I cannot contain myself. I do not know how to begin this fourth in a series blog. Warning, I will be lost for words and I will be using the words 'amazing' and 'awesome' a lot. Because this trip is, well yeah, amazing and awesome.
DAY 4: PHI PHI ISLAND HOPPING!
The mini bus fetched us from my uncle's apartment and picked up the other tourists in our group then dropped us off at Chalong Bay, the starting point of the island hopping tour.
Here are the islands we visited:
- Maya Bay
- Pileh Cove
- Viking Cave
- Loh Samah Bay
- Phi Phi Don
- Khai Nai
Phi Phi Islands is a small archipelago in the Andaman Sea and is administratively under the province of Krabi, Thailand. Do you remember when I said in the part 2 of this blog that you can't say you've been to Patong City if you've never been to Bangla? Well here's the thing: You can't say you've fully enjoyed Phuket if you've never been to Phi Phi! Though Phi Phi is technically a part of Krabi, the drop off point is in Phuket so it's mostly visited by tourists who are staying in Phuket.
Maya Bay is a world-famous beach because of its superrrrr fine sand and clear blue waters. It even garnered public attention after it has been chosen by 20th Century Fox as the set for the movie The Beach in year 2000 starring Leonardo di Caprio. It offers a paradise-like feel... wait no, it is an ACTUAL paradise and until now, I still regret that I was only able to bring home sand from Khai Nai and not from Maya, because among the islands in Phi Phi, Maya had the finest. But good thing I'm coming back this December 2014!
The bay is enclosed between rocks which you can see on the panorama below. It is a picturesque small island hidden by nature. A true hidden gem. There is just a small opening where speedboats can pass through to enter the bay.
Sayang because the place was crowded with tourists when we got there but it was perfect. My sister even said that if you're super rich, it would be such a delight to have the island closed and have your wedding be held in it.
Sorry I was not able to take a photo of Pileh Cove and Viking Cave because at the former, we just stopped for a while to see the sights, and at the latter, we were not allowed to go down and feed the monkeys by hand because of the high tide at the time. What a bummer! But just for the sake of describing the place, I'll be putting photos here.
(I do not own these photos - from Google)
We then proceeded to Loh Samah Bay to snorkel! I was so excited that I neglected the fact that the tides were too strong. I was too cocky because I can swim well, so I didn't put on my life vest. When I realized that I was being pulled farther and farther away from the boat, I went up to wear a life vest and went back to the water only to be injured...
I still look happy in this photo. Prior to the accident.
You see, since the tide was too strong, it swayed the boat so strong and as I was about to went up the ladder emerging from the water, I hit my head at the corner of the ladder and that's when my mother panicked upon seeing an open wound with blood coming out of it. LOL.
See? It ain't so bad. Anyway, I wouldn't let this injury ruin my vacation so I shrugged it off, what the heck I'm hungry, let's go to the next stop!
The klutz that I am!
PHI PHI DON ISLAND
Next stop was Phi Phi Don island where we stopped over for lunch.
Now to the last, and my favorite island, KOH KHAI NAI! (The word 'Koh' in Thai means 'island' so you either call it Koh Khai Nai or Khai Nai Island)
I was a little disappointed with the high tide that we were not able to feed monkeys, plus I hurt myself, but all of that went away when I set foot in Khai Nai. It is such a beautiful tiny island where fishes are swimming in the bay and you can feed them.
Paradise, we have arrived!
Compared to Maya Bay, Maya has finer, creamier sand but I love Khai Nai's water more because it's clearer.
