We woke up around 8, packed up, and headed to the beach where the boat to Koh Phi Phi would pick us up. We boarded a longtail boat, shown below, on the beach. This boat took us out into deeper waters where we boarded a larger passenger boat.
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| Longtail Boat |
When I studied abroad in Bangkok in summer 2011, I visited Koh Phi Phi (pronounced "pee pee") for a long weekend. It is an island with beautiful beaches and rock formations jutting up out of the water, similar to Railay Beach. The difference between Phi Phi and Railay is that Phi Phi is well-known for its beach bars and all-night party scene. We decided that this made it an excellent destination to celebrate our great nation's birthday while abroad.
We got off of the boat and paid the entrance fee for "keeping Phi Phi clean." It was 20 baht ($0.66). There are no motorized vehicles on Phi Phi, so we walked our way through the streets to a big hostel up on a hill with dorm rooms called the Rock Backpacker.
We chose to stay in one of their dorm rooms, as we had not yet stayed in a backpacker dorm and wanted to meet some other travelers. The dorm rooms are cinderblock buildings with an array of fans inside. The bunkbeds are made out of tube steel and the mattresses and pillows are made from some kind of rubber. The staff furnish you with a fitted sheet, pillow case, and towel. If you took a flamethrower to the interior of this room, I am confident that it would remain largely in tact. It is depicted below:
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| Rock Backpacker Dorm Room |
The bathrooms for the dorm rooms and the private rooms are shared and are up the stairs from the dorm. The sinks are outside and following picture is the view from the sinks:
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| Teeth-brushing scenery |
Upon reaching the top, we paid the 20 baht fee to see the viewpoint to the women that live up there. The view was breathtaking.
We hiked down, went back to the dorm, and showered. KA took a nap and I got a massage. I came back and woke her up for dinner. It was pouring down rain so we walked across the street to a restaurant. We were joined by two new friends from the hostel; a beautiful Chilean girl who had just graduated from medical school, and Job, a 19 year-old British guy traveling alone. During the meal, Job told us the horrific story of his motorcycle crash with a cow in rural Laos where he sustained injuries that required facial reconstructive surgery and a long stay in a Bangkok hospital.
Then we went back to the dorm room and met some more of our dorm mates. There were 3 Aussies and 2 British guys, both named Tom, that we would spend the next few days with. We had a few beers, and I told them that I wanted to celebrate the 4th of July the next day. They agreed to join me in my celebration. We then ventured out to the beach bars, which were only a short walk away. The bars are like nightclubs, but only playing electronic music, on the beach, until about 6am. We explored the scene, but soon headed to bed to prepare for one of the most important days of the year.
