Thailand: Koh Phi Phi Islands

 As soon as we stepped foot back in Bangkok, we did some typical Bangkok activities (such as Nate getting some custom tailored shirts, while us girls recommended our "favorite types of shirts" on guys, and all our opinions differed. haha. Poor Nate). Then we were literally headed straight to the airport to catch our 9:30 pm flight down to Phuket!! I swear Bangkok was just a hub city for us, we never stayed there for more than a few hours, or to sleep in between destinations. Kinda funny actually.When we got to the airport we didn't have much of a plan, we just knew we wanted to get to Phi Phi island, asap. Well there are only 2 boats to and from the island a day, so obviously we weren't getting there tonight. We get a cab, and tell them to takes us to a cheap backpacker guesthouse...so where do we end up??? Low and behold, we arrive at "Backpacker Guesthouse" Imagine that. What are the odds? haha

The next morning we caught a mini bus down to the port to catch the 8 am boat to Phi Phi Islands. I didn't really know what to expect of this place we were heading, all I knew was I was excited to relax for a few days. I had done a little bit of reading on the internet before our trip about the different islands in Thailand. The main things I read were that the summer months are the "off season" for Koh Phi Phi but is the "high season" for Koh Samui and Koh Tao. (which are on the east side of Thailand in the Gulf of Thailand) However, Hailey had already been to the other islands, and really wanted to check out Phi Phi. We had no real opinion on the subject, so we decided to brave the rain and head on down to Phi Phi. 

Koh Phi Phi are located on the west side of Thailand near Phuket. There are 6 islands in all, but two main islands: Koh Phi Phi Don (where we stayed) and Koh Phi Phi Lee (has no places to stay, only to visit the beaches). The island is relatively small. No cars are allowed on the island, so everything is within walking distance. The average water temperature is 27-30C (80-86F) year around. Basically, it is heavenly.

We are all lovers.

When we stepped off the boat, we ventured to the back side of the island and were welcomed by this:

 Umm....I am pretty sure that we walked right into paradise. It was unreal. Words couldn't even describe how happy and excited we were to be here! And the skies were blue as could be!! We even got word later on that the weather in Koh Samui and Koh Tao was rainy....I guess the internet was wrong or we were blessed. I prefer to think it was the latter :) We got smart this time and booked our own "hotel" instead of falling for the "friendly sellers" and were more than happy with what we found. This random guy was sitting in an office and I asked him if he knew where any rooms were, and he took us right to the perfect little "house." It really was just one bedroom and one bathroom, but it had four beds and a porch. Oh how we loved our little porch. It was on the backside of the island, literally steps away from the beaches shown above, and just far enough away from the crazy bars and nightlife. It was literally perfect. Well...almost perfect. The shower was a whole other story. If you could even call it a shower. It was more like a light sprinkle. But it gave us a nice laugh. :) And we still loved our little home.

Isn't that the cutest little porch?? haha. And please notice the sign...60m to the beach :) that's meters, not miles haha

First thing we wanted to do was kayak to some cliffs to cliff jump. But while we searched for cliff jumping shoes, we came across "spider monkey" and got distracted by a tour. haha. We frequently got distracted. Anyways this tour was perfect!! It was snorkeling with sharks,  cliff jumping, visited the other island (where the beach was filmed), swimming, dinner, snorkeling with turtles, and sunset...all for $20. And it left in an hour...we were SOLD. So we grabbed some lunch while we waited, along with fruit smoothies (our newest obsession).

This is Bell, or tour guide. He was cool.

Me Lindsey and Nate cliff jumping...trust me it was a lot higher than it looks. But super fun!

Nifty little civilization. Bell told us people live here for like 6 months without leaving. The bamboo is their plumbing. So neat.

Pretty little cove where we ate our dinner.

Snorkeling!! 

We saw all sorts of fun things. Like black tip reef sharks (no pictures) and sea turtles and clown fish, etc...

It was fun!

Me and my new little Amsterdam friends. They were all 18 and on gap. Oh how I wish us americans did gap. haha

 We took some really attractive pictures. The Amsterdam boys said we take weird pictures, and even compared us to the Chinese. haha. Then we all laughed.

 This is "The Beach" where the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. Apparently they cut down all the palm trees and re-put them back in with computers. And having the film crews there for so long scared off all the marine life. Kinda sad. But I tell you, it was gorgeous. And you can even walk through the jungle to the other side. We met a really hot European guy back there that we made friends with :)

 Then we snorkeled some more, until it was time for sunset.

Seriously...amazing...right?? I was there. A couple of weeks ago. I still can't believe it sometimes.

 After our tour we headed back to our side of the island to see this. The tide was low, like really low. You could walk almost out of the cove. It was crazy. And super cool. Check out that sky. It was so colorful and beautiful.

JUMP!!

ANIMALS!! (we are totally normal, I swear)

Fourth of July love <3

(it was the fourth in America's time zone)

We love Phi Phi!! <3

Low tide=beached boats. haha. kinda funny.

That night, we showered...in our lovely shower :) and then headed out for dinner. We walked around a bit before finding the dive shop where we booked our excursions for first thing the next morning. Finally around 10 pm we got dinner at the first place we found that was still serving food. It was super yummy. Hailey started feeling sick so she went home early without eating, and nearly passed out on the way. We got the best bruchetta ever. I still think about that stuff. And the fruit shakes. I'm telling you, we got those several times a day and for every meal. yummmm. And then I passed out mid-conversation with Nate at the dinner table. This was the second time I fell asleep at dinner. Thailand wore me out haha.

The next morning we were up and at 'em bright and early. I was super excited to go SCUBA DIVING since I've never been before! We had to be at the shop at 7 am. Our instructor was the cutest girl, Kara, from Australia. She was seriously super rad. We loved her. We did 1 dive, rested, ate lunch and swam, and then did our second dive. Collectively we saw...black tip reef sharks (again), sea turtles (again) but we could get a lot closer this time, an eel, a sting ray, clown fish, and a bunch of really cool reef and stuff. It was seriously amazing. I definitely wanna get certified one day and dive more! Hailey and Nate did a ship wreck at 30m and that sounds super awesome to me. Unfortunately I hit a reef with my hand and got stung by a sea urchin, I believe. Kara said it was fine and it would work itself out in a day or so....ya well...here I am two weeks later with swollen and cramped fingers. I guess it didn't all work itslef out..so I went to the doctor and I need to get it removed by a dermatologist. I think it's kind of funny. And kind of annoying. haha.

Obviously our dive got done before Hailey and Nate's, so me and Linds decided to go parasailing! Well, she was going to go parasailing, but at the last minute she changed her mind. I have always wanted to do it but never had...and I think that doing it in Thailand, on the Andaman Sea is as good of place as any, right??? So i just did it. Even though it was a little bit pricey...1200 baut or $40 bucks. I say it was worth it :) On the way...Linds accidentally smashed my finger in the door. Hard. It hurt so bad. I swear...I got tore up in Thailand. It is still numb to this day.

 Afterwords we laid in the sand and played in the water for a while. We decided that the water was almost too warm. Being used to California water, I never thought that was possible, but seriously it was warm. It was almost a toss up of whether it was warmer outside or in the water. It was super nice, but sometimes we would have to swim down under and find a cool spot just to feel refreshed. What a rough life, right???

 Later, we made our way back to our house and took a quick little nap with Nate and Hailey, before showering and getting ready for dinner. We decided we wanted a nice seafood dinner for our last night on the island. We asked someone where the best seafood was and were directed to Rimlay Restaurant, which was on a side of the island that we had never been to. It was a nice little walk there, and we even got distracted by these....

 

Same Same...But Different Shirts. 

Can I just tell you that EVERYONE says this over there...and I love it! It is the best saying ever, and we found it fitting in so many conversations. It was crazy. I say it was the staple of the trip. So obviously we needed matching shirts. We wore them all night :)

Our nice little romantic seafood dinner by the sea. So good.

Hailey may or may not have kissed a fish...shoulda read the sign!!

Only 13970 km away from home!!

After dinner we made our way back to bar central and ran into some friends! Lindsey decided that she wanted to promote the bar...soberly. A lot of tourists come to Koh Phi Phi for a couple of months and work at the bars promoting it and get paid in the form of free alcohol. We became friends with the guys and "helped" them out. We were pretty unsuccessful...but it was entertaining for sure.

These guys above, Alexander and William from England, told us to come hang out at some dance party on the beach. We told them no at first, but we later decided to just go since it was our last night on the island. And boy am I glad we did. It was the most eventful night of our lives...it was unreal. It's a really long story so I will just recap bits and pieces...it involved...dancing our little hearts out. Meeting my Australian boyfriend. Lindsey having the biggest dance off of her entire life with Ben. Losing Nate. Us leaving the beach and having an altercation with some Thais involving Michael getting slapped. So awkward. An Italian gent "defending our honor." Finding Nate. Nate recapping his night. Finding out that he was getting hit on by a fat chick who fell into the ocean. Him getting seduced by a Thai lady who brought him into her back room to give him a naughty massage. Nate refusing and leaving. Him getting seduced by another Thai lady who offered to pay him to give him a massage. Nate then helping a foreigner escape some Thais who were chasing him with knives and throwing rocks at him trying to kill him. And eventually he made his way home. Quite the night...right?? I am still in shock that this all happened and Hailey slept through it all! haha.

The next morning we slept in for like the first time ever. It was great. I got woken up my my Australian bf calling and deciding to come over. Nate Hailey and Linds decided to get us some Thai pancakes with honey for breakfast. They are seriously so good!! Then Michael showed up at our door with a fruit smoothie for me. He was so sweet. And is so funny. We all really liked him. We packed up our shiz and headed out for a kayak ride over to Monkey Beach. It started to sprinkle a bit but it was perfect. monkey Beach is just around the corner and it is just full of monkeys everywhere. It was really cool. We stayed there for a while and then headed back to town to catch our boat at 2 back to Phuket!

Haha Michael is in his underwear. He didn't have his swim suit....whatevs.

When we got back to Phuket we told our mini bus driver to take us to Michael and his friends hotel..."Patong Beach Resort." He was in town for Ben's 30th birthday party with 8 guy friends...and they had 4 rooms. Well we get there and can't find them anywhere. So we head out to find something to eat since we were starving...and Michael calls to find out where we are. He had been waiting out front for an hour! Poor guy. Apparently he told us the wrong hotel...it was "Patong Beach Hotel" right around the corner. So he met us at the restaurant and we head back to his hotel. It was a nice nice nice hotel. We were in heaven. Especially when we got to shower in a real shower! It was heavenly. They had spent so much money that they were treated like royalty. They even asked the hotel to arrange us a ride to the airport. We were shocked when a nice SUV showed up. We were so used to those damn mini buses...we felt all high class. haha. Good times. And thank heaven for 2-day Australian boyfriends!

No trumpets at the hotel...says Michael. and the sign.

Our sweet ride!

 Back in Bangkok, it was time to depart ways with Hailey. 

It was super sad. She was catching a flight at 5 am to Tel Aviv, Israel...to continue on her journey around the world. We had all become such great little friends. We had the perfect little group, I swear. It was hard to say goodbye. We even considered going with her for 2.5 seconds. Too bad we didn't! I wish....But good thing we bought these best friend bracelets so we will always be friends forever, even though we all live so far away :)

 SAME SAME....BUT DIFFERENT :)

We Love Phi Phi!! <3