We weren’t really sure where to go after our stay in Chang Mai. We were getting tired of traveling and tired of moving from city to city. We were ready to slow things down and head toward the ocean. We found a cheap flight to Phuket and off we went.
Phuket is a large island on the western coast of Thailand. It is not a place we had planned or really wanted to visit. Phuket is known for its crazy bars and heavy amounts of prostitution. However, since we had to fly there to get to Koh Phi Phi, we decided to stay one night and check it out. We stayed at a hostel called Cheap Charlie’s. The owner, Gregg, picked us up from the airport when we arrived. Greg was probably in his 60’s. He was from California and moved across the Pacific over 30 years ago...and had not been to the United States since. He may have had a few screws loose, but he was extremely kind and helpful. Rather than driving us straight to the hostel he drove us around the island and give us a tour of the various beaches.
By the time we got settled into our place it was already dinner time. We ate dinner at the hostel and braced ourselves for a quick walk down the infamous Bangla Road in Patong.
I don’t know exactly how to put it into words, but again it was just a disappointing sight. I found myself asking how such a beautiful island can turn into such a disgraceful place. There were numerous trashy bars with bright neon lights and very very young half naked Thai girls dancing around on stage and parading down the streets. Lindsey and I stopped into a pub that looked safe had 1 beer and decided we had enough.
Despite the unappealing sights, Phuket had something else to offer us that turned out to be an unforgettable experience. When Greg was giving us a drive by tour of the island he mentioned to us that the Vegetarian Festival was currently taking place. He told us many restaurants won’t be serving any meat because no animals are killed during the festival. He also explained that those that participate remain "pure" for the duration. They wear only white, don’t have sex, don't eat meat, and don’t drink alcohol. Every morning during the 10 day festival there is also a parade/procession held. Greg had mentioned that he had actually never been to the parade so instead of catching the morning ferry out of Phuket we hitched a ride with Greg to the other side of the island the following morning to check us the parade. Just look at the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(***WARNING: some of the below pictures are extremely disturbing and graphic***)
They stuck anything and everything through their faces. There were also groups of them holding axes. They would stop in front of a temple and begin some sort of dance. During the dance they swung the ax into their backs. Then they would stop, placed the ax on their forehead and saw a cut into it. You just don’t see anything like that back home...maybe not anywhere else in the world. Interestingly, this is a Chinese festival, however, the Vegetarian Festival held in China apparently is not anywhere near as violent and self-destructive as in Thailand.
Our short stay in Phuket certainly proved to reveal more than we had anticipated!
After the parade we boarded a ferry to a small island called Koh Phi Phi. We were told that the west side of the island was a small party town, and the east side was host to some secluded beach bungalows. We were hoping to stay on the east side of the island, rent a motorbike, and potentially spend up to a week exploring the island by bike, being away from the crowds, but having the option of driving into to town if we felt too isolated. The first thing we discovered when we got to Koh Phi Phi was there are no cars or motorbikes…. or for that matter roads on the entire island!!! This wasn’t the best place to hunker down for a week since the only way to go from one side of the island to the other was by boat taxi and they were expensive...in Thai terms. Our new plan was to stay 1 night in town then head over to the east side and be away from it all for a couple days.
Koh Phi Phi town was a very interesting place. We trekked through the town in absolutely torrential rain and checked into a cheap hotel for the night. When the rain subsided, a bit, we took a stroll through the narrow streets. As we walked around we received flyer after flyer advertising the best beach party in town is at “this bar” tonight! We didn’t exactly intend on doing a lot of partying, but we figured we had to check out this beach. We walked to the beach area only to discover a scene that belonged to Cancun or Jos Van Dyke. It was beach bar next to beach bar with loud music and fire shows. We took a seat on the beach grabbed a couple of beers and enjoyed the show.
Some of these guys were very talented.
I found it interested that pretty much everyone vacationing here was in their twenties. The majorities were from Australia, and the rest were European. So basically this is this part of Koh Phi Phi is the Cancun for the other side of the world.
The next morning we hoped on a boat taxi and headed to Ao Toh Ko Resort. As we circled the island we passed a couple of secluded beaches and were wondering if the place we were going to was going to be similar. Indeed it was. We pulled into a small stretch of beach that housed one resort. Now when I say resort it isn’t the type of resort you are thinking of. The place was owned by a local family. There was a restaurant which had an attached kitchen, and directly behind the kitchen was where the family lived. Along the beach and up the hill there were small bungalows. Our bungalow had 2 beds, a porch with a hammock, and an attached outhouse/bathroom. They were very rustic. In fact, we only had electricity from 7PM till 5AM. But the view from our bungalow was great.
There were only a few people staying here so the beach was literarily ours. Just a short swim out and you were staring down at some beautiful corals. On my first snorkel I saw a great barracuda! Since there was only 1 restaurant on this stretch of beach we had to eat all of our meals there. Fortunately, it was cheap and delicious food. We spent the first day swimming, reading, playing cards, and just relaxing.
On day 2 we decided to hire the boat taxi to take us to Koh Phi Phi Leh, a small island just off the southern most tip of Phi Phi Don (where the were staying.) The trip started off in a secluded lagoon where we enjoyed some amazing snorkeling.
After this, we headed onto the island and arrived at the Ma Ya Bay, wherethe movie, “The Beach,” was filmed. This area was breathtaking, but also incredibly crowded with tourists.
After our time here we got back on the boat and checked out another swimming lagoon. From there we headed to Monkey Island. Again, the pictures will explain why it is called monkey island!
After our morning excursion it was back to the easy life on our secluded beach. As tranquil as this place was, we knew that 2 days was enough. It was a bit too isolated. We found a cheap flight to an island on the east coast of Thailand, Koh Samui. The following morning we were on the move again…
Stay Thirsty my Friends,
Matt and Lindsey
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