Zelma’s Trip

I got a taxi to Phuket town and stopped for lunch at a local restaurant where I had the most amazing red snapper.  In fact the food was so good that I very nearly missed the "speed boat" to Ko Phi Phi.  When I say "speedboat", that’s what it said on the tin, well the ticket, but it was more like a small-ish ferry than a speedboat and, infact, seemed to lack the whole "speed" element entirely.  It was, however, quite good at wobbling from side to side in a nausea inducing fashion and also at having a -very-loud engine.

When the boat arrived in Ko Phi Phi it was clear why it has a reputation as being extremely beautiful (the island not the boat)l.  The place is how you would picture a tropical island and parts of the film "The Beach" were filmed there.  It was stunning sunshine and I checked into a beach bungalow about ten minutes from the busiest part of the main strip.

In the evening I headed into the "town" which was amazingly busy for the low season and had some dinner.  I actually had a really early night as I wasn’t feeling at my best – perhaps something to do with the dodgy boat trip.  The following morning I decided to head to a more remote part of the island and got a long-tail boat to long beach, supposedly one of the best beaches on Phi Phi with reefs just off the shoreline.  The place was gorgeous if amazingly quiet and I checked into a bungalow.  I went down to the beach and, shortly after getting into my stride, or rather my stroke, decided that the rather large waves and ominous grey sky probably meant I should get out of the sea.  Seconds after I did the heavens opened and boy did they open!  In fact they failed to close until the next morning.  Somewhat miffed by the inability to do anything I wanted to due to the weather I got a long-tail boat (in the rain I might add) back to the main part of the island.  Shortly before I got the main ferry/ speed boat/ slow noisy boat it stopped raining and was glorious sunshine.  I contemplated staying but had my ticket so got the boat to Krabi.