KO PHI PHI

Well what can I say about Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee) - except it's like in the photo - a beautiful paradise. Very idyllic little island - with nothing much to do except swim, sunbath, drink cocktails - or if you are more adventurous you can go diving.
Tere and I are staying in one of the resorts on a beach called "Long Beach" - you have to use water taxis to get to the mainland - takes 5mins.
Water taxis are long boats with car engines as the motor.
The resort is lovely and has lots of little bungalows perched on the hill. A steep walk up. Like Rarotonga - Phi Phi has the clear blue water and golden sand. Lots of tourists here.
Sadly Phi Phi was also affected by the Tsunami in 2004 and they are still recovering - there was a big memorial tree with a wreath of flowers tied round it - and there are photos showing the damage that was caused. On one of the beaches you can see where all the palm trees have been ripped out of the ground and what was once quite a lush area populated with trees and plantlife is now quite barren.
Lots of the shops in Patong and here sell DVD's of the movie "Tsunami". Locals say that it has really affected their economy in terms of tourism.

Most of our time in Phi Phi is spent lying on the beach, going for a swim or eating and drinking.
At our resort you can hire a DVD player and watch a movie for $2. Tere and I watch Terry Gilliam's - The Grimm Brothers which is excellent. We both really enjoyed it.
There is a family of cats & her 3 kittens - a lot of the cats here have stumpy tails - a type of breed. I call them bobtails.
One of the kittens was really cute - blk & white - I named him "Tiny Tim" - quite a boistrous little thing.
As you can see in the photo you get superb sunsets.
There is a lot of wildlife on Phi Phi including frogs, locusts, dragon flies, mina komini (birds - cheeky things, they were in Rarotonga too), fluro pink bugs and small lizards - we had one in our room, they make funny chirpy noises and are cute. Good too as they kill the bugs. Apparently there are also 3 types of snakes: green tree snake, brown snake and a type of python.

Things we did on Phi Phi:
Caught water taxi to Monkey Bay and observed up close a group of macaque like monkeys going about their day, rummaging through rubbish that has washed ashore - I watch one as he finds a bag of water cups - like you get on plane with the seal - he is trying to peel the seal back with his hands, finally he gives up and uses his 2 front teeth to pierce the lid and drinks the water. SO fascinating to watch. Some are looking at themselves in pieces of glass, some grooming each other, looking for food. Once one of them came up really close to Tere - think he was curious about Tere's camera. Beach is tiny and we take a dip in the sea - water is warm!

We head back to mainland and decide to go up to lookout. Boy what a workout! Hundreds and hundreds of steep steps, we huff and puff our way to the top. But it's worth it - the view is spectacular! We sit at the top taking it all in for about 30mins. There are a number of memorials dedicated to family members who lost their lives in the Tsunami including tourists. There is a grave for a 2yr old local girl. Apparently this is where people headed when the Tsunami hit.

Nightmare wax.
Well I decided that I'd get my legs waxed since we're on a beach and all - done it before in NZ - stung a little bit - but nothing I couldn't handle.
Well this was a different story.

This woman was out to get me, I'm sure of it! She had this plastic container with the tackiest looking wax and she used a butter knife to apply it to my skin - the application was excruiating - I felt like my skin was been ripped off. When she actually ripped the wax off it was nothing in comparison.
I had tears in my eyes and was biting the pillow - she sadistically laughed and asked me if it was my first time - I managed to squeak out "No, but first time with this kind of wax". When I walked out of that torture salon it was the most relief I'd felt in a long time. I ran into Tere's arms.

Needless to say I've stuck with shaving my legs for the rest of the trip.

Other than that Phi Phi was lovely - fairly touristy, but lovely none the less. The staff at our resort were great and friendly and I really enjoyed having Tiny Tim and the cat family around - since I'm missing our 2 furry girls.

But I'd definitely recommend Phi Phi as a kind of romantic getaway - if lazing around on a beach drinking cocktails is you're thing. Just don't get a wax...