Koh Phi Phi



Long Tail to Phi Phi Lay



Kho Phi Phi - a tropical island with beautiful blue water, and stark cliff sides. It was one of the worst hit in the Tsunami disaster, but yet, it still manages to thrive as a tourist destination. The town has slowly started to rebuild itself, but because of the geography, one can begin to realize the immense amount of damage that once happened. The town lies in the smallest part of the island, with two fantastic beaches within 7 minutes walking distance to each other.

Kho Phi Phi town is quaint, with no motor traffic at all. The walking village is free from that nose stinging car pollution Thailand and South East Asia has become so famous for. Cobble stone streets weave through the tin roof shops, rebuilt guest houses, dive shops and countless restaurants and food stalls. White tourists are more plentiful here than locals, which makes for incredibly fun and interesting night life. Numerous bars line the streets, but everyone heads to the beach between the hours of 10pm-5am. Apache bar, and Slinky compete with flashy neon signs, glow in the dark body paint, thumping beats and plywood, beachfront dance floors. Other beachfront properties offer everything but the neon. Hippy bar has the best fire dancers in town, and puts on quite a show. After the show, one is able to relax on the beach on the provided mats with a bucket in hand, or join everyone on the dance floor. The big thing here is buckets. Bars offer highballs in the size and shape of a small bucket. They contain a full can of soda, and a half mickey of booze. Because competition is so stiff, one cannot walk through town after 7pm without getting handed flyer after flyer, advertising 3 for 1 buckets here, or free bucket between 11:00 and 11:10 there. Believe me, all you need is one. And the best part about it? You can take it on the road with you, and enjoy any and every bar with a single bucket for the evening.



Hippy Bar + Beach

Ok, so aside from the nightlife Kho Phi Phi also hosts a few other fun activities. Snorkelling and diving are the biggest hit here, other than alcohol fuelled debauchery, followed closely by rock climbing. Climbers come for the immense limestone cliffs, while others come because it’s the jetting off point for famous Phi Phi Lay, and other notorious dive spots . Phi Phi Lay is a smaller, uninhabited island that has a few major attractions. First, it’s the host of Maya Beach – the beach that was filmed in “The Beach”. It also has the “Viking Cave” where swifts can be found, and their nests can be harvested (as scene in Planet Earth). There are a few different inlets that contain truly turquoise water, live coral and lots tropical fish. Jeff, myself and two English guys shared a longtail boat (1200baht) that took us to 3 separate snorkelling spots, Maya beach, plus a quick stop at Monkey Beach, where you guessed it, you can feed greedy monkeys.

Kho Phi Phi’s style is still that of the backpacker. There’s never a dull moment, and things are still relatively cheap (exept for breakfast). If you like laying on the beach, snorkelling or diving, climbing, or partying, you will enjoy this island.

A Night in Patong, Followed by Ferry to Kho Phi Phi



Too early to sail after a night at Patong Beach




Coming into Ko Phi Phi's Harbor



I made it to Kho Phi Phi today after a wild night in Patong, Phuket. Similar to Bangkok, Patong has a rowdy party scene, that is interesting for the night, but incredibly seedy knowing it happens every night. Thai culture celebrates their gays, and cross dressing men, by completely assimilating them with women. No one can tell who’s who, and it makes for an interesting night. Thumping clubs, crawling streets, strippers, prostitutes, foreigners, and ‘ping pong’ handouts are plentiful. (You’ll have to research that one yourself). Inside some of the more prestigious clubs, one isn’t exposed the over stimulus of these things, but rather just bumping tunes and a mix of Thai and Farangs swaying to the beat. Outside the doors, neon signs, small sois packed with small bars, lady boys, and beer drinking Aussies are the norm.

The ferry from Phuket to Ko Phi Phi is pleasant. Once onboard, you are offered free coffee or tea, and a croissant. The journey takes about 2 hours, although I’m sure a new boat design would drastically cut that by almost half. Limestone jetts out of the blue ocean from time to time, making the crossing more interesting.



I was so tuckered today, I took a short nap on the beach. Even with overcast skies, and a decent base, I managed to tan myself into a combo of a short shorts tan, a t-shirt tan, and a minor face and chest burn. Doh!. Well, off to do some more window shopping…

Foreign Comforts. Patong Beach, Phuket.

Crowded Karon Beach, Phuket

Backlogged - Phuket

Good bye Chiang Mai, hello rain.



Water Pours off of the OnOn roof

I took an AirAsia flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket with the intention of not only beach bumming, but meeting a friend. Although we met up, we were also met with rain, and lots of it. I just missed the monsoon, but it’s been grey and on-and-off dizzily since I’ve gotten here. (Update: The monsoon comes and goes. Right now it’s lightening, rain, and wind.) On the first night, we stayed at the infamous OnOn Hotel, where Leonardo Dicaprio had the opportunity to watch Daffy kill himself in The Beach. Although the scene was supposed to be in Bangkok, at a grungy hostel, it was actually filmed right here in Phuket Town. The next day, we had the pleasure of meeting an American turned local, as of 21 years ago.

Darryl took us to the Giant Buddah on top a large hill just outside Phuket. It truly was huge. When we finally reached the top of the hill via the water torn road, we were surrounded by misty cloud cover. As it moved over the mountain, patches of clear view were to be seen. One could witness both sides of Phuket Island from one summit. Monks, worshippers, and tourists alike crowded around the giant, marble monument. The climb is quiet, aside from the cliché and completely hypnotizing gong ringing from the top. I’m a sucker for cliché however, and climbing towards a 49M, marble Buddha, perched on top of a hill, atop a large mountain really was awe inspiring,



After that, we found our new place for the evening at Daryll’s home at Friendship Beach. Him and his girlfriend live in a new place, and have many friends. We were invited to a party at Red’s house, a friend of Darryl’s, where we were happy to celebrate Reds’ sons’ first birthday. A combination of food, drinks, laughter, fireworks, and hot air lanterns made for an exciting night. We sat directly on the beach, watching lightening pass to the South. We watched the clouds roll in, and the rain started again heavily, although briefly. Good start, South Thailand.

Tiger Parts

All images copywrited, as always.

Jungle Fever.... (or is that just sweat?)

  
 Thailand is an interesting place. It’s full of amazing culture, and people. I find it is easier traveling as a woman here than in Central America to be honest. As long as you respect cultural boundaries, they have so far proven to respect that of the farang (foreigner) as well. No longer does one have to put up with the Latin Hiss, or incessant cat calling of other countries I’ve been to. Not only having, but maintaining cultural and religious boundaries has made for a pleasant experience with the local people so far.



50 m waterfall



The Trek



As with any other third world country, one is exposed to car pollution. Air care doesn’t exist, and your nose starts to sting. With that in mind, I wanted to venture a little into this nearly pristine jungle I kept hearing about. Chiang Mai has tour companies on every street, or people trying to sell tours to tourists at least. Deciding what to do is fairly difficult, since everyone is just trying to make a buck. Lucky for me, our host at Libre guest house is simply amazing. She was very helpful in seeking out what I wanted; a rugged trek with little to no tourists. They had a house tour that happens to fall into the category.

 There were a total of seven of us. We all jumped into the songthaw which in literal translation means “two benches”. It’s a pickup truck with a tarp canopy on it, with two benches running down each side. As we drove out of the city, we drove up past rice fields, hot springs, and waterfalls. All of which we got to stop in at. The tour continued on to what we would call ‘base camp’; a final hot spring where we packed our backpacks and sent out on our 12km hike into the jungle.

Really hot springs

As we hiked up towards the mountain top, to an ultimately fantastic vista, we came across leeches living in the mud (and on my leg), numerous butterflies, and dancing termites. We had a few opportunities for breaks since the trail led us up three large mountains, and then back down. Our longer breaks were taken at hillside villages with no access other than the one-lane trail we hiked there on. By dusk, we finally made it to our last destination; a small 12-20 person village with the most basic of accommodation, and deliciously cooked outdoor meals.

The villagers spoke their own dialect, but since our tour guide was originally from the hills, we had few issues trying to communicate. Our long house was made strictly out of bamboo, with small mats on the floor, and mosquito nets hung above each abode. The floor was covered in unsturdy palm leaves, and bamboo studs. When the thick air of the hot day cools, moisture condenses, making bedding and anything else susceptible to damp. Paranoid about bugs, I checked my bedding at least 9 times, and I slept with my hood tied tightly against my head, even though my mosquito net covered my resting area well. I awoke several times throughout the night convinced the large spider I saw outside, had made its way inside only to be crawling somewhere near me. In actuality, I was quite alright, and the cat by my feet most likely had everything under control.

We got up early for basic breakfast to be followed by bamboo raft practice, and elephant feeding. The elephants at this particular camp are allowed to roam free, and come when called like dogs. They are well fed, and very well kept. From around the corner, three large elephants came walking towards us, already dressed with saddles. We fed them bananas before we set off on our 1 hour elephant ride down the river. They eventually dropped us off on the river bend, where we continued onwards via bamboo raft. Some parts were lazy, and we filled the gorge with pirate songs, or old blues songs… others were terrifyingly fast and full of rapids.

The gorge at these times was filled with screams of “Right Side!” “Left Side”. A navigation technic of using bamboo poles against the bottom of the river is used, and isn’t so easy during times of intense rapids. All in all, a couple small injuries were sustained, but everyone came out alright. I enjoyed my rugged adventure, and will be looking for more rainforest to explore…



So Far... So Good...

Bangkok - View from HI Hostel

My first few days in Thailand have been action packed. I landed, took a cab into Sukhamvit, Bangkok to the HI Hostel. In the morning, while I waited for the banks to open, I met some lovely ladies from Victoria. We’ve been travelling together ever since. I convinced them to take the 11 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai with me. We got into Chang Mai at close to 3am. We wandered around a little before coming to the conclusion we were going to have to sleep on our backpacks for the remainder of the night. Right as we were scouting out a good spot in one of the quaint Sois, someone from one of the guest houses spotted us. We scored a room with three bedrooms, actual hot water, and a fan for 300 baht (that’s $10 a night).

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city. It’s an ancient one, with Wats, guest houses, restaurants and legit massage parlours scattered throughout the Old City. It’s split into two parts; Old City, and New City. The Old city is a quaint town with cobble stone streets winding throughout a perfect square, cut off by an ancient moat. Outside the moat is New City, where you can find malls, and even crazier traffic. I thought riding in a tuk tuk was scary, try riding a bicycle in Thai traffic. Lucky for me, I have bicycle experience downtown, so my defensive and aggressive nature on two wheels is just up to par here. It’s actually quite difficult getting one’s head around driving on the other side of the road. In the smaller Sois of Old City, the traffic is easy to handle, but the roundabouts and two lane traffic are definitely a little harder to navigate safely.

Beyond the endless amounts of good food, fresh fruit, cheap smoothies and bug stands, Chiang Mai has some fantastic markets to enjoy. Actually, I’m totally addicted. Between the clothing, the jewellery, the food stands, and handmade crafts, there is a real sense of culture. Locals and foreigners alike crowd around stands trying new foods, trying on clothes and sitting to talk about the day. Bartering comes with ease since most Thai speak enough English to get through the conversation. Today I had sticky rice with banana, cooked in a banana leaf. C’est Delicieux!!! I’ve bought myself new handmade sandals, some earrings, a necklace and pants… all for about $20.

The best thing for market addiction? A rugged two day trek into the mountains… Update soon.

Getting to Know Me

I’ve only been here three days, but fuck, does it feel good. I’ve tried to express my passion for travel to the average person, but everyone likes to travel. I feel it’s hard to explain that travel, and backpacking mostly is an important aspect of my life. I value being able to learn about other cultures and languages first hand. I value speaking to people from all over the world, and learning about their views and experiences. I value learning about politics, and experiencing the pros and cons of certain governments first hand. I value exploring the natural world, and learning about all of its importance, all over the world.  I value experiencing new things, and learning new ways of thinking and doing. I value having strong common sense, and being able to think independently. I value being an objective thinker, with the capabilities of simply observing the world go around. I value human connection, unbiased to social and global class. For people that don’t understand these values, I try to explain to them that it’s not vacation time I value, it’s experience that I value.