Tuesday 15th March 2016… (Koh Phi Phi – Koh Lanta – Koh Ngai)

Today we woke up bright & breezy after a well needed early night! We were lucky to have breakfast included with our room, so we enjoyed eating our body weight in food at the buffet!! (You have to make the most of free food when you are poor travellers!!) 
This afternoon, we have enjoyed snorkelling around the beach at Koh Ngai.. It’s surprising just how many different kinds of fish there are… The neon ones are by far my favourite! (Sorry about the lack of photos.. we forgot our go pro, so are going to take some later!) we have also hired kayaks today to explore around the island! We are now sipping a delicious coconut milkshake each! Yum! 

   

     

Here is a short summary of what we have been up to so far – 

Tuesday 8th March – we relocated from Patong and caught a ferry to ‘ Koh Phi Phi Island’. I am not sure I will forget this day, as *prepare yourselves* it was the first account of diarrhoea for me :((((. Every travel blog I have read has warned about the icky tummy experiences from travelling in South East Asia, but just before catching a ferry really could not have come at any worse timing! Especially as there was no toilet paper and instead only a spray hose! (Bad times 😦 ) anyhow.. 

Moving on… Two hours later, all was good, as I had taken my tablets & also we had arrived in paradise (I know I am starting to over use this word, but honestly Thailand is beautiful & the more places we visit, the better the beaches and scenery is getting). We hadn’t booked anywhere to stay, so we stopped at a bakery outside the port where we both had an ice coffee and were able to tap into the free wifi. We managed to find a reasonably inexpensive bungalow hut called ‘Bamboo Mountain View Phi Phi resort’. When we checked in we were lucky to be upgraded to a room with both a fan and air conditioning at no extra cost! (The little things that really make a difference!). 

 

     

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Wednesday 9th March – after a decent nights sleep escaping the constant noise of Patong, we were relieved to feel full of energy and ready to explore the island! We spent the morning snorkelling in the beautiful waters of ‘Long Beach’.. It was a bit of a long treck up hill getting there, but was so worth it! 

 

Thursday 10th March – this day will always be memorable & stand out in my mind, as I woke up to honestly the best news ever! I had an email saying that I have been accepted into MENTAL HEALTH NURSING AT THE UEA! My dream career is now in sight and I will be a nurse in three years time, helping vulnerable people, which is amazing! Words can not put into perspective just how happy I was to receive this exciting news! #nursejess! Horaaaay! What made it better was that we took a long tail boat and went island hopping around Phi Phi! We started at Long Beach and then finished in Bamboo Island! On the tour we visited the beautiful ‘Maya Bay’, famously known for its filming location for ‘The Beach’, starring Leonardo De Caprio (Wit woo! 😉 ) Although it was very busy and surrounded by tourism it was definitely a sight to see with the crystal waters and pure white beach! We also visited ‘Monkey Beach’! It was hilarious watching the monkeys and their cheekiness! One even climbed onto our boat and pinched a bottle of water! Other places that we visited were – ‘Viking Cave’, ‘Loh Samah Bay’, ‘Pi Leh Cove’, ‘Rock Camel’, ‘Mosquito Island’ and ‘Shark Point’. We were able to snorkel at each destination, which was great! On the way back we were lucky enough to catch the sunset… It was very romantic…

In the evening we celebrated my news by treating ourselves to a candle lite meal by the bay… I had a cheeky cocktail called a ‘Porn Star’, whilst Harry enjoyed his favourite… Chang beer! 

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Friday 11th March – tattoo time! Unfortunately, I wasn’t brave enough, but Harry had a bamboo tattoo on his ribs “Hakuna Matata”… (Means ‘no worries’ in Swahili) Despite the stresses of getting the design right, we got there eventually! If anything I’m sure we will never forget the experience that went with it!!! After, we treated ourselves to a ‘Chocolate brownie and Oreo icecream’ made from scratch.. before catching a ferry across to Koh Lanta…

On the ferry a kind man asked us if we had booked any accommodation.. He was very helpful and he managed to find exactly what we were looking for. For 600 baht he recommended us a place to stay, which included a free transfer from the ferry port. (Bear in mind the taxi alone would have costed 600 baht). We arrived and checked into our bamboo hut… To our relief, the bed was a lot cleaner than our previous hut!! We took a walk to the beach where we enjoyed a game of jenga and connect 4, whilst sipping cocktails and beer! In the evening we met a couple who were also travelling; they recommended that we definitely visited Chang Mai & went to the elephant sanctuary where you can help look after elephants! (Cute!) We also had a FaceTime session with Grandma & Charlotte… It was great to see them both keeping well & of course to see my darling puppy dog Barney (miss him so much 😦 ). We also enjoyed a game of pool with the locals, which was a great end to the evening!

    

     
        
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Saturday 12th March – we got up early and visited a nearby waterfall. It was nice to explore our surroundings & take a walk through the jungle where we were shaded by the trees. On the walk to the waterfall we saw some elephants.. It was very sad to see them being spoken to aggressively by their owners & the poor animals looked exhausted. When we reached the waterfall it was quite dried out, although it was half expected, given the dry season! The rest of the day was spent snorkelling and relaxing on the beach… Oooh it’s a hard life!! 🙂 

   
  
        

Sunday 13th March – we spent the day enjoying the sunshine on the beautiful beach of ‘Klong Jark’, South of Koh Lanta! We found ourselves the best bar ever, which had a raised balcony area with comfy cushions overlooking the beach. Music was top – anything from a bit of Bob Marley to Jack Johnson, everything is so chilled here! The Thai people were once again so so friendly & you can really understand why Thailand is often referred to as ‘the land of smiles’. 

Where we were staying was a little village consisting of bamboo huts in Klong Hin. It had such a friendly vibe. Since day 1 of arriving at Koh Lanta, we felt very welcomed into the Thai community. We were encouraged to socialise with the Thai family who owned the huts, which was great! There was a little Thai girl who lived there named ‘Lipda’ who was only 18 months old… she was so beautiful & I loved how she recognised Harry and I & gave me a daily cuddle! 

           

  
Monday 14th March – we took a long tail boat from the beach at Koh Lanta to Koh Ngai.. We arrived into yet another world of paradise with clear blue waters and beautiful white sand! It was a relief to be somewhere, which like Koh Lanta was not overpopulated or crowded with tourism! After a bit of trouble finding somewhere to stay (there are only 7 accommodation places on the island) we eventually managed to book into a hotel complex by the pier! It was rather luxurious in comparison to our previous hut!!! So, we decided to play it safe & book a couple of nights! We enjoyed snorkelling around the beach, as well as a dip in the pool to cool down! In the evening we eat at the restaurant bar, which overlooked the beach (perfect!) 

   
     
  

So there we go… consider yourselves all updated! Wishing you all in England better weather!
Love to you all,

Jess & Harry. Xx