Rabies, Liver poisoning and sunburn are possibly some of the ailments I got on Ko Phi Phi.
Being still a bit monsoon-y there were some evil heavy black clouds that chased the ferry over to the island. The island quickly grew from a blip on the horizon to a beautiful looming paradise. We arrived, and hurriedly scampered off the boat to take shelter before the rain hit. To my delight I discovered a guy holding a sign with the name of the accommodation I had pre-booked on it - The tropical garden bungalows. They had put on a taxi! However a thing I immediately discovered about Ko Phi Phi is that there isn't really any motorised transport. As such my taxi was in fact a wheelbarrow.
My backpack was unceremoniously dumped into the taxibarrow - and we walked to the "tropical garden bungalows". It lived up to its name, bustling as it was with vegetation and animal life. The animal life consisted of either cats, or cages containing assorted hooting and sqwaking birds of prey. Once I got to my bungalow found that there was one such cage a few feet from my door with a rather animated hawk screeching and flapping away incessantly in it. This made me a little concerned about getting any sleep.
I headed out to explore the little town of the island. It was thronged with holiday makers. A typical tourist seemed to be about 25, European, and too drunk to walk. That night I got to know a few such people and went round some of the multitude of shops, tattoo places, restaurants and bars that the town boasts. I also discovered a talent for "beer pong" I didn't realise I possessed.
The night concluded, I had become suitably inebriated and so stumbled my way back to the hut. I bid goodnight to the my pet hawk (still making a racket),and discovered a little cat on my front door step. How cute! I thought as it hissed and spat at me. I leaned down to tickle its belly, and it rewarded me with a massive scratch on my hand.
The next day I was horrified by my wound. Was that just a grumpy cat... or did it have a more sinister ailment? Could it have even been [dun dun DUUN] rabies? Well I was hungover and paranoid, so decided it was definitely rabies. With that I headed straight to a doctor to get a booster shot. I found one, and he proceeded to stick me with more needles than an acupuncturist - just to be sure I was ok.
With my wallet considerably lighter, and my arm considerably sorer, I decided to go and shop around for some new digs that were a bit cheaper and preferably did not feature birds of prey with verbal diarrhea. I managed to quickly find some nearby, and moved in.
I had a few party loving neighbors. On one side were some heavily accented Essex girls called Chelsea and Chantelle. They appeared to be indefinitely stationed on Phi Phi working in one of the bars. On the other side were Lee and Lisa - a couple of holidaying work-mates from London.
That evening me and the Londoners visited a number of bars and beachfront places. The first was one called the "reggae reggae bar". As soon as we got to there my friends lined up 10 buckets of booze, intent on drinking Phi Phi out of alcohol. The bar boasted daily Muai Thai boxing matches. I hadn't seen one before, so was keen to see what it was like. I think that it was the second time that one of the boxers did a double backward somersault after being punched that I got an inkling the matches might have been a tiny bit jazzed up with some amusing pantomime.
I yet again drifted quickly into drunkenness and the rest of the night is a fractured blur of getting bitten by mosquitos; watching fire juggling and failing to dance.
The following day in order to nurse my hangover I decided to take in some of the scenery of the beautiful Ko Phi Phi. The morning was a boat tour on which I nursed my head and struggled to keep my breakfast down. It had a few stops, on one I watched some fat monkeys on a beach getting fed pineapple by tourists. Another stop was at Phi Phi Lai - the little island where they filmed "the beach". I didn't spot Leo.
In the afternoon I decided to head to a view point up one of the hills, which proved to be a foolhardy mistake given my hangover. I very nearly died from a mixture of hyperventilation and dehydration climbing up (what felt like) the hundred billion stairs to the top. The view was spectacular though, and I could fully see the island's figure of 8 shape, with the little central town flanked by two forested hills.
Even though Phi Phi as big as a volkwagon and stuffed with visitors there is a lot of fun to be had on the beautiful island and it was too soon before I had to go. Despite being sad about leaving I was also excited, because I was off to join the diving factory on Ko Tao!
Being still a bit monsoon-y there were some evil heavy black clouds that chased the ferry over to the island. The island quickly grew from a blip on the horizon to a beautiful looming paradise. We arrived, and hurriedly scampered off the boat to take shelter before the rain hit. To my delight I discovered a guy holding a sign with the name of the accommodation I had pre-booked on it - The tropical garden bungalows. They had put on a taxi! However a thing I immediately discovered about Ko Phi Phi is that there isn't really any motorised transport. As such my taxi was in fact a wheelbarrow.
My backpack was unceremoniously dumped into the taxibarrow - and we walked to the "tropical garden bungalows". It lived up to its name, bustling as it was with vegetation and animal life. The animal life consisted of either cats, or cages containing assorted hooting and sqwaking birds of prey. Once I got to my bungalow found that there was one such cage a few feet from my door with a rather animated hawk screeching and flapping away incessantly in it. This made me a little concerned about getting any sleep.
I headed out to explore the little town of the island. It was thronged with holiday makers. A typical tourist seemed to be about 25, European, and too drunk to walk. That night I got to know a few such people and went round some of the multitude of shops, tattoo places, restaurants and bars that the town boasts. I also discovered a talent for "beer pong" I didn't realise I possessed.
 |
| winning at beer pong |
 |
| wanted: this cat |
The next day I was horrified by my wound. Was that just a grumpy cat... or did it have a more sinister ailment? Could it have even been [dun dun DUUN] rabies? Well I was hungover and paranoid, so decided it was definitely rabies. With that I headed straight to a doctor to get a booster shot. I found one, and he proceeded to stick me with more needles than an acupuncturist - just to be sure I was ok.
With my wallet considerably lighter, and my arm considerably sorer, I decided to go and shop around for some new digs that were a bit cheaper and preferably did not feature birds of prey with verbal diarrhea. I managed to quickly find some nearby, and moved in.
I had a few party loving neighbors. On one side were some heavily accented Essex girls called Chelsea and Chantelle. They appeared to be indefinitely stationed on Phi Phi working in one of the bars. On the other side were Lee and Lisa - a couple of holidaying work-mates from London.
That evening me and the Londoners visited a number of bars and beachfront places. The first was one called the "reggae reggae bar". As soon as we got to there my friends lined up 10 buckets of booze, intent on drinking Phi Phi out of alcohol. The bar boasted daily Muai Thai boxing matches. I hadn't seen one before, so was keen to see what it was like. I think that it was the second time that one of the boxers did a double backward somersault after being punched that I got an inkling the matches might have been a tiny bit jazzed up with some amusing pantomime.
I yet again drifted quickly into drunkenness and the rest of the night is a fractured blur of getting bitten by mosquitos; watching fire juggling and failing to dance.
The following day in order to nurse my hangover I decided to take in some of the scenery of the beautiful Ko Phi Phi. The morning was a boat tour on which I nursed my head and struggled to keep my breakfast down. It had a few stops, on one I watched some fat monkeys on a beach getting fed pineapple by tourists. Another stop was at Phi Phi Lai - the little island where they filmed "the beach". I didn't spot Leo.
In the afternoon I decided to head to a view point up one of the hills, which proved to be a foolhardy mistake given my hangover. I very nearly died from a mixture of hyperventilation and dehydration climbing up (what felt like) the hundred billion stairs to the top. The view was spectacular though, and I could fully see the island's figure of 8 shape, with the little central town flanked by two forested hills.
Even though Phi Phi as big as a volkwagon and stuffed with visitors there is a lot of fun to be had on the beautiful island and it was too soon before I had to go. Despite being sad about leaving I was also excited, because I was off to join the diving factory on Ko Tao!
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