Phi Phi to Phuket

Fairly sad to leave the island so soon, there is a lot to do on the island ,even though it is very small, and we have barely scratched the surface which seems to be a common these so far on this trip, quickly hopping around does have it's downsides. On leaving the wind has picked up which is a nice change and helps with cooling in the mid day sun, not to a lot but with a big kite and large board kitesurfing between all the islands could be unbelievable. A school here would be amazing especially as there is no competition although I’m pretty sure the wind would be rather light the majority of the time so lots of theory and day one lessons. The ferry crossing is fairly uneventful and calm as expected with only the slight obscurity at the start when a couple of small boats catch us up to bring along those that had missed it at the pier or were being brought from activities that ran late.
A few jam sandwiches and some proper sized pineapple chunks on oversized cocktail sticks later and Phi Phi's great cliffs are fading behind the sea mist into the horizon. Around another small island and Phuket Pier is in sight, looking rather more industrial than the huts perched on a hillside that we have left, it's time to head out of tourist serenity and into the urbanized wild streets and the cabaret shows of Patong road.

Phi Phi

An Hour or so on the ferry was fairly pleasant, a relatively flat seas, lots of stunning islands either side and small Thai fishing vessels at work kept us occupied, along with trying to work out which island had been used in which film.
On arrival at the port we found an islander with a sign for the accommodation they led the way, we headed continuously upwards through the town. The newest hut in which we stayed overlooks the town and a little of the bay with banana plants and palm trees everywhere. We checked out the town and then the two beaches either side of the island only separated by 100m strip of land at their narrowest point. A swim to cool off and in search for food, getting ever nearer to our budget for this section we have to be ever more incentive to find a cheap meal. Bread & Jam found to see us through a few days of lunches it was time for chick pea vegetarian curry and a few portions of rice for us to share...Probably the best vegetarian food I’ve ever had although a tad spicy for Bex I think.
Back to the room then I leave Bex blogging away while I go in search for tomorrows activities. On my return to the huts we met some more South Africans and a British girl, this time when swapping stories we found they were English teachers from north Korea all on holiday for a week, another snack and off to check out the night-life we had been told so much about.

Well that is something special! The night life down by the beach is how I would imagine Ibiza to be if all the locals could dance with fire. Every bar has something going on, raised dance floors from the bar out into the sand with everyone partying all the way down to the water. Limbo competitions, and displays taking part left right and centre, our favourite bar was Slinkys but one down the other end had a sand stage and a whole team putting on a show with Fire Sticks and Poi. Even nature decided to join in with a tremendous tropical storm going off on the horizon, huge fork lightning exploding over the mainland and lighting up the sky creating an atmosphere a spectacular sight wherever you looked. If ever I return to Thailand or others go a night out in Phi Phi is clearly always a great option.

Krabi

It was nice – finally we understood why people say to get out of Bangkok asap, beautiful beaches, sea mist surrounded islands and far less people, this is the true Thailand.

One point that I found very confusing in Krabi is the sheer number of Italian restaurants, yes there are still a large number of tourist & local shops but even many of the Thai restaurants also have Italian food. There are even about 5 pizzerias which on a street with less that 100 shops that is an achievement, there may even be more that there are suit shops.
To test why and how Thai + Italian worked together with food I ordered a thai green curry with shrips on spaghetti.
Verdict – I don't know how or why someone first tried this, possibly in the great noodle shortage of 2005 but it's amazing and a nice relief from the mass of rice and noodles that I had been eating. After a fairly warm night with the fan in the room merely pushing around the hot air and an electric socket that made my laptop continuously shock me, I awoke early for breakfast / Lunchbox filling time and transport to the ferry.

The moving bed & quick friends

We boarded the train south and found our seats. It wasn't a good sign when for the first 15mins the train seemed to not go far above jogging pace. After finally picking up pace and everyone settled in we spoke to a group of South Africans and heard about their stories of previous trips & their most recent one to Laos where they were coming from. Around 10 the staff came round putting all the beds down and converting the chairs. At 3.00 the others arrived at their stop so we said our fair wells and I realised how quickly friends could come and go while travelling. Another 5hours later and we arrived at Surat Thani to be greeted by a volley of shouting of place names all seemingly coming from 1 man trying to coordinate the travellers off the train. After being herded onto quite a nice coach we went for about 20minutes to what could only be descried as a sorting area where everyone was stickered and sent to their appropriate transport. Boarding the second and unfortunately back to the low standard coach that we had come to expect we went further south and onto Krabi. Becky tried braving the toilet but was quickly back in her seat and looking a little paler than previously. (check her blog for full descriptions) 4 hours later and another processing through a sorting area (still no hat used) and we were off in a mini bus this time finally arriving at our place to stay 16 hours after leaving Bangkok.