I arrived Ko Phi Phi around noon today. Met a Kiwi on the boat so we decided to go find a room together (People from New Zealand are call Kiwi. Isn't it such cute name? I did not know New Zealand are called Kiwi. She kept referring to "Kiwi this" and "Kiwi that" so I asked her for definition). Ko Phi Phi is very expensive compare to rest of Thailand. I was thinking paying at most 500 Baht per room but everyone at the pier is asking for 1500 - 6000 baht/night as this is the peak season and most of the rooms are taken. We got lucky as we only asked a handful of guesthouses before we found one for 900 baht/night (no AC but has a fan and a typical sit down toilet, yay!). I was hoping to do my laundry after I get off the island as everything is pricier here, unfortunately, I ran out of cloth so I have to drop my laundry off with the maid and pay the premium. Also went shopping to buy skirts for me (got 2 for 550 Baht or about $18) and jeweleries for her.
In the afternoon, Kiwi (her name is Anna but Kiwi sounds so cute) and I booked an afternoon sunset trip (4 hours trip) at the Garden Home Restaurant. We bumped into another two Aussies that she met earlier and they joined us (There are tons of Aussies here. Where are the Americans?) The trip including snorkeling, kayaking, visit monkey beach (saw a monkey drinking Pepsi - so cute and sad at the same time, viking cave (where the Chinese get the the swallows nest and sell for lots of money), and dinner while watching the sunset off the boat. The trip is so worth the 450baht.
The Garden Home Restaurant has the cutest bathroom I ever see. Imagine a small orchid garden, with a step stones path leading to a clean sit down toilet in the middle. I was so impressed by it that I told Kiwi to check it out too. Thai food are delicious and Garden Home did a good job. I have the Basil with Squid today, it was very very yummy.
After lunch, a guy came pick us up and walked us to the pier (I love how small the town of Ko Phi Phi is. You can walk to everywhere). Then we got on to a small charter boat of sort with about 20 other farangs (foreigners). The people running the boat are super nice, they gave us free drinks and fruits. Our first stop is the Monkey Beach. Because the water is quite shallow near the beach, we have the choice to either kayak to the beach or snorkel there. Since my wound are not heal yet and neither is Kiwi's (her foot got cut on the beach in Ko Pha Ngan), we kayaked to the beach. The monkey are so smart, they snatch the bag full of fruit that one of the girl was holding for feeding them. Monkey bites so I did not dare to touch them.
After monkey beach, they took us around the Viking cave and show us a sample of swallow's nest. Then we went snorkeling for 40 minutes. The snorkeling alone is worthy of this trip. I saw more fish here than in Bahamas or Hawaii. They gave us breads, so I torn a few small pieces to lure the fishes in. Once a group of fishes surrounded me, I hold on to the rest of bread and the fishes just come up to me and eat of my fingers. It was such an awesome experience. There are tons of fishes with bright yellow and black stripes, schools of silvery fishes, some rainbow fishes, sea urchins, some round circle looking fishes (can you tell I am a fish expert?). Also saw the zebra-looking fish from "Finding Nemo." After snorkeling, the boat took us to this enclosed bay with a cave/holes in the middle of the rocky wall. Again, we have to either swim there or kayak there. I was probably high from snorkeling that I decided to swim there even though I suck at swimming. I was doing good at the beginning but the shore turned out farther than I expected. I got very tired at the end, one of the crew came drag me in when I was about 20 feet from the shores. After climbed into the cave, it opened up a whole new world. Do you ever watch "Lost"? Beautiful lush forest with white sand beach. The whole scenery behind the hole/cave is exactly like that. It was unbelievably gorgeous! We followed the sandy path for about 15 minutes and it lead to a beautiful white sandy beach. Afterward, we kayaked back to our boat and snorkel around our boat for another half an hour before enjoyed dinner at sunset. Very awesome trip.
Ko Phi Phi is beautiful. White sandy beach, small (walking size) town, surrounded by gorgeous little islands/caves for exploring, also tons of coral reefs with tons more pretty fishes. I am loving it even more than Ko Pha Ngan.
My wound looks disgusting after snorkeling, creamy white looking (imagine cold sore on lips kind of white). I know I shouldn't swam since my wound are not heal but hopefully it won't turn into anything too bad. I don't know what we are doing tomorrow yet.
We went shopping tonight and I got mistaken for Thai so many times. The Thai merchants thought I was here on vacation and talked to me in Thai, but started to ask me what am I when I have to respond in English. Many thought I was Thai-American when I told them I am from America. Some just choose to not believe me. Several customers asked me "How much is this" because they thought I worked there (kind of funny). In Bangkok, the students and I walked into the Wat Phra Kaew through a busy gate. I got in just fine (even with my backpack) but they all got waved away. I went back out wondering why they didn't go in with me, turned out we went into a "Thai people only entrance" by accident. I really should learn "How much?" and "100, 200...900...1000Baht" in Thai so I can get good deals.
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