The view from the main beach on Phi Phi Don
Arriving with a throng of tourists on a ferry from Railay, we were immediately hit by the nearly overwhelming array of options for activities and accommodations greeting us at the Ton Sai Bay pier on Phi Phi Don. Checking out a wall listing places to stay, we settled on 'The White,' a very pleasant yet budget-friendly hotel that occupies a corner in the middle of the tiny, highly concentrated island community. The hotel was aptly named, with a white decor serving as the central theme for our small but very comfortable room. As we prepared for a relaxing trip to the beach, I had no idea how much fun and adventure was lying in store for us in the Phi Phi islands. It's far too much for a single entry, especially given the propensities of a writer as long-winded as myself, but I'll do my best to give a recap of some of the highlights.
Same beach as above, viewed from the kayak at high tide
Phi Phi Don is the largest and only inhabited island of the small phi phi chain. Lying on a narrow sandy isthmus, the Ton Sai Bay Pier monopolizes one side of the isthmus while a beautiful beach lays claim to the other. We found ourselves here for part of the first day, relaxing on the sand and taking in the view. After resting up, we put together a picnic lunch of some baguette sandwiches and chips, rented a kayak, and began paddling out of the above bay to Monkey Beach.
After battling our way to the small beach, we pulled the kayak up onto the incredibly soft, pure white sand. We then set up our beach mat and began enjoying our lunch.
That's when they came.
The noise of movement over the leaf litter of the jungle floor behind us came to my ears and I immediately knew what had happened. Drawn by the smell and noise of our meal, the monkeys descended on us to demand their fair share. What follows is a very interesting experiment in the male and female approach to conflict resolution. Kendra stood peacefully among the monkeys, holding her sandwich without experiencing any harassment, while filming me in a protracted battle with several of the vicious demonic beasts.
A happy portrait taken at the site of 'The Battle at Monkey Beach'
Rage and malice consuming their soulless monkey bodies, the little devils made vicious charges at me, hissing and glaring with monkey lust at the sandwich I was holding. One problem- it was my sandwich, and I was prepared to do as much yelling and ineffectual kicking as was necessary to keep it that way.
With growing boldness, the monkeys charged at me and I settled on the obvious solution of retreating into the shallow surf to kick sand and salt into their monkey faces. The most daring of the several that were attacking me even tried to venture into the water, but a blast of wet sand had them in quick retreat. And so we danced...and I made those monkeys watch me eat my sandwich.
Despite my dramatic description, I was quite surprised at how vicious the monkeys were but never considered myself in any real danger. Only towards the end did I start to get actually angry, and by that time I'd finished my sandwich and they had set off for the greener pasture of the white bread a boat of tourists offered them.
Picnic over, we kayaked back into Phi Phi Don and rested up for an incredibly fun evening of fire shows and various other promotions the elaborate bars all showed off. Our favorite was the Banana Bar, a rooftop bar with neon paint patrons can use to decorate as they please.
For dinner, we had 'the best phad thai in the world,' as recommended by a passing couple who would actually become good friends. Lane and April Perry are ex-residents of Oklahoma come denizens of New Zealand, where they are continuing their work in their graduate studies focused on higher education. We'd see them many times throughout our stay and always greatly enjoyed the wonderful conversations that we had. We're excited to keep in touch and hopefully visit them sometime in the future.
The next day promised a tour of the Phi Phi islands with a discounted price from a local company. After the frustration of a very late start, we set off towards Phi Phi Ley.
Approaching Phi Phi Ley
The first stop was in a beautiful inlet formed by a channel into the center of the island complex. The islands rise straight out of the water, no beach or even inhabitable surface save for the Maya beach area we'd later explore. The inlet itself was beautiful, with the gorgeous limestone cliffs frosted in greenery rising straight up from the water below. We were able to swim about for an hour before heading to a cove on the opposite side of the island.
The cove in the center of the island complex
Our next stop was a cove on the other side of the island. To our surprise, we would depart the boat and make a short but surprisingly difficult journey to the infamous Maya Beach. Jumping off the boat into the rough water of the cove, we swam to a network of ropes directly in front of a less-than-structurally-sound ladder. Battered about by the rough water, we finally were able to make it up the ladder before climbing down the other side and hobbling over sharp rocks as surf from the rushing tide did its best to knock us onto them.
Making our way off the rocks onto the sand, we hiked through a short patch of beautiful jungle, with the steep cliffs above opening up as we approached the beach. The trees gave way to tall fronds and your excitement built as you got closer, until all of a sudden the view pounced on you. Despite its notoriety, Maya Beach easily came in behind Railay West and Phi Phi Don in terms of beauty, but it was quite striking. Soon enough, we found ourselves called back to make the journey to the boat and continue our tour around the Phi Phi islands.
The rest of the day's tour would explore Phi Phi Don, Mosquito Island, and Bamboo Island (easily my favorite for the beautiful view from its understated beach). We would also meet an extremely nice Israeli couple, on extended vacation after their service with the military. Speaking with both, I was very impressed by their perspective and they each sold us on interest in visiting Israel.
Kendra Interjects: Our last stop on the boat tour was Shark Point, where we were "guaranteed" to see Reef Sharks, a fairly large but not "particularly" dangerous shark off the coast. Either way, there were sharks in the water, and they were on record as, at some point in history, having attacked humans before, so I'm still putting them in the "large fish with teeth that I never want to meet" category. But, we both got in anyway. We spotted some long, white fish that looked like distant sharks in the shadows (my fears were causing me to hallucinate and hyperventilate, a bad combination while snorkeling in shark-infested waters), but we saw nothing of the sharks and Derek managed to get himself stung by jellyfish...twice.
After viewing the sunset from the boat, we would have another wonderful night in the crazy fun party that is Phi Phi Don, with some more excellent encounters with Lane and April, and time spent with Bailey and a friend of hers she met on a trip to South America and coincidentally ran into here (small world indeed).
A morning ferry would take us away from Phi Phi and begin our trip back to what would be a very busy next week at the Center, but the memories we have of the tropical beauty of Railay and Phi Phi will be hard to wash away.
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