbye to Jess and Georgie and took at boat to the island. Our stay on Koh Lanta was a very relaxing and beautiful one. We didn't do much other than lie on the beach, swim in the sea and eat really nice food. We changed the beach we were staying on a couple of days in in order to see more of the island and I definitely preferred the second beach which had lots of cute little beachside restaurants and bungalows. 

 It stormed a couple if time while we were there but watching the storm gather over the sea was worth the bits of rain and the sunsets were phenomenal.

 The main activity we did on Koh Lanta was the cookery course at a place called Time For Lime. Although considerably more expensive than the one I did in Chiang Mai the course was really enjoyable. We learnt how to make a few dishes including coconut chicken soup (now my favourite Thai dish) and fishcakes. We also got to give food presentation a go and learnt in detail about the different flavours that go into thai cooking.

After our stay on Koh Lanta we moved to our final destination as a pair, Railay Beach which is actually on the mainland of Thailand but due to the giant rock formations that encircle it and give it is reputation and one of the most beautiful places in Thailand and a great rock climbing destination, there are no roads into Railay. Our boat took us past many small islands until we reached the beach, the appearance of which is breath-taking. We asked around and found a cheap bungalow up on the hill. It was very basic and I could see from Bonnies expression that maybe I had grown too comfortable with slightly decrepit accomodation. We moved accommodation after a couple of nights and found a much nicer hostel on the east side of Railay. Our time in Railay was spent enjoying the beach which really was unique. White, smooth sand, clear blue sea and the huge rocks surrounding the bay.

 We sunbathed and then hid in the shade. On one of the days we hired a kayak and paddled to another beach and then around two huge rock islands just off the coast, getting to see lots of caves, stalactites and wildlife. 

We also had a really good meal on the beach one evening after watching the sunset. I have to say getting to spend time with Bonnie and enjoying such a beautiful place made Railay one of the main highlights of my trip in Thailand. 

The day Bonnie and I parted ways was spent on the beach and at our accomodation before I waved goodbye to Bonnie as she went to get her speedboat back Phuket and onto the airport, all by herself! It was hard to say goodbye to her because I knew I probably wouldn't see her again until December and it meant that I would have to get used to travelling alone again. On the other hand though I was excited for the next step in my trip and to get back into travelling and seeing different things (not just beaches). Bonnies visit was exactly what I needed to boost my energy for travelling again and remind me how happy I was that I didn't have to fly back with her, there is so much more to see! 

I caught a seperate boat to Krabi which was a 20 minute journey away and began my loooong journey back to Bangkok.

Well, I am still really behind on this blog but I think I will save what has happened from Bangkok onward for the next post.

Thanks for reading 

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