After finishing my TESOL course in Phuket, I was informed that I had 18 days before I needed to move into my apartment and start work. Knowing that I was about to start a full time job and this would be my last break for longer than 2-3 days, I wanted take advantage of the opportunity to further explore Thailand.
Despite Phuket's postcard picture beauty, after three weeks there, it started to feel like nothing but a big, expensive tourist trap. From my experience, Phuket was nice, but I don't think it accurately portrays the true culture of Thailand. I especially find this unfortunate because thousands of tourists every year visit Thailand and only stop in Phuket; even worse, they usually only stop in Patong, Phuket (infamous for its outrageous and bizarre nightlife). Anyway, I decided there was no reason to stick around Phuket and left the morning after my course ended.
First stop: Ko Phi Phi Island
Ko Phi Phi is actually made up of two main islands: Ko Phi Phi Don (where everyone stays) and Ko Phi Phi Leh, which is uninhabited because it is a national park (the only way you can sleep on Ko Phi Phi Leh is if you camp). Ko Phi Phi Leh is also famous because of Maya Bay, where the movie The Beach (2000) staring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. Interestingly, many people say that the beauty of Maya Bay was actually improved after the 2004 tsunami that devastated Ko Phi Phi. If you literally type "Thailand" into Google image search, I guarantee a picture of Maya Bay will be one of the first pictures to come up. It looks so serene and perfect. So this is what I was expecting Maya Bay to look like...
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| Source: http://www.123rf.com/photo_7669743_long-tails-boat-at-maya-bay-phi-phi-island--phuket-thailand.html |
Clearly, from the rocks in the background, you can tell it's the same place. Don't get me wrong it's still beautiful, but just not the vibe I was expecting/hoping for. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed with Maya Bay. Darn tourists.
However, after a long hike (did I mention there's no motorized transportation on this island?) to the other side of Ko Phi Phi Don, I discovered Long Beach. Finally, the beautiful secluded beach with long tail boats I've been searching for!
Ironically, on this same tiny island as the above picture, you can find nightly fire shows where you can watch professionals do some pretty neat fire tricks. But then...they open it up for anyone to try out. There's fire jump rope (both single and double dutch), fire limbo, and even jumping through fire rings. Crazy! Don't worry, you all know I'm terribly afraid of fire so I didn't go anywhere near that.
My week on Ko Phi Phi was great. I made some cool friends and somehow even managed to randomly get a sweet job working for a bar handing out flyers one night. But then, as you probably already read... food poisoning struck. I don't really want to talk about that anymore, so let's just fast forward through that part and hit some of the highlights from the week:
Loh Samah Bay
Bamboo Island
Hike to Ko Phi Phi View Point
Oh shoot, how did that picture get on here...?
And there's still another week of this. Stay tuned for part 2.
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