Phi Phi Islands 1

After a mid morning snack of watermelon and pineapple, we headed on out to monkey beach, but the tide was high, the beach was under water, so the boat took us right in to under the trees, where we got to feed them bananas . The water is so crystal clear, you can see where the beach would actually be at low tide. Next up , Viking Cave, which is an expansive cave , that a few locals have inhabited, in order to harvest the eggs and nests of these particular birds, called swiftlets, that make their nests out of their spit. The Chinese make a soup with it, with the claim that it keeps you younger looking. One of the worlds most expensive foods! In my head I am thinking who decided that ??!! Who thought, my, my, this will make a great soup?! Enough said...the entire culture here, regarding the wildlife preservation is ludicrous to say the least...

Lunch!!! On Phi Phi Don island, in Ton Sai Bay... a buffet lunch..I love Thai food, so I have no problem eating what we are given on any of the excursions...as long as there is no bird nest soup!!! We got to have a quick swim, while Wit chatted to Douglas about the tsunami, and how the ocean ebbed away, only for a 3 foot wave to come back in, followed by a 5 footer, then a 10 footer, and then the 15 foot wave that would take boats and everything else in its path 2 kms inland. He spoke of a friend that climbed a coconut tree to evade the waters....I can't even begin to imagine the fear they must have felt!

Before long we were taken to Samah Bay to the most beautiful secluded area( with a few other boats worth of tourists) where we got to jump off the boat and swim and just float...another quick aside here.... At no point on the trip have we been required to wear a helmet, life jacket or any other protective anything!!! Be careful of the propeller blade , " it shaaarp" lol. The kids on the boat with us were having a blast jumping off the boat.

The highlight of the trip was of course the famous beach, from the movie, "The Beach" at Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley. With the amount of boats moored on the shore, and the endless tourists, it was a little hard to imagine, Leonardo Di Caprio playing cricket and living there...still an incredibly beautiful spot! Long boats to one side of the bathing area, and the bigger speed boats on the other...  ( will post photos at the end... Douglas has been insistent that I put a photo of this creepy European guy checking his wife out...lol )
Piles Cove was our next port of call...snorkeling was in order, with tons of fish to see, smaller fish, nothing too big. Saw an angel fish, almost some other more popular ones....the water is so warm and so clear, you visibility is fantastic under the water.the water seems to illuminate around the edges of the rosky shore line, giving it an almost surreal look.Later, once we were all back on the boat and headed home, they showed us the weird prehistoric looking outer shell, that is soft inside...they had scraped them off the rocks while we had been snorkeling. They eat the soft interior...said to be an aphrodisiac! No we did not try it! We took their word for it!
Burnt to a crisp, being in and out of the water all day...but what an incredible day of sightseeing. We spent the evening at the hotel, not wanting to do too much travelling. Got our bus trip and taxi organized for our next stop, north of Phuket in Khao Lak. So another early morning....