Thailand - Day 12-13: Koh Phi Phi

From China Town we took a taxi to the airport and amazingly it only too half an hour, but it cost 500 baht. We got into the Phuket and went straight to the pier in Phuket Town. We were lucky enough to share a taxi (and the cost) with another couple from Germany. The boat to Koh Phi Phi took about 2-hours and when we got there all of the hotel and boat workers were yelling like crazy at all of the tourists. We decided to call the Natural Resort from Let's Go and they said the price was 3,000 baht ($85). A little more than we wanted to spend, but there didnt seem to be very many other great choices. We hired a long tail boat to take us the the other side of the island. We check all the of hotels around us, but the Natural Resort seemed to be the cheapest. When we finally checked into our room we were very disappointed, so we decided to stay just one night and move somewhere else in the morning. We decided that we would sperge a bit and have a nice dinner at the $500/night hotel next door. We had a wonderful Thai-fusion meal, bottle of wine, and even ordered our desert out on the lounge chairs on the beach. It was really wonderful, I felt like we were really being pampered.

The next morning we moved to a nearby resort, although I think it was owned by the same company, it was so much nicer. After checking in we lounged by the pool all morning. At a quick buffet lunch, that was just so so. In the afternoon we decided to hire a speed boat to visit the smaller Koh Phi Phi Ley. Shortly after leaving it started poring and our driver ducked into a cove in the giant limestone cliffs to try to stay dry. Finally the rain let up a bit and we decided to keep going. Sure enough as soon as we started going again the rain stopped. The first stop was in a small cove for snorkeling. Although the water was not super clear we saw tons of tropical fish, coral, and sea cucumbers. Next we went to Maya beach, where "The Beach" was filmed. It was a beautiful cove, but not very good for snorkeling. The last stop was Monkey Beach, but we didn't see any moneys anywhere. That night we ate at the pricey Holiday Inn resort. We brought a bottle of winde back to the hotel and watched TV until we both feel asleep.