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| Ride to Radsada Pier in little orange tuk tuk |
According to the weather forecast, today was the last day of good weather for us, so we decided
it was the right day to go to the Phi Phi islands. The Tuk tuk man was eager to drive us to the
pier (300 Baht) and we purchased out tickets for the “Phi Phi Cruiser”
(1000Baht each). The day was misty so
this obscured our view of the mountains as we left the harbour. The Andaman Sea was relatively calm and it
was difficult to imagine that 10 years ago, the devastating tsunami swept
through this area causing many deaths and great destruction.
It was a really pleasant boat trip and we were lucky to find
5 seats in a row on the top of the cruiser.
Several fishing boats and speed boats passed us and apart from a couple
of hawk like birds, we had the sea to ourselves.
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| Phi Phi Cruiser |
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| Fishing boat |
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| Islands in the mist |
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The massive limestone monoliths were impressive rising
abruptly out of the water. Old
stalactites hanging on the outside over the eroded bases and the tops were
green with vegetation. We stopped
briefly to admire Maya Bay where the water is an unbelievable green that really
can’t be accurately captured by my camera.
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| The water was a wonderful colour not captured by my camera |
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| Loving life! |
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| Water colour plus stalactites = quite unique! |
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We disembarked at Phi Phi Don Island. We had hoped to walk to the Lookout but were
advised that it would take too long as we had about 2 ½ hours before our return
trip. We wandered about the
streets. The Island seemed to be a haven
for 20-something party goers with loads of market type shops. All the construction looked new and in fact
Phi Phi Island underwent great rebuilding after the 2004 tsunami. No vehicles other than push bikes of trolleys
are permitted on the island. We saw
workmen pushing huge loads down the tiled streets.
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| Memorial tree to Tsunami victims |
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| Street markets |
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| No vehicles but carts! |
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| A grim reminder that this is a tsunami area. |
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We
found a suitable patch of sandy beach and the kids and I went swimming – deep
and clear water with a few little fish.
The thing about these islands is that you encounter a request for money
at every turn: for seats on the beach, for snorkelling, for anything extra. Despite all of this, the beauty is stunning and an obvious draw card for tourists and adventurers.
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| Beauty wherever you look |
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| A tropical paradise |
I noticed the tiny Phi Phi Hospital so I boldly walked in
and asked if I could have a little look around as I am a midwife. They agreed!
The birth “suite” as two mono metal beds with very thin mattresses and
stirrups already in place! The
Children’s ward had 2 large cots in it.
At this stage my camera chose to not work and I didn’t know whether or
not it would really be appropriate or respectful to take a photo anyway. It seems that most cases are taken back to
the mainland. As there are no motorised
vehicles, their emergency cart (ambulance!) was a push cart.
We bought some delicious pizza for lunch but prices were
higher than Phuket as expected. We
boarded our boat amidst the chaos of three boat loads of tourists all trying to
get back to Phuket. It was a pleasant
ride back on the top deck again. We met
a lovely South African couple: Hanlie and Jacques van Greunen and swapped
travel stories.
We unwisely hadn’t asked our tuk-tuk driver from this
morning to pick us up but eventually hailed a taxi down the road from the pier
who squeezed 5 of us (plus him) into his 5 seater car and drove us back to Cape Panwa for
400 Baht just in time for dinner.
It was a truly memorable Christmas Eve and those magnificent limestone
monoliths just towering out of the green water are etched into my memory. On
reflection, despite the tourists and young crowd, I would love to stay a night
or two on Phi Phi Island to explore more and really experience the amazing
surrounds.
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| Lovely long tailed boats |
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