January 10, 2007 Koh Phi-Phi, Thailand

January 10, 2007
Koh Phi-Phi, Thailand

I woke up this morning at around 8:00. Paul was still fast asleep so I grabbed my book and read in bed for about half an hour. When he woke up we headed to a nearby restaurant for our free breakfast (it came with the room).

On our way back from eating we stopped in at a travel agent and asked about their snorkeling/beach tour. After shopping around we discovered that everyone charged an identical price. We talked it over with Lisa and Matt and then booked the tour leaving at 11:00.

At 11:00 a man on a bike came and escorted us from the hotel to the boat. After waiting for what seemed like a long time, a group of six Israelis joined us. Then, the 10 of us set out on our all day tour.

Our first stop was only a short ride away. Lisa, Matt, Paul, and I went snorkeling for about 20 minutes (the Israelis decided to stay in the boat). Unfortunately, the boat did not have the best snorkeling equipment and all of the masks leaked. Still, it was fun to be back in the water and swimming around.

Next, we stopped for an hour at a beautiful white sand beach to eat lunch. Though the island was incredibly beautiful it was quite crowded and our fried rice was not the best. After eating I went for a swim and then walked along the water, exploring the island.

When we got back into the boat there was fresh pineapple for everyone. I devoured the fruit as we cruised to Monkey Beach. When we got to Monkey Beach we joined a large group of tourists looking at some very fat monkeys (I think they are overfed by tourists). After watching the monkey eat a piece of watermelon I decided to go for a swim.

Sometime around 15:00 we got back into the boat and made our way to Malay Beach (where they filmed the movie “The Beach”). The water was surprisingly choppy and everyone ended up completely soaked. By the time we got to Malay Beach everyone was ready to get out of the boat.

Our driver dropped the four of us off in the middle of the bay to do some snorkeling and told us to swim to the beach. Though it looked like it was quite far away, it was not a bad swim. On the way we saw numerous fish and I even picked up a sea cucumber and used it to squirt Lisa. Sadly, most of the coral in the bay was dead…

When we reached the shore we found Paul, who was completely out of breath. Not an experienced swimmer, he panicked as he was making his way to the shore and inhaled several mouthfuls of water. A few minutes later Matt joined us and we all returned to our boat.

After throwing our stuff into the vessel we explored the island for a few minutes. It was by far the prettiest stop of the day. The jungle came down and met the sand. There were awe-inspiring cliffs and turquoise water.

At 17:00 we began the journey home. Once again there were rough seas and everyone got very wet. Still, we made it back to Phi-Phi in one piece. Once back in the room I took a quick shower and threw on some cloths for the evening.

Lisa came and got me for dinner at 18:30. We went to the restaurant next door and watched “You, Me and Dupree” while I ate a chicken sandwich. When the other boys arrived we ventured to a more expensive restaurant, where everyone else ate dinner. After we were done eating we went to a low-key bar and played cards while sipping a few beers. When we were done (23:15) I returned to the room and the others went out to continue partying.