The Andaman Coast of Thailand

After a quick 20 minute puddle jump from Penang on a small propeller plane, we landed in Phuket Thailand. (pronounced Poo-ket) Not knowing that there was a time difference between the two countries, we waited an extra hour for a public bus to take us to Phuket town to stay for the night. We found this amazing place in Old town called 99 old town guest house. At night, we got the best italian food, (gnochi and pasta) from the street over and washed it all down with wine.

The next morning we caught a ferry on the Andaman Sea to a very popular island called Koh Phi Phi (pronounced Ko P. P.) We had heard the beaches were amazing and Roy couldn't wait to get back in the water. For those who have seen the movie the Beach with Leonardo Dicaprio, the movie was filmed at this island because the island looks undisputedly like paradise.

 When we arrived, everything we had hoped was true! Well sort of. The beach was as expectedly beautiful as we had imagined with white sandy beaches and blue turquoise water on one of the days (minus some spots of trash which was such a bummer) We even got to see some of the spectacular untouched views when we went kayaking. The vertical rocks and landscape were just breathtaking.

On a not so happy note, we want to show how badly many of the beaches here are polluted with trash. This was the high tide line on the seemingly empty beach in paradise in the photo above. The amount of garbage that is thrown into the ocean here is horrendous. Most everywhere we have visited on this trip we have seen similar scenes. Waste management is often poor, especially on small islands with huge influxes of tourists. Many locals dont seem to have much of a concern for the issue, and it is so sad. We always make sure to leave no trash of our own left behind and encourage others to do the same when we witness someone littering, but there must be more done to stop this. 

Aside from that, this island was a tourist mecca. Word has gotten out about this spectacular island. Phi Phi is jam packed with guest houses, hostels, tourist centers, massage shops, souvenir shops, restaurants tattoo shops, bars and clubs everywhere with music blasting till the wee hours of the night. If you want to party all night, sober up on the beach the next morning and repeat, then this is the place is for you. If you are trying to relax or experience local culture, we would not recommend staying in the heart of the island. Don't get us wrong, we sure enjoyed our time in Koh Phi Phi especially to celebrate the Red Sox victory and Halloween but a few days was more than enough.

It took us a little while to figure out where to take the ferry next. We had heard such great things about Railey (a beach city off the mainland) and thought it would a nice place to check out but we ended up choosing Koh Lanta, another island close by and known for being a little quieter. No mistake, we sure chose the right place.

After a two hour ferry ride, and a quick check into a bungalow, we found ourselves basking in the hot sun on the pristine beach in paradise! It was such a beautiful place and it seemed like we had it all to ourselves.

To our surprise, Roy's friend Greg and his friend Kevin were also visiting Koh Lanta! For the next few days we enjoyed the Island together. One day we rented a Tuk Tuk which is a scooter with a large cart attached to the side with many seats and a cover. It kind of looked like a golf cart. The tuk tuk was very hard to drive, especially going up steep hills! But it was a blast.

 We stopped at a chill cafe called Shanti Shanti where we got some excellent homemade ice cream. We also tried barbecue duck that was mouth-watering. They were little crispy slivers we dunked into some amazing brown sauce. So good. We went back again for more.

We had such a great time hanging out on Koh Lanta and playing this really addicting game called dots with Greg and Kevin but unfortunately they had to be on their way. Our last day on the Island we relaxed on the beach and toured the Island on a motorbike. We ended the day at sunset bar where we grabbed a drink and watched a killer sunset!

Our next place of interest to visit was Khao Sok National Park. To get there we needed to catch a ferry and bus to a town on the mainland called Krabi and then take a 2 hour Mini bus ride the following morning to the park. So it was on to Krabi for the day!

We got off the mini bus and automatically started sweating! It was so hot! We quickly found a nice fan-only room on the main road call Good Dream House and went out looking for some food. We were not picky on what we wanted to eat we just wanted air conditioning! We hit the jack pot when we sat down at this trendy looking place called May and Marks. Roy got an amazing Thai Curry pizza and Siobhan got a chicken pot pie. Both were great!

The next few hours we walked along the river and did some shopping. Roy was ecstatic to buy Siobhan some sweet baggy elephant pants. The day passed quickly as it was time for dinner. We headed to the night markets to check out the food! 

The first market was full of produce stalls selling all kind of exotic fruits and goodies. The second night market had locals cooking all sorts of traditional thai dishes.

 When our bellies were full we went back to our room to watch the movie The Beach as Siobhan had never seen it before and then went straight to bed for an early morning start.