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The three-day weekend started on Thursday, when Teacher Val, Teacher Meaghan, and I finished our classes and immediately grabbed a mini-bus to Krabi. From there, we would catch the ferry that would take us to Ko Phi Phi. We barely made it! I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but the mini-buses here also serve as UPS trucks, stopping to pick up and drop off packages as well as people. And I don’t know what it is about the Thais, I love them and they are dear, dear people, but the our van will stop, and one person will get off, and then seriously, not even a block later, another passenger will ask for the van to stop so they can get out. Same with the song taos. Because heaven forbid you have to walk a hundred or so meters to your stop! But, that’s neither here nor there. The point I am trying to make is that, with many stops, our mini-bus put us in Krabi with only 20 minutes to buy our tickets and get to the ferry terminal, which is about a 7 minute drive or so from where we were let out. Immediately, we had motorbike taxis approach us. We made a deal, let them know we had to make the 3:00 ferry, and we were off. I mean OFF- I don’t think I’ve gone so fast on a motorbike since I’ve been here. It was funny, fun, and we made it to the terminal in time! The taxi driver told me I am very good at holding on while riding on the back of a bike. (Thanks, Meaghan, for all the practice!)
Phi-Phi is on the west side, in the Andaman Sea. Picturesque limestone cliffs jutting up sharply from beautiful, clear, placid, green-blue sea to a beautiful blue sky. Beaches with the softest, powdery sand I have ever set foot on… Just breathtaking. I’m not quite sure it beats Railay, which is the beach destination I went to when I first came to Thailand, but still, beautiful. The streets are narrow- no cars, only bicycles and feet are allowed, and they wind through the isthmus where all the bungalows, guesthouses, eateries, vendors, dive shops, etc. are located, between the two lush green hills on either side. Tourists are everywhere, mostly Asian and Swedish, but from all over the world, and everyone, both local and foreign, is happy to be there and in good moods.
We spent Thursday evening with just the three of us, eating DELICIOUS Italian food at Cosmic Pizza House- you don’t know what you’re missing until you don’t have it anymore, and I feel this way about Italian, especially calzones and pizza- and then we played Connect Four for the rest of the night with the bar staff at an Irish bar. Not exactly the most Thai experience, but it was definitely good!
Friday, a friend from my Southern California days came in on the morning ferry, turning our group of three into a foursome, and we spent the day on the beach, lounging and swimming. In the late afternoon, we went snorkeling, a new Australian friend bringing our group to a party of five. It was my first time getting into the water to see the fishes since I have been here, and while we didn’t see anything super spectacular (the sharks and mantas were AWOL), it was fun going to the different sites, getting familiar with my underwater camera, and seeing the sunset from the boat. We also went to Ma Ya Beach, famous for being where the movie The Beach was filmed, which, by the way, I have never seen. Another to put on my list.
And, we got to see the cave where they harvest the nests for bird’s nest soup, a delicacy in China. After hearing about this on our snorkel excursion, I of course had to Google what exactly made this soup, and what made it so special. Some of you may know about this already, but for those of you that don’t, bird’s nest soup is made when these special nests, located in very select limestone caves in Indonesia and this little cave off Phi Phi, are harvested and then dissolved in water. The saliva, yes, that’s correct, the saliva, that the birds use to make the nest gives the broth a thicker gelatinous texture that make this soup unique. From looking online at the pictures, I would say it resembles Chinese hot and sour soup. And it’s a pretty hot commodity- just a bowl could cost between $20-100 (U.S.). And I know that we weren’t allowed to get to close to the caves- men with guns guarded the area, and it is patrolled 24/7.
When we got back from snorkeling, our group added two more members- a fellow teacher from a neighboring city and another lovely Aussie- and we all went out for dinner. Some delicious Indian cuisine! It was a Buddhist holiday, so it was a relatively quiet night on the island- many places had closed early, and there were just small groups of people, scattered on the beach. We chose a spot at a table, played games, and just chatted the night away, laughing almost too hard at times.
The following day, yet another member was added to our group, a lovely girl who’s in JAG with my friend from home, and we beached it on the other side of the isthmus. The tide was low- so low that we could walk incredibly far out, with the water barely at our knees- it was just stunning. I cannot get over the clarity and the color of the water against the the sky and the island- lush greens and blues… just spectacular. In the late afternoon, we took a little hike up to the view point. And WHAT A VIEW! We sprawled out on the rocks there once we got to the top, drank water, ate ice cream, chatted… I think it’s safe to say we spent about 2 hours up there, which is a lot of time, considering there’s not a whole lot to do except be.
Our last night was… a memorable one. Our group of three had, by this time, expanded to a group of nine. Three American teachers from Nakhon, four American lawyers (all living abroad), and two traveling Australians. We went back to the restaurant from the first night, went back to play Connect Four, and sat at a table on the balcony. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful the people I have met here- whether only in passing, only for a brief amount of time, or the people I get to be at school with every day- are. I think it all boils down to the fact that I am just in love with what I am doing right now, and that makes everything so much better.
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