The short trip there by minibus was quite an eyeopener. Only Patong, looks like Patong. Everywhere else the beaches are relatively quiet, for example Kata Beach. It was huge and had by far more luxurious hotels like the Hilton. We had to go up and down the hill and saw a couple of elephants along the way. It was an awesome sight. It was as though they were tame enough to keep as cows in the villager's backyards!
Plenty of speedboats set out from Chalong Bay daily. Flippers for snorkeling were rented out at 100B a pair, but we didn't feel the need to get any. Before long we were off on our speedboat! We managed to be seated right at the front where the wind was right in our faces.
I was thrilled to be on the speedboat for the first time in my life. With a slight tilt of my head upwards, I could feel the air gushing into my nostrils. It actually required effort to exhale! With the wind blasting itself at me, we had to shout to be heard.
We reached a little piece of paradise known as Maya Bay. It was where the Leonardo Dicaprio movie "The Beach" was filmed. I believe that the the movie made the place one of the must-see places out in the Phi Phi Islands.
However, the same fact drove tonnes of tourists and the place was horribly overcrowded when we arrived. It didn't really look like paradise. There was a small area for tourists to swim and at that point of time there were about 7 speedboats packed by the beach.
Still we stayed to admire the towering scenery around us. It really made one feel small in the face of such giants. It was as if they were living and breathing and looking down on us like we were nothing. They stood there timeless... although not unchanging. It was said that the place looked slightly different before the Tsunami hit.
We then entered Loh Sama Bay. It didn't have a beach but it was another wonderful sight. It was like a small secret place with a short stretch of sea leading into it. Upon entering, you feel yourself almost totally surrounded by the huge rocks, with greenery bursting from them at every possible spot.
I was really happy to be able to see the wonderful sights and that the weather was really good. I think it was drizzling the day before and we were trying hard to feel optimistic that good weather would hold. We didn't stay there for long, and thinking back, I would've liked to experience that peace and noiselessness for a longer period of time. Okay so maybe I'm dreaming a bit. There were many other speedboats making their way in and out of there as well! That affected the serenity just a bit. I had to just block everything out and concentrate on the view.
The irony.
Next we visited Viking Cave. There used to be people living in there, but it has since been rather abandoned and functions as nothing more than a spot for sightseeing. There were still one or two people who maintain the place and obtain bird's nest though!
This was like an outdoor zoo! The animals were in their habitat, swinging, screeching and being excited at the attention and food that was being given to them.
After that we had lunch at Phi Phi Don where it started drizzling. Thankfully it stopped after awhile and we were out and about, strolling its streets and doing some shopping. There were some T-Shirts with Phi Phi printed proudly on them. Jie Yu bought this waterproof bag that now I wish I had bought! He was surprised that a beach boy like me didn't own something like that, but then again, I haven't been a beach boy for the longest time!
We got back on the speedboat again and this time it took us to Khai Nok Island.
It was a small, tiny island that had a startling number of deckchairs laid upon it. We went to do a bit of snorkeling. It wasn't as good as the snorkeling we did before lunch. Okay, screw that. It was quite bad as the water was freaking shallow and there were rocks all around. I got a couple of cuts on my feet that left me limping the for the remainder of the trip.
There were cosy little shops selling the usual clothes. Jie Yu got himself a shirt that was pretty much his style, except that we were worried that it might provide a bit of indecent exposure. Check out the photos of the dilemma here.
We took a few more photos as it was time to leave. I had hoped to take a lot more because there were some really cool views. The tide became low and it exposed more of this huge rock that was was coloured in many shades of grey and the shape itself was... I can't find the words to describe it.
Anyway, Jie Yu had a bit of a chat with the guy who was driving the speedboat and praised him on his skills. He told us that he was travelling at about 35 Knots. We smiled and told him that he did a great job.
When the speedboat started up again, that guy was determined to give us the ride of our lives. I think he took our comments rather seriously and he raced the marvelous machine out into the sunset! It was one bumpy ride. We could feel ourselves skidding across the water, going up and down, shifting side to side. It felt like some crazy Uncle Ringo ride set to maximum gear!
Also, in the photo above, Jie Yu would like to tell everyone that we've seen Paris Hilton and Tom Cruise canoodling with each other.
We moved on for the longest time into the horizon, further and further, until we left all of Phi Phi Islands behind.
I now understood the thirst for speed and how almost nothing comes close to being on a speedboat. Unlike cars, there are no boundaries. There are no signs, no markers, no paths. It was the thrill of stepping into the unknown and making the conscious choice of being there, faced with uncertainty but blindsided by how one is free of conventions, free of rules.
If freedom were a journey, this is what it would feel like.
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