Today was our first full day on Koh Phi Phi Island. I managed to get a whole 5 hours of sleep last night! Joanna woke up a little after me at 5:30. We considered going out to the beach and watching the sunrise but it was cloudy and windy outside. Hunger crept up pretty quickly and we decided to walk around the main town area to find breakfast. When we got in and afterwards yesterday the area we were staying in was bustling with foreigners walking up and down the streets or in the restaurants. Considering it was so early in the morning, the streets had a completely different feel to them, much slower paced with the locals setting up shop or running errands. I just realized I don’t have a picture of the street or anything, I’ll grab one tomorrow to post.
Joanna wanted to make it a beach day today. I checked the tides and the forecast was low tide at 7am and high tide was around 12:30. The morning was spent hiking up a really steep staircase to the highest peak on the mountain which was used as a viewpoint for people to check out the view. I was kind of complaining about the overcast skies, well it cleared up while we were making our way to the top and it got really hot and sweaty. The cost to access the viewpoint was 20 baht and totally worth it.
There was a girl that came up that launched her DJI phantom drone super high into the sky. I asked if I could take a look at her video and I was really impressed. Darn should have asked her for an email to get a sample pic. I can’t justify a drone purchase as a DJI brand would cost +1,000 for a good one. Oh yah, I lost my new Polaroid sunglasses that I bought when we were in LA. If I can’t be responsible for fancy sunglasses and have a hard time keeping track of my passport, the drone is out of the question.
The walk back down was much easier than going up. We headed straight to the beach to relax and work on our very pale skin. This was the same beach we were at last night but at high tide it was crazy how far up the water was compared to yesterday. Joanna wanted to get into the water but gave it a second thought as there was a lot of garbage floating around. They charged us a $.60 island fee when we arrived to cover garbage cleanup, I’d be happy to pay a $5 island fee if it meant better resources to keep crap out of the water or at least more garbage cans around because people are too dumb, selfish, and lazy sometimes and will toss their trash anywhere they want.
I think I’m getting better at shooting pictures and tweaking the colors in post. There’s a ton more for me to learn but I’m really enjoying the opportunity to learn and improve my techniques. I’m also absolutely open to feedback from people as well.
After the beach, we headed to grab dinner, drop off our clothes to get laundered, and meet up with the dive shop I’ll be diving with tomorrow afternoon, whereas Joanna and Xu will be snorkeling. I tried convincing them to do the introductory dive but they decided against it. It’s on my bucket list to dive in the Great Barrier Reef before it’s completely gone, hopefully I can convince Joanna to be my diving buddy by then *fingers crossed*.
Xu had a great idea of getting another massage after our errands, no one was lucky enough to get the lady boy tonight. Joanna totally passed out for over half of her foot massage. I definitely enjoyed this one more than the full body Thai massage from last night. It was less intense and was more relaxing.
I think today is the first day I really feel like I’ve hit vacation mode. I can’t help feel envious of these Europeans I’m encountering who have been traveling for more than 6 months and still have plenty of countries left to visit. Oh well, I guess I’ll have some time until the next trip to decide on where to go. 7 days done, 10 to go!
