KOH PHI PHI, THAILAND
My Lonely Planet guide suggests staying in Phuket town rather than at the island's beaches, pointing out the unique Sino-Portugese architecture which supposedly gives it charm and character. But after a day here, I have come to the conclusion that the book is nuts, this place is completely uninspiring, and I'd much rather be at the beach!
So today I decided to take a boat trip to Koh Phi Phi, one of the most famous and beautiful beach destinations in all of Thailand. Actually, Phi Phi consists of two islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh, both featuring iconic towering limestone cliffs, white-sand beaches, and crystal-clear waters. Phi Phi Don, the larger island, also supports various accomodations, restaurants, bars, and the usual beachside tourist traps, while Phi Phi Leh, which is mostly rock, is uninhabited and undeveloped, although it's even more visually striking.
I took a big charter boat of about a hundred people from Phuket harbor, which made it to the islands in about an hour and a half. After letting off a bunch of people at Phi Phi Don, we moored off nearby Monkey Beach (aptly named, as there are monkeys running around on the beach!) to do some snorkeling. As Phi Phi was one of the hardest-hit areas in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, I was curious to see what kind of damage the coral reef sustained.
Surprisingly, the reef here was in pretty good shape--I couldn't see any overt signs of tsunami damage. What really disturbed me, though, was the damage I did see being caused by stupid tourists touching, kicking, and standing on the coral, which of course kills it. Given the number of tour boats filled with snorkelers that anchor here every day, I'd really hate to see what this location will look like in five years.* That aside, I saw a larger variety of marine life here than in the Perhentians or in Koh Phangan--lots of wrasses, butterfly fish, clownfish, parrot fish, rabbit fish, groupers, and even schools of cool harlequin filefish, which I don't think I've seen since Fiji. I even saw a little deadly sea snake--yay!
After snorkeling, we piled back in the boat and did a quick circuit around Phi Phi Leh. Most of the island's shore consists of sheer rock cliffs, but there are a few "hidden" coves and beaches, and several large caves where locals harvest the nests of swiftlets (for bird's nest soup). The most famous spot on the island, though, is Maya Bay, a gorgeous stretch of sand almost completely enclosed by rocky cliffs that was used as the famous beach in The Beach (that accursed movie again!). Unfortunately we didn't get to stop there, but just did a quick "drive-by."
We then headed back to Phi Phi Don to have lunch at a local restaurant, where I made friends with a Turkish guy named Serkan who's traveling on his own, too. His English was only a little better than my Turkish, but I managed to understand most of what he was saying. After lunch, we decided to hang out at nearby Loh Dalam Beach (another really nice beach) for an hour or so, until we had to board the boat again for the trip back to Phuket.
It was interesting to see how well Phi Phi has recovered from the tsunami, which was only a year and a half ago--if I hadn't been looking, I probably wouldn't have noticed any signs that it had ever happened. The fact is, the damage to the beachfront businesses was so great that they've all been torn down and replaced by new buildings, with just a few construction sites and piles of uncleared rubble left to remind anyone of the destruction that took place. And it wasn't until later when I saw an old postcard of an aerial view of the island that I realized that the large grassy field between two beaches that we walked across had once been a massive stand of hundreds of palm trees! That made me realize that a lot of things probably look a lot different than they did before.
After returning to Phuket, I had the minivan driver drop me off at Patong Beach, the most popular tourist area of the island. It's a bit like Las Vegas by the Sea--a big circus of neon-lit hotels, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, discos, massage parlors, Vegas-style shows (including Elvis impersonators!) and even a Thai boxing stadium. I was a little tired for all this craziness, though, so I just found a cheap hotel and crashed.
*I was angry enough about this to send an e-mail to the tour company afterward asking them to make an announcement about not touching the coral before letting people in the water.
My Lonely Planet guide suggests staying in Phuket town rather than at the island's beaches, pointing out the unique Sino-Portugese architecture which supposedly gives it charm and character. But after a day here, I have come to the conclusion that the book is nuts, this place is completely uninspiring, and I'd much rather be at the beach!
So today I decided to take a boat trip to Koh Phi Phi, one of the most famous and beautiful beach destinations in all of Thailand. Actually, Phi Phi consists of two islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh, both featuring iconic towering limestone cliffs, white-sand beaches, and crystal-clear waters. Phi Phi Don, the larger island, also supports various accomodations, restaurants, bars, and the usual beachside tourist traps, while Phi Phi Leh, which is mostly rock, is uninhabited and undeveloped, although it's even more visually striking.
I took a big charter boat of about a hundred people from Phuket harbor, which made it to the islands in about an hour and a half. After letting off a bunch of people at Phi Phi Don, we moored off nearby Monkey Beach (aptly named, as there are monkeys running around on the beach!) to do some snorkeling. As Phi Phi was one of the hardest-hit areas in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, I was curious to see what kind of damage the coral reef sustained.
Surprisingly, the reef here was in pretty good shape--I couldn't see any overt signs of tsunami damage. What really disturbed me, though, was the damage I did see being caused by stupid tourists touching, kicking, and standing on the coral, which of course kills it. Given the number of tour boats filled with snorkelers that anchor here every day, I'd really hate to see what this location will look like in five years.* That aside, I saw a larger variety of marine life here than in the Perhentians or in Koh Phangan--lots of wrasses, butterfly fish, clownfish, parrot fish, rabbit fish, groupers, and even schools of cool harlequin filefish, which I don't think I've seen since Fiji. I even saw a little deadly sea snake--yay!
After snorkeling, we piled back in the boat and did a quick circuit around Phi Phi Leh. Most of the island's shore consists of sheer rock cliffs, but there are a few "hidden" coves and beaches, and several large caves where locals harvest the nests of swiftlets (for bird's nest soup). The most famous spot on the island, though, is Maya Bay, a gorgeous stretch of sand almost completely enclosed by rocky cliffs that was used as the famous beach in The Beach (that accursed movie again!). Unfortunately we didn't get to stop there, but just did a quick "drive-by."
We then headed back to Phi Phi Don to have lunch at a local restaurant, where I made friends with a Turkish guy named Serkan who's traveling on his own, too. His English was only a little better than my Turkish, but I managed to understand most of what he was saying. After lunch, we decided to hang out at nearby Loh Dalam Beach (another really nice beach) for an hour or so, until we had to board the boat again for the trip back to Phuket.
It was interesting to see how well Phi Phi has recovered from the tsunami, which was only a year and a half ago--if I hadn't been looking, I probably wouldn't have noticed any signs that it had ever happened. The fact is, the damage to the beachfront businesses was so great that they've all been torn down and replaced by new buildings, with just a few construction sites and piles of uncleared rubble left to remind anyone of the destruction that took place. And it wasn't until later when I saw an old postcard of an aerial view of the island that I realized that the large grassy field between two beaches that we walked across had once been a massive stand of hundreds of palm trees! That made me realize that a lot of things probably look a lot different than they did before.
After returning to Phuket, I had the minivan driver drop me off at Patong Beach, the most popular tourist area of the island. It's a bit like Las Vegas by the Sea--a big circus of neon-lit hotels, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, discos, massage parlors, Vegas-style shows (including Elvis impersonators!) and even a Thai boxing stadium. I was a little tired for all this craziness, though, so I just found a cheap hotel and crashed.
*I was angry enough about this to send an e-mail to the tour company afterward asking them to make an announcement about not touching the coral before letting people in the water.
posted by John Kuge at 11:22 PM
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Very pretty site! Keep working. thnx!
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