Island Bouncing

The morning we went on our first tour started off suspiciously stormy and rainy which is not the type of weather that you are hoping for before hoping on a boat out into the ocean. The minibus that brought us to our departure point could only be described as a land Cessna and the other occupants of the van, mostly German, seemed to share the same apprehension. Once we got to Chalong bay to board our boat, we discovered it was a large tour group - about 57 people. The tour boat itself was a four engine, open bow speedboat which was quite reassuring considering the choppy seas.

Our guide Yousee gave us the option of taking a motion sickness pill before we got on the boat as he explained to us that normally the ride to our first destination, Phi Phi Ley, takes about 45 minutes but due to the rough conditions it was going to take us 1 hour. We arrived at Maya bay on Phi Phi Ley, the location that part of the movie "The Beach" was filmed on, after a bumpy ride that saw a few people using the barf bags that were given to us. Maya bay was gorgeous, but overcrowded. It probably would have felt far less crowded if it had not been high tide.

Next stop was Pileh cove for a little snorkeling. It was incredible and the crystal clear water was teeming with life. The experience was short as we only had 30 minutes before we got back on the boat and headed to our next sightseeing destination, Viking cave. This cave is where they harvest the swallow nests, made from their saliva, that is used in bird's nest soup. This delicacy is popular in Asia for health and vigor. Up next, Monkey beach, but at the time there was a distinct lack of beach due to the high tide. The monkeys were still happy to receive the bananas that were thrown at them while they were in the trees and hanging on the side of the cliff face.

It was a good thing that our next destination was lunch on the island of Phi Phi Don. Honestly I wasn't expecting that much because how good free lunch on a tour possibly be. Surprisingly it was a very tasty Thai lunch that had a hint of western thrown in with a spagetti and meat sauce option. We had a little time to wander the island after lunch and met a cute kitty that was very friendly and used Ryan's shadow for shade.

We then headed off for our last stop of the tour, tiny Khai island. This island was so small that you could have walked around the entire thing in 10 minutes. We sat down in a couple chairs facing the beach and relaxed for a minute before putting on our snorkels and heading into the water. It was shallow and sandy making it difficult to see more than a couple feet in front of us but there were schools of brightly colored fish that swam inches in front of our faces. After our excursion into the water we headed back to our chairs and enjoyed a yummy mai tai served in a pineapple. The weather had cleared up long ago so the boat ride back was much less bumpy. We ended the day tired but thoroughly happy with our first tour experience.