Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

Having never been to the beaches of Thailand, I certainly had some speculation. I always wonder if they really are as beautiful as what you see, and beyond that, if these destinations have become too touristy for their own good. Ko Phi Phi has the familiar name, which is generally a ref flag when it comes to places becoming overrun with annoying tourists and gap year students spending most of their time drunk. Well I have to admit that this annoying tourist was pretty dang impressed with this island in the middle of the Andaman Sea between Krabi and Phuket.

The day started with a ferry trip from Railay Beach to Ko Phi Phi. A small longboat picked us up on the beach and then took us out to a larger ferry boat where we boarded in the middle of the sea!



All of the ferries drop you off in the main village on Ko Phi Phi, which in reality is a solid mess of tourist shops and overpriced bars & restaurants. Don't get me wrong, it's basically where everything exciting is on the island, but the beaches aren't great and it's a bit busy if you're looking for the serene, sandy beaches on the postcards. I decided to book accommodations on the Long Beach area of Ko Phi Phi which is a ten minute longboat ride from the main village. So after we landed, we hopped on a longboat and then found our accommodation which were bungalows scattered at the top of a hill overlooking the sea and beaches below. We dropped our stuff off and then headed down to the beach to grab some lunch.



We spent the afternoon snorkeling in the sea for hours. It ends up that Long Beach is actually a prime place for snorkeling and many of the snorkeling day-trips stop here for a while to let their passengers jump in and look around. We felt pretty lucky that we could do this right from where we were staying, and order some mango shakes to enjoy during a break! The snorkeling was incredible; we had hundreds of fish swimming around us at all times over the shallow reef, and I even saw a reef shark at one point.



As the evening got closer, we decided to head back in to Ko Phi Phi village to do some shopping and get some dinner. I got some cool shots from the boat.



We spent a couple hours strolling through all of the shops and picking up some gifts. Eventually we settled at a restaurant on the sand and enjoyed some dinner on the beach. The sunset was amazing that night and it capped a perfect day in paradise.



The next day we got up and enjoyed breakfast and another afternoon on the beach before we got a boat back to Krabi for our last night. I have to admit that Ko Phi Phi really was as amazing as it looks. Generally I get pretty bored on beaches after 30 mins and look for something else to do, but I could have spent days lounging around, snorkeling and enjoying the local flavors on this island. I would definitely recommend staying in one of the areas outside of the main village since it's easy to get there at any time.

Railay, Thailand

There exists a place called Krabi, which is a small province on the west coast of Thailand. I'm not going to try and describe what this place is like because the pictures will speak for themselves. It's pretty much a magical land that blends amazing beaches, dramatic cliffs, thick forests, mountain-top temples, and classic Thai culture. Oh, and incredible food. It's definitely like a place that you see on TV or on postcards but never think that it actually exists. Well it does, and now I'm going to tell you about it...

After arriving at the airport, travelers generally go to one of a few places in the area. Our destination for the first two nights was in a beautiful area named Railay. Although this distant peninsula is connected to the mainland, the only way to get there is by longboat as roads cannot be built through the impossibly steep and jagged cliffs that cover the landscape. After we waited for enough people to fill our longboat, we enjoyed the hour journey skimming above the water admiring the views. We arrived during low tide which meant the boat had to stop a decent distance from the shore and we had to hop out!




I had booked a resort to stay in on the West Railay beach, which was across a narrow strip of separating the east and west coasts. We walked to our resort where we found my name printed on the welcome board along with a beachside pool & restaurant and individual bungalows for guests. Definitely not my normal accommodation choice, but as my travel companion was my mother I felt it was appropriate. We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the incredible views along the beach and even spent a little time at the pool.





We were lucky to witness an amazing sunset during dinner as well!



After breakfast the next morning, I decided to explore the area a bit. I started by walking over to Phra Nang Beach, which is often voted as one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand. Unfortunately, by the time I got there so had about 1000 other tourists who got dropped off by boats on day trips, so I decided not to stay very long. I felt pretty happy that I was staying somewhere that people took day trips to, which was good enough for me. There was a pretty cool shrine in a cave that I checked out before I left.



I had read about a short hike you can take to a lookout above the cliffs, so that was my main goal for the morning. Along the path, I noticed there were a bunch of ropes that were basically dangling from above. I soon realized that this was the path that led up to the viewpoint, so I grabbed a rope and used it to boost myself slowly but surely up the steep path. Eventually, covered in sweat, I made it to the top and passed some monkeys on the trail before I got to the viewpoint. It was pretty incredible.



After I managed to get down from the cliff, which was decidedly more sketchy than climbing up, I continued to explore the area and found a cave that also considered itself a National Park. This was probably my favorite part of the day as the cave was very impressive. The formations inside were awesome and the cave eventually opened up into a large room where I sat and enjoyed the surroundings for a while.



After an afternoon at the pool, we enjoyed another amazing sunset during dinner and even some fireworks on the beach!



Railay was just our first stop on this land of paradise. Stay tuned for more!!