Day Six.

Phi Phi by speedboat.

After the usual frantic corralling of 14 year-olds at 6:30am we ate a hasty breakfast and waited for our transfer to the marina to start our journey.

Morning view at Breakfast.

Breakfast. I think the hill looks like the view from Dromana. :)

I freaked out a bit when the van arrived without our names on the register but another soon followed and we were on our way. Through Phuket's main drag and up and over the ridge of the peninsula to the other side. The roads were steep and crowded with billboards and industry as usual.

The Royal Phuket Marina was a world apart; where the rich didn't have to look at the poor unless they were sweeping leaves with straw brooms. We received our yellow stickers that designated us to a group of about forty others and we soon boarded our speedboat for the 40 minute scoot over to the island.

Our guide of the day was a friendly native who called himself Mr Boy (insisting it wasn't Mr. ladyboy... random giggles amongst the passengers). He was great, constantly handing out drinks, making fish and flowers from drinking straws all to keep us entertained as the three outboards roared.

And there it was, Phi Phi Don, the larger of the two islands, rising vertically from the sea with sea eagles drawing lazy circles above. It was fantastic.

On the speedboat.

We stopped on Monkey Beach where vicious monkeys badgered us for food and we respectfully kept our distance. One hissed at Ashley and one fixed Sharon with a glare that freaked her out (rabies is quite a problem in this part of the world and they say one tourist a day sustains a bite from the little buggers).

Then we pressed on to a sheltered cove around the corner and did some snorkeling which we all loved. Fish of all varieties as well as urchins and clams an starfish populated the reef.

From there it was a short trip to the other side of the island. The weather was glorious and Mr. Boy plied us with Cokes and water and Longan fruit and bristly red Rambutan.

One of the more traditional boats moored at Phi Phi Don

These guys keep following me around.

Here we ate lunch and wandered the sleepy ocean side shops before proceeding to the smaller of the islands, Phi Phi Leh. More snorkeling was the go here and the fish were more diverse than before adding angel fish and teal parrot fish to the list.

Brad with Mr. Boy

Stunning views.

 Thirty minutes of splashing about and we moved on to the beach where they filmed “The Beach” with Leonardo Di'Caprio. The site has 1000 visitors a day in the high season but mercifully for us there were only sixty or so people there. Very serene.

the beach from "The Beach" and the kids.

Last stop was another product placement stopover. Pearl island where we were ushered into a pearl store. We sidestepped the queue and sat on some deck chairs until a guy came by to charge us 50 Baht to use them. Rather than pay we got up and went for a stroll along the small island's pristine beach. A storm was rolling in to punctuate the fine weather and small crabs scuttled away from our toes and plunged into the surf. All made for some good photos.

The easy life until we had to pay for it.

The weather closing in.

The rains opened as we departed and found its way sideways into the open back of the boat. Many sat under towels for the rest of the way. Low tide meant that several (10?) boats similar to ours had become marooned on entering the marina. We queued in the rain and waited for marina police (I guess that's what they were) helped people off the stranded boats and onto smaller vessels. Ours was fine and when the backlog cleared, we powered into the marina and said goodbye to Mr. Boy.

Dinner at the hotel. A clear night with nearly full moon illuminating Phuket. Distant soundless lightning to the right and a firework display over the beaches to the left made for the perfect backdrop for a curry.

Goodnight!