The Beach

Luck would have it there was a morning ferry during the off season, direct from

KohLanta to Phi Phi(Don) and even included transport down to the pier from our hotel. This saved us the 90 minute mini bus ride back up to Krabi, taking us straight to where the Majestic cliffs rise from the sea. Phi Phi is also where the infamous monkey incident took place 5 months earlier, banishing my Samsung Galaxy deep in to the jungle (or some clever monkey training locals pocket).

Not wanting to endure any further discomfort for our extremely sun burnt backs, we grabbed a longtail boat over to Viking Resort, located 20 mins hike from town with its own private beachfront. The restaurant lets you eat literally on the beach (when its not raining) and they put on a selection of 'sample' dishes each night, or a free buffet as we enjoyed it.

I booked the same room as my last visit, with a faint hope the monkey might return so that I could confront him about the terrible crime committed only months earlier. Simon had another similar bungalow next door, with ocean glimpses through the thinning jungle and a decent hammock, perfect for a Sangsom recovery. A slight mix up of sorts with the room allocations meant that Ben was relegated to a lower standard of bungalow, that happened to be located next to an extended family of roosters who were keen for a chat every early morning / morning / afternoon / evening.

We signed up for the night Plankton Tour which left mid afternoon on our second day for Phi Phi Leh, made famous from the movie 'The Beach'. After checking out a few of the bays and strapping on a mask to say G'day to some of the local marine life, we were dropped at Maya Bay right as a tropical storm thrashed its way across the island. Usually this bay would be lined with longtails and the actual beach sprawled with tourists, however on this occasion we were lucky enough to have the whole place to ourselves!! Albeit so bloody cold that we had to sit in the water to keep warm and face away from the torrential rain if our eyes were to survive the onslaught. Having been previously to the bay, it was surreal to have our tour group being the only ones there to enjoy it.

As it started to get dark we headed back to the boat for a mean feast of chicken curry, fresh fish and Thai fried rice, washed down with Sangsom buckets ( a 300ml bottle of local Thai rum, can of coke and a bottle of redbull syrup). There was a few in the group who had planned to sleep on the boat overnight as staying on the island was no longer permitted, they made the wise decision to bail on this idea given the weather. After it got real dark we all put on masks and jumped over board in to the pitch black. Each movement in the water brought to life the amazing glow plankton that seemed to swirl all around us, definitely something you must experience at least once in your life.

The following night was the full moon party and although its nowhere near as big as the 30k people Koh Phangan gets at its peak, the beach is still filled with party goers dancing around covered in glow paint and drinking more buckets than they are likely to remember the next morning. Slinky is where the main action is alongside Woody bar which also captures some of the overflow. Personally I prefer Phi Phi as the party is more concentrated and only a short walk back to the accommodation, rather than a possible long ride home in the back of a random ute (theres also no cars on Phi Phi).
Simon unfortunately did not have such a pleasurable wake up as mine, when he found himself sun baking on a random beach with no wallet, phone or thongs to be seen again.