This place is nuts! We made it to Ko Phi Phi and its main town (Tonsai Village), which literally translates to “Tourist Village,” is an absolute beehive of activity – a total sensory overload for me. In short, it’s pretty much the complete opposite of where we spent the past three nights on Mai Khao Beach.
It really all started the second we got to the pier in Phuket. We said goodbye to the Seaside Cottages around 11am – after eating our fill of bacon rolls, drinking our last watermelon shake, and enjoying our last few quiet moments with the beach. Malcolm gave us and another departing American couple a lift to the main road where we had to hail a ride to Phuket Town. The second we hit stepped out of Malcolm’s car we were hit by a wall of heat. After a rather sweaty 20 minutes we managed to score a ride in a nice air-conditioned minibus. We dropped our new friends – who are thinking of joining Peace Corps – at the bus station and then our driver took us all the way to the pier, which is where the craziness began.
The place was filled to the gills with a whole crowd of 20-something “wasteoids” all looking bleary-eyed and hungover from their partying in nearby Patong (the red-light district of Phuket) and looking to continue the fun on Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lanta, Ko Samui, and the other islands. In Thai, “Ko” means “island.” Technically it should be Ko Phuket, but since it’s so big people forget it’s an island and drop the Ko.
Despite the craziness we managed to book passage on the 1:30pm ferry to Ko Phi Phi. Phi Phi (PP from here on out) is a place made famous in the late 90’s from the book/movie “The Beach” with Leonardo D’Caprio. The movie used an uninhabited island just off PP (Ko Phi Phi Ley) as the setting of the “perfect” beach. Ever since it has been sort of a mecca for backpackers – and it’s also one of the reasons we’re here.
Anyway, the ferry ride was pretty uneventful. We boarded early and snatched a couple of coveted seats in the air-conditioned main cabin. Most of the wasteoids spent the two-hour trip sprawled on the outside decks. Mixing with these crowds makes me realize how special Malcolm’s place is. It also makes me feel like a 70-year-old Puritan.
The boat pulled into PP around 3:30pm, but it took 45 minutes for us to disembark because of the absolutely terrible baggage claim system the boat had in place. As Ashlee put it, “Hey, we’re still in a Peace Corps country.”
Once off the boat, it was another sweaty thirty minutes of wending our way through a honeycomb of shops, eateries, food stalls, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, travel agents, and scuba shops before we found our hotel. Thankfully Ashlee had the foresight to make arrangements weeks in advance because we saw numerous people getting turned away from places with no vacancies – meaning they had just three or so hours to hang out before catching a ferry back to the mainland.
After getting settled – and taking a couple of nice cold showers – we hit the streets. On the way out of the hotel we did drop by the front desk to ask about excursions to “The Beach.” The guy up front (Chris) was really helpful and also quite a good salesman. We told him we definitely want to take a trip tomorrow, but that we will need to decide between the half-day and the full-day excursion.
Walking around town, we picked up a few snacks (fruit shake, popcorn, and a couple skewers of fresh pineapple) while scoping out a good place for dinner. There are loads of options: Thai (duh), Indian, Italian, etc. After checking a few menus, we think we found a winner: the Banana Sombrero, a place promising tacos, burritos, and fajitas in addition to the freshest guacamole around!
We spent another thirty minutes or so walking through the narrow streets of “Tourist Village.” My purchase of the day was a small 200mL bottle of Jack Daniel’s. I’m really looking forward to a nice after-dinner cocktail.
With my new purchase tucked safely away, I decided to let Ashlee roam free and I retreated to this outdoor coffee shop where I’m sipping a tall iced latte and trying not to be too distracted with all the people-watching. There are some interesting characters here – European men in speedos, older ladies with lots of make-up and unfortunate hair colors, and lots of 20-somethings in various stages of inebriation and showing lots of skin, most of it tattooed. Hm, I wonder what some of the monks in Bangkok would think of this place?
Some of these people make me feel pretty raggedy. They have probably been planning their trips for months and bought entirely new wardrobes for the occasion. Here I am fresh from Mongolia with a couple of ill-fitting shorts and a handful of t-shirts. To make matters worse, both my and Ashlee’s legs are covered in angry red mosquito bites which really stick out on our rather pale skin, making us feel like lepers. Oh, well.
Here comes Ashlee. It’s dinner time!
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