An hour and half of ferry time from Krabi took us to Phi-Phi. It has two main islands - Phi-Phi Don, the bigger one which has plenty of accommodation and Phi-Phi Leh, the magnificent one. Leh doesn't have any accommodation except for the night camp in Maya bay organized by a single operator. It also only allows limited number of people.
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On the day we reached Phi-Phi Don, the weather was clear and we decided to camp at Maya bay. The trip started in the evening with 20 of us in a big motor boat. En route to Leh was beautiful with small fine sand beaches. If you can kayak to them, you can have those amazing beaches for yourself! On the way, we stopped at a couple of places for snorkeling. It was wonderful to be in such clear blue waters! However, I didn't find the marine life to be too exciting. Later, I heard from other travelers that places near Bamboo island are better suited for snorkeling.
'Viking cave' on Phi-Phi Leh is one of the attractions. We saw the place from the boat and didn't make any attempt to explore this place! Our tour guide also seemed least interested, however, he mentioned that the cave is filled with bird's nest and the nest soup is a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
Just before sunset, we reached Maya bay. It was a back door entry and had to swim for a small distance to get to the shore. We then walked for about couple of minutes before the beach could unveil in front of us. With gleam of light on the beach, Maya bay was stunning, breathtaking and it felt like a heaven on earth. It is truly an other-world experience. I was floating in the water viewing the sunset and I would cherish this memory forever.
In the evening, we were served with delicious supper and bucket of alcohol. Me and Jomy donated the bucket to an American who later showered us with blessings! Later in the night, we set our sleeping mats on the fine sand beach and laid watching countless stars on clear dark sky. It felt like paradise and we slept peacefully on the beach. In the morning, we woke up to the fine misty tropical rain and headed to Phi-Phi Don after the breakfast.
Trivia : The movie "The beach" was shot in Maya bay.
hi-Phi Don
For the next two days, we rambled around the island hoping from one beach to the other. We tried out the local cuisine in different restaurants and it was delectable every time. Papaya is one of the popular local restaurant serving good and cheap food and we liked it too. One of our favorite snack was the thai pancakes sold at the road side food stands. We tried it with different fruits, but banana turned out the best. They can also be topped up with some chocolate syrup for the extra yum-yum!This island is overly developed with every inch converted to shops, resorts and restaurants. The place was more crowded than I had imagined. Also, some of the beaches were totally covered with the long tail boats! But, our resort was at the far end of the beach and it attracted very less crowd. Good for us! Among all the beaches on this island, I liked Long beach with very less crowd and very few resorts around.
In the nights, the island was very lively with loud music and parties going on in many places. But, we kept ourselves away from all the urban rituals and chose to enjoy the nature and watch the clear skies on both the nights.
Phi-Phi would always hold a special place in my heart for we celebrating our 5th marriage anniversary with a beautiful beach side dinner.
