Tuesday 25 February 2014

Thailand Travels, Day 25, Hello Phi Phi and Treehouse Living



It's taken a taxi, a ferry, a coach, a bus and another ferry, but 12 hours travelling has been worth it for this... the stunning view from my treehouse on Phi Phi Don!

I'm checked into a dulex seaview cabin at the Phi Phi Sea Sky Resort, which is 7,200 baht for 4 nights including breakfast. Yeah yeah, flashpacker not backpacker... I know! The only bad thing is it's a real trek over from Phi Phi pier, over jungly hilly land and with my increasingly heavy backpack! Luckily, staff from the hotel were there to meet me and carry my backpack to my cabin, otherwise there's no way I would have found it or managed to carry my backpack.

The resort is based at the far end of Loh Dalum Bay (which is the same beach where all the partying goes on). The walk is demanding, up and down hills with broken pathways, but this is tempered by very pretty views all along the way.





Tonight the tide was way out and you could almost walk from one end of the beach to another.

When I saw the resort I knew I had found somewhere special. My cabin was at the top of the resort so I had uninterupted sea views. The room was also clean, with aircorn, my own locker in reception and a large double bed and very good wifi. And the cherry on top... My own private balcony with a spectacular view looking directly over the sea. I just can't believe that it's £32 per night for such a stunning place!



After freshening up I decided to go back to the centre of Phi Phi village to eat and explore. It was dark by now and it was then that I realised that the path was very poorly lit. Being a solo traveller it wasn't ideal to be walking back in the dark this far away from the centre of Phi Phi.

Phi Phi Village was like being in a maze! Made worse by the fact that I'd arrived late in the day and hadn't had chance to find my bearings in the daylight... and I didn't have a map!

After sniffing out all the restaurants trying to decided where to eat I settled for Pirates, which had an extensive Thai menu and looked full of people (always a good sign!). When I was at Full Moon a Canadian guy called Jon had warned me not to eat western food or brush your teeth with the tap water. Apparently nearly everyone gets sick on Phi Phi because it's so dirty. Jon's theory was that after the Tsunami, the locals had tried to rebuild the village quickly and in doing so hadn't put the water system back together all that well.



So, not fancying getting sick on my first day I decided to stick with Thai cuisine. I went for sweet and sour chicken and a side of rice. It was a good choice, the portion was huge with lots of veg and flavour. After dinner I continued to wander around and try work out my bearings. It was nearly impossible and after a couple of hours I had to go into a shop and ask for a map.

The walk home felt like I was doing cross-country and because it was all jungly, there was all manner of movements in the bushes and across the pathways making me jump every 5 seconds. I hate geckos and at least 2 jumped out across the path on my way home! After about 20 minutes I was relieved to be home to my treehouse and air condititoning!

2 comments:

  1. Come on Eshe, your a brave girl now with all the experience's
    you've had lately. A bit of jungle is easy peasy. Gecko's! just big lizards. Mind you I'd probably have been the same as you.
    Dinner looks really lovely. Probably because I'm hungry as well.
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. There was a snake the next day and monkeys. The monkeys are crazy and will jump on you and go through you bag!! Plus if they nip you there's the chance of Rabies! Haha the jungle is dangerous! xx

    ReplyDelete