Phi Phi Part I
So we moved to Kata Beach then we took a bus to Phuket Town, only a short distance away, and Jim did his last diving class. The day he was gone I walked super far to the Immigration Office to find out about extending our visas, since we are getting really close to 30 days. Technically, a 10-day extension should cost 500 baht ($13), but the office said 1,900 baht ($50), so it was better for us to make a border run, which means going to another country just to get a stamp and come back immediately to Thailand, and you’ve got another 30 days then. We only need to go to the Similan Islands and Ko Tao and Ko Pha-Ngan, which are right next to each other. Anyway.
The first night we were in Phuket Town, Jim and I just walked around as usual, and I really wanted something sweet but we couldn’t find anything. Went back to the hotel, and Jim went on a quest and came back with a little box with a piece of cake in it!! How NICE!!! But after closer inspection there was something green in the frosting…like mold… So I ate around it.
I also went to a shopping mall there the day Jim was in class and I was looking through a big pile of cheap underwear (finally I was alone so I could look at things!) and the saleslady starts pressuring me a little, so I went and tried one on, and I told her afterwards that it didn’t fit right, so she started putting it around me, like around my ribcage. In this crowded department store. I laughed a little nervously, figuring she was trying to size it. Then she pulled it up and I was basically wearing a freaking bra over my shirt in a department store!! Talk about embarrassing!! So she handed me another to try on, and, well, she talked me into buying two pairs of underwear… so….she totally pressured me, but it didn’t seem like pressuring!! Argh. Anyway, the underwear must be for stinking’ Asian girls because they are way too small. Oh well, it all cost only like $5.
SO. It was SO HOT that day.. Oh man.
We decided to take a day trip to Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee). It is supposed to be gorgeous. So the next morning we got on a huge boat (the Phi Phi Cruiser) and it took 1 hour and 45 minutes. By the time we got to the island, we realized we needed to spend more time there. So we reserved a hotel room for the next day and took the boat back, got another boat for tomorrow. Yeah, it was all bassakwards and involved lots of hours on boats, but we got back to Phi Phi and it was awesome.
Arriving at Phi Phi. (Months later note: After the tsunami in Dec ’04, I heard not a building was left standing except for the Phi Phi Hotel–the white building in the middle.
First of all, the hotel was the nicest one we ever stayed at. It included an amazing buffet breakfast with corn flakes, milk, juices, fruits, bacon, sausage, boiled and scrambled eggs, tea, coffee, toast, beans, rice, noodles, ham….. MAN! We stuffed ourselves. All our other breakfasts here were awful.
The room also had a TV, minibar, beach towels and, best of all, a secure electronic safe! The only bad part is that it smelled like sewage outside (not unusual, though).
TO BE CONTINUED… I PROMISE, THE GOOD PART IS NEXT….
(Right now we are in Ranong and tomorrow we are doing a border run into Burma, then going to Ko Tao.)
Tags: Thailand
Kelly