Week 29 · July 29, 2014 · Phuket · Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
Week 29 — Phuket
I didn’t realise when I booked the trip that Phuket and Phi Phi are really two separate destinations. Four major transitions in 8 days with cash issues, language, multiple Type A personalities, driving on the left, and trying to distinguish between who was helping versus hustling — created a few Clark Griswold moments.
I really didn’t realise it when I booked the trip — Phuket and Phi Phi Island are really two separate destinations (it takes longer to get from Phuket to Phi Phi than back to Bangkok) and this really compressed the trip. We had 4 major transitions in 8 days with cash issues, language, multiple Type A personalities, first time driving on the left in awhile, and trying to distinguish between who was helping vs. hustling us — created a few Clark Griswold moments.
Phuket — it is actually an island — but connected via a relatively short bridge to the mainland. The west coast (on the Indian Ocean side which was hit by the Tsunami in 2004) is much like Hawaii with a choice of beaches each having advantages and we rented a car and visited many of them (they drive on the left — only one incident driving against traffic). Except for Patong Beach which stood alone — known locally as the “Atlantic City of Asia” it offered a variety of entertainment options — most of which can’t be listed here. And we were on the family friendly street. On the east side is Phang Nga bay — truly spectacular and we visited James Bond island — although the island is worth a trip, it is a singular point covered in tourists (like us) pushing to get a photo but the best part of the tour is seeing the endless mountains coming straight out of the water in the bay over a thousand feet high and boating in between them and into caves around them.
Phi Phi Island — actually two islands: Don and Le. Don is where people stay. It is totally remote, only accessible by boat and once on the island you need a water taxi to take you to your hotel. But worth it — we stayed at a low-key hotel right on the beach (English translation — Holiday Inn). Annelise finally got her vacation of “doing nothing” — lasted for about a day and we took a morning trip to Maya Beach which was on Ko Phi Phi Le. Because we had to swim to get to the landing point — no camera or pictures but I included some from Google. Up there with anywhere I have ever seen.
Phi Phi Island is a long way from anywhere — 18 hours door to door for Alexandra, Annelise, and I to get back to Seoul and Sharon tagged on another 16-hour flight back to DC.
4 major transitions in 8 days with cash issues, language barriers, multiple Type A personalities, first time driving on the left in a while, and trying to distinguish between who was helping vs. hustling — created a few Clark Griswold moments. The lost ATM cards from Bangkok hadn’t been resolved. Patong Beach offers entertainment options most of which can’t be listed here. And we were on the family-friendly street. Up there with anywhere I have ever seen is a high bar from someone who has been a lot of places.
Maya Beach on Ko Phi Phi Le became famous after it was used as the filming location for the 2000 film “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The beach is accessible only by boat and by the time of this visit was already heavily visited by day-trip tourists. In 2018, Maya Beach was closed entirely to tourists for several years to allow environmental recovery from the impact of overtourism. It has since reopened with strict visitor number limits. Ko Phi Phi Don, the larger island where the family stayed, has no roads — all transport is on foot or by long-tail boat. The approach described here — jumping from a boat and timing waves to reach a rope ladder — is the standard landing method at Maya Beach on rough days.