Nov. 24: Arrived at our first destination in Thailand, Patong Beach in the province of Phuket. We showered immediately as we felt quite disgusting from our 20 plus hours of travelling. The hostel we stayed at was Coast Star Mansion, and it was plain, but met our needs. It was quite liberating arriving. My first time really travelling alone and with no solid agenda. We were just going with the flow, which felt great and was not stressful at all. We shopped around the markets and tried out our bartering skills, which I will admit were quite weak at the beginning of this trip. We strolled over to the beach, but never did enjoy it as it wasn't super nice and the weather wasn't that great. That evening we took in a Muay Thai Boxing match. It was very cool, and it turns out a guy from Edmonton was fighting.
Nov.26: We did our first tour on this day. We visited a Buddha Cave, had a Thai lunch, went to Tum Pungchang Cave, and then went to the James Bond Island. To finish off the tour we stopped at a Muslim fishing village, called Panyee Island, that housed around 3000 people. It was a very interesting experience. We went to Bangla Road in Patong Beach, which is known for its nightlife, that evening. It was quite interesting to say the least. It was my first up close look at the sex trade here in Thailand, as there were lady boys everywhere. They sure flaunted their, er, stuff. It was disturbing, but Kayla and I did find some hilarity in it.
Nov. 27: The day I bungy jumped! What an incredible experience! It was damn near the hardest thing I have ever done mentally. It was so hard to just let yourself fall. It felt like a very long free fall until the cord caught. But I am so glad I did it. Very worth it. Will I do it again? Maybe, if the right opportunity comes up. After bungy jumping, we headed to Koh Phi Phi Don. I think my favorite place we visited, people and entertainment wise. The island is quite small, but still offered everything I needed or wanted. The ferry ride over was fabulous. We met some Canadians and soaked in the rays for our ride over. The first thing we did was check in to a place to stay. It turned out to be a hut, really far away from the town. No lights at night to find your way. We ended up only staying one night. But the first day on Phi Phi was spent checking things out, getting our first massage, and watching a fire show on the beach. We met up with a couple of Americans and partied with them that night. It was really fun, but things got rowdy with some people around 1am so we called it a night.
Nov. 28: Checked into P&P Place. Much better for only a 100 baht more, plus it was right in town. This was the day we realized that we would not be watching the Rider game. It played at 4am our time and no places offering internet were open at that time. :( But we still wore our green all day and found plenty of people from SK that way! It also rained this day, making it a write off for us. We walked around the island, dropped off some laundry, and booked a tour for the following day. We still managed to spend some time on the beach. The sun was hidden, but it was still warm when it wasn't raining.
Nov. 29: My favorite day in Phi Phi. The weather wasn't superb. It was cloudy and rained a little on and off all day, but we still managed a small sunburn ( the feet were fine! ). We did a boat tour of th surrounding islands. It included Maya Bay (not all its cracked up to be), Monkey Island, and Bamboo Island ( there are more but I forget their names). Bamboo Island was gorgeous! I did some swimming (near shore), which was wonderful, but did not snorkel. It was windy and the water was pretty choppy, and since I am not completely comfortable in water, I nixed the idea. On this tour I met an Aussie named Gordon. He, to this day, remains the coolest person I have met thus far. We hung out with him all day and I went to the beach with him later that night (Kayla was tired and slept).
Nov. 30: Railay! The most beautiful place I have ever seen! It was the smallest place we had visited, and very charming. The island is made up of mostly resorts and the nightlife almost did not exist, but it was very nice to go somewhere low key. We checked in to Ya Ya Resort, which was pretty central and very cute. We had a beautiful supper at a restaurant on the beach, and walked around a little.
Dec. 1: Time is really flying by at this point. We went on another boat tour, this one by long tail boat. It rained all day and was very dreary. The islands we visited were nice, but would have been better had the sun come out. We went out this evening with some guys we met from Sylvania (unsure of the spelling), Rok and Jan. They were really cool and it was interesting getting to know them.
Dec. 2: My rock climbing day! The best day I had! I climbed from 9am to 1pm. It was so amazing!
Dec. 3: Kayla and I met up with the group. It was very good to see familiar faces.
I miss Phi Phi a lot, in its entirety. I also miss home, but only slightly. It is still absolutely amazing being here and I am not ready to go home yet. We only have a few days left. :(
I will try to update you all on the second part of my trip before I am headed home.
With love,
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