An Asian Tropical Paradise | Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Nicole Watts
Jan 13, 2017
2 min read

A short ferry ride in the mid-day heat brought us to the island of Koh Phi Phi Don. We sailed by what felt like hundreds of the most amazing landmasses featuring steep cliff faces to make it to the island. Before entering Phi Phi it is a requirement to "donate" some baht that is meant to contribute to the local environment - we'll talk more about that later! The day we travelled must have been the most scorching day of our holiday. We made it away from the ferry terminal and were faced with a maze of footpaths, a shitty map, and no idea where the hell our hotel was. There wasn't even an option of "just hiring a taxi" to take us there as there are NO ROADS! After 30 minutes of walking around aimlessly we were finally put in the right direction. A 10 minute walk later (remember the heat) and we finally located our hotel and were so pleased to be able to check in early. Never have I jumped at the air-con so fast in my life before!

We spent the day swimming and exploring the township. We found the most amazing cafe The Mango Garden that became our go-to eatery of choice - waffles were to die for, iced chocolate even better! Later in the evening we committed to a snorkelling day tour for the following day and hit the hay early.

Snorkelling tour = must do! I can't remember the name of the company we even went through but there must be hundreds that line the main footpath with their bill boards. We spent five hours being taken around all of the tiny islands surrounding Koh Phi Phi Don. The fish are absolutely beautiful and we weren't too let down when we didn't see monkeys at Monkey Bay or sharks at Shark Point. That night we indulged in some Western food and again hit the hay early for an early ferry trip in the morning. What we didn't know was that that night our time with the travel bugs would begin.

Food poisoning is the biggest bitch out and Ben was hit hard by it. I've never felt so sorry for someone in my life. The heat certainly did not help nor did the three hour ferry ride we took to make it to our next location! Thank God for nausea drugs.

Note: as much as I loved the relaxed, tropical feel of these islands; I hated how touristy the place was. Remember earlier how I said everyone had to donate to the environment fund - yeah, well I'm not sure why because I don't think anything is really spent on the environment. It was really upsetting to see how polluted the waters were with water! Snorkelling was fun but having to swim through piles of rubbish was not. I can only imagine how the marine life feel.