Our
first stop on the journey from Phuket to Langkawi was Phi Phi island,
considered to be the third most beautiful island in the world (what
are no.1 and no.2 islands?). Phi Phi is a beauty; multicoloured
cliffs falling to deep blue water with lush vegetation on the skyward
side and white sand beaches. Say Koh Phi Phi to anyone and I bet the
image will be holiday.
The
reality is beauty as a victim of it's own success. Phi Phi is very
popular, many, many people visit and stay on the small part of the
island which is suitable for building on with the result that the
narrow isthmus between the two large rock sections is crammed with a
jumble of buildings linked by a busy warren of lanes and people
passing along like ants in a nest. There are three or four large
hotels at intervals across the spit and it seems every inch of space
between them has been claimed by a restaurant, boom boom bars, a
t-shirt shop, massage shops.
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Twenty
five years ago there were a few simple huts and a handful of simple
restaurants on the uncrowded beach. I came as a young back packer.
There was a ferry to Krabi two or three times a day and a handful of
boats in the southern bay. Today the bay is a constantly moving
montage of ferries, dive boats and long tail boats whisking
holidaymakers in and out of the island. However, things change, my
views have changed and I always wore rose tinted glasses with my back
pack.
I
digress. Before we visited the main bay we'd anchored at Monkey
Beach on the north west side of the island. It can only reached by
boat and there's a tropp of macaque monkeys who live here. During the
beach is busy with long tail boats and speed boats so we went
exploring in the kayak first and only went ashore late in the
afternoon when the beach was quieter. There's a sign warning that
the monkeys bite but we watched them doing their personal grooming
oblivious to the gaggle of humans taking photos. They were probably
full after eating tourist crisps and snacks all day.
After
the sun had gone down it was just us and another 8 yachts enjoying a
balmy night in Phi Phi.
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