From Phuket, we took a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride to the beautiful island of Koh Phi Phi, where we spent two nights. We stayed at Mama Beach Residence, which was up against high rock walls and in a quieter area of the beach. But we could easily walk to the "town," which was a maze of open-air souvenir shops, restaurants, and tour operators.
Whereas Phuket has a lot of stray dogs, Koh Phi Phi has a lot of stray cats. On one afternoon, we hiked to the top of the lookout. The view was amazing (I lost my beautiful wide-angle shots in the memory card debacle). Zack took this picture of one of the cats who sat on the bench with him as the sun went down. Cute, huh? We admired the sunset and then hiked back down for another delicious Thai dinner.
Koh Phi Phi is pretty crazy at night. We had the most fun at the Reggae Bar, which has a boxing ring set up in the center where tourists can put on gloves and fight each other for fun. Zack was almost convinced to "give it a go," but he was only willing to do it if he could fight a girl (and they wouldn't let him!). They also had some "professional" boxers, but the fights seemed staged.
The drink of choice on the island (and many places in Thailand) is a bucket. This is exactly what it sounds like. You get a bucket filled with a mixture of several kinds of alcohol combined with juice, soda, and/or Red Bull. You basically have no idea what's in it, and they shove five or six straws in the bucket, perhaps because you're supposed to share. We didn't! Zack and I each got our own bucket. If that sounds dangerous, it is. There are incredibly impressive fire dancers who perform on the beach at night. In the picture below, you can see Zack (post-bucket) doing his own version of a fire dance. And yes, we are sweaty messes in the picture to the right. That's because it is so hot and humid on Koh Phi Phi, you literally never stop sweating. But I didn't complain, because it was so nice to leave the winter weather of Melbourne behind for awhile! More to come from Koh Phi Phi...
From Koh Phi Phi, we took another ferry ride to Krabi and then a longtail boat to Railay Beach. This peninsula (only accessible by boat) has no roads or cars. We stayed on the East side of the island, and we often walked to the West side for some food or shopping. Railay Beach has a little bit of everything...
