Thailand – Phi Phi Islands

Phi Phi Islands are these 2 small islands constituting the southern part of Thailand. They are only reachable by a ferry. Secluded – yes, totally. Only two years ago, the devastating Tsunami knocked the life out of this little town, but today it is back on track, buzzing with an outrageous number of tourists. Back-packers, largely from the west (actually all, I could find not one Indian backpacker there) flock to this island like sheep, to perceive the breath-taking marine life that the ocean around the islands has to offer.

It sounds pretty laid back, well it’s not. There is an ‘ADSL High Speed Internet Service’ connection every 2 metres, yes every 2 metres. Fake Movie DVDS/Music DVDS/Music CDS are rampant, with availability of movies which have not even been released in Thailand. ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ was available on the streets before country-wide release, for 10 Dhs, or 3 Dollars only. INSANE!

Apart from all that, and considering the fact that I, nor my parents, were seasoned scuba-divers, or snorkeling enthusiasts, we felt that we had almost wasted our time at the islands. But no, one evening made all the difference. We took the ‘Sunset Tour’ which allowed us to explore almost all of the Phi Phi Islands. It just happened to be, that in the tour, we were the only non-back-packers there, and my parents the only people over the age of 35, and I, only below the age of 20. That however did not matter, as our Phi Phi Island trip burst into life. The tour was hard core. We canoed and snorkeled in the open sea. Hell, I am proud to say that I swam in the rough sea in the middle of nowhere. After the canoeing and the snorkeling, we had to swim from our boat to a near-by cave. Then followed, a little bit of trekking against the sea, which was not surprisingly, rough, that evening (the whole full moon thing). This cave that we entered opened up into a pretty lagoon, and I felt I had entered into this new world, this world that had formed within a blink of an eye. The joy of seclusion and beauty did not stop there, this lagoon further opened up into the whitest of beaches. Clear, pure, but salty, the water gushed onto the purest of beaches, with a valley-like view of the setting sun. A spectacle of its own, an almost coliseum-like experience, it was truly…truly…wow. We soaked in every inch of the beauty, and cursed all that we could when we found out that our darned camera batteries were dead.

We laboured back, swimming back to our boat in the open sea (don’t worry, the amateur swimmers were given life jackets), where a slip of the toe could result in skull-cracking action against the hard but slippery stone. Yeah it sounds dangerous, and yes, to a particular extent it was, but that danger itself made it even more fun. Along with that, the tour organisers, a bunch of young ‘lads’ (as the Brit back-packers called them) were such hard-working and genuine people, and the made the evening even sweeter. They helped the poor swimmers, and the old, which only consisted of my parents (sorry mum, sorry dad) and were really really sweet, and with great bodies (that’s for you girls :P).

All in all, that one evening made Phi Phi – WOW. I want togo again, and when I do go again I will learn Scuba Diving, get my license and enjoy the islands even more. Romit, remember our promise – if not Thailand, some place similar, definitely!