Deciding on which Thai islands to visit wasn't actually so easy. Many of them look amazing and have interesting sides to them, but there are couple of other things to consider like if it fits to your route and whether or not it's known to be over crowded. From the beginning on I made it pretty clear that we couldn't miss out on the Phi Phi islands, but it took some arm twisting and serious convincing to actually get there. As it's one of the most popular Thai islands, it's been put down on many travel sites for being too busy and too touristy. Which all made my job in convincing Denis that much harder! But I can be pretty persuasive if I need to and finally I got through to him- and we were on our way to this place I had literally dreamt about!
As we approached the Phi Phi Don harbour and saw the massive limestone cliffs rising straight from the turquoise sea, I think it's safe to say we all knew it would live up to its reputation of being one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Or at least I hoped it would since it was on me that we were there in the first place! But honestly, Denis was sold as soon as he noticed it wasn't all that crowded like he had thought it would be (Phi Phi is said to be full even during the low-season but it was just fine, even calm, this time of the year). Let's just say it's hard to disregard the natural beauty of this place- it truly is a spitting image of a tropical paradise. It's got lush mountainous views, vertical cliffs rising straight from the sea, gorgeous beaches with shallow waters, quiet jungles and some of the best night life we had in our entire trip (if dancing under stars with toes in the sea, qualifies). Not to mention the rest of the Phi Phi islands that are a stone's throw away and easily accessible by boat. I'd say it makes a pretty good place to soak up the carefree island life!
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| Long-tail boats are part of the landscape on Thai islands... |
The only negative was the humid heat that set some serious restrictions on our daily activities, but if you think about it, we were lucky to even have such a good weather considering April can already be quite unpredictable. So in a way we were just 'happy' about it and decided to simply sweat it! And the sweating didn't end there since we still had one more island in store for us, namely the tiny island of Koh Lipe down south. Okey, so even if I had really looked forward to Phi Phi, I had heard way too many awesome things about Lipe not to get very excited to go there next...
Charming Beaches
Fire Shows
The Viewpoint
{All pictures © Voyages of Discovery}
TIPS & LINKS
Accommodation
- It's a complex of many villas that are located all over a steep hillside, right at the end of the beach strip. A good walking distance to all the commercial places and restaurants, and also very close to nice, more secluded beaches. We loved the location- quiet and yet not far from everything! Our villa was big & new, but like for any of the villas, you had to climb steep stairs to get there (which was fine with us). The major downside of Phi Phi is that it's one of the most expensive Thai islands when it comes to accommodation, and we thought four nights were enough here. But all in all, we found it hard to find place in Phi Phi due to all bad reviews, and noticed throughout the trip that people are extremely picky whenever it's a "popular" destination. Particularly here, you either pay 80€/ night to be in a good room up on the hill or you pay 200€+ to be right on the beach! There's always all the cheap hostels back in the "center", but we didn't want to bring Denis' parents to a dormitory...;)
On Booking{dot}com.
Read about the long-tail boat tour to Phi Phi Lee (Maya Bay) here.
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