Well, my attempt to post during the entire Thailand trip kinda fizzled so I’ll try to add some more details of the trip from memory. Here goes…
From Chiang Mai we headed back to the south, stopping for a night in Phuket and then on by boat to Koh Phi Phi. Phuket has a nice feel to it but my lasting impression is that there were a lot of very brown retirees there. I don’t know why that would be, but at least on Kata Beach where we were that’s how it was. The food at Mom Tri’s Boathouse was pretty tasty, too. Due to somewhat awkward trip scheduling we were in Phuket for a very brief night’s stay and then were up in the morning to make our way to Koh Phi Phi.
We started out on the front of the boat where we found some room but we quickly realized why it wasn’t crowded to begin with… large amounts of water regularly splashed over spraying everyone. Our particular spot was partially shielded so we made it longer than most but we too eventually made our way to the back of the boat where we could stay a bit more dry. It was still not dry, but much more so.
As we approached Phi Phi we saw some pretty cool rocks jutting out of the water and the boat slowed to give everyone a chance to be tourists. It’s apparently also a god snorkeling spot and there were a lot of other boats around.
We arrived at the main dock in Phi Phi which was very hectic and crowded with tourists and touts trying to sell to tourists everywhere around. We found a water taxi and managed to get our luggage and all of us into it without getting too wet in the process. It requires wading into the water a bit to climb up the short ladder into the boat. The boat ride was about 30 minutes and took us around a pretty good portion of the island. The driver pulled up to the shore and the Zeavola staff came out to help with the bags.
Zeavola is a pretty fancy resort and it was a nice way to spend a couple of days on the beach. One slight oddity is they use salt water for the showers and the pool. It’s been desalinated but not completely and you never really feel completely clean there. I guess it’s about being one with the ocean or something, but I think Vida would have preferred to be one with the clean instead.
The beach there was delightfully free of crowds and most of the hassles that were part of the other beaches we went to in Thailand. From my shady spots I managed to read about half of a book in short time we were there.
After our resort stay on Koh Phi Phi, we headed on to Khao Sok.