JoLyn and I flew from Chiang Mai to Phuket to get some requisite beach time. The islands in southern Thailand have some of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen. White sand. Blue water. Sheer rock cliffs covered in foliage. It’s beautiful and hot. Even the water is unnaturally warm. So warm that you think something isn’t quite right.
We started in Phuket which could be said to be one of the major tourist beach capitals of the world. Thankfully, our beach was a good bit more secluded and quiet. We then moved on to Koh Phi Phi: a pair of islands near the much larger island of Phuket. While the beaches weren’t as nice, the landscape was much more exotic and there were more touristy, yet fun, things to do.
By the way, don’t pronounce it Fuket or Koh Fi Fi. You’ll sound like you’ve never watched the Travel Channel. It’s a hard “p” sound.
This song by Freelance Whales makes me want to dance with my arms: Generator 2nd Floor

Sunset over Bangtao Beach, Phuket.

People were selling these all over the place. They’d chop the top off with a machete, stick a straw in it, and then you’ve got a tasty drink.

Fried rice baked in a pineapple. I need to make one of these.

The ferry we took from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi turned out to be kinda like a party boat.




We hiked up to a really neat overlook. You can see how the main island of Koh Phi Phi is made up of two larger chunks of land connected by a thin beach. This was completely destroyed by the tsunami. It’s amazing to see how quickly things were rebuilt.

We got up early to rent a kayak and explore the bay. It’s incredible to be right underneath the cliffs.



Kayaking around the corner of the cliff in the above photos revealed this secret beach. You can only access it from the water.


We took a tour boat around for an afternoon/evening which turned out to be pretty cool. This was taken on a beach that was supposed to be populated with hundreds of monkeys. The monkeys were hiding but this Komodo dragon was running around. Chasing it around with my camera was one of my better ideas.



Free coffee on the boat was a major selling point.

Went snorkeling under this cliff. Wish I had an underwater housing for my camera. The reef is gorgeous.

I don’t know if anyone has seen The Beach, with Leonardo DiCaprio, but this is the beach where it was filmed. I’ve yet to see it.


Longboats are an easy way to travel around the islands. They’re powered by these really long outriggers.

The final part of the boat tour was watching the sun set between these two islands.



We headed back to Phuket for one night before we flew to Bangkok to begin our travels to Cambodia. That’s going to be in the next post and will be worth reading. You can’t exactly get into Cambodia with much ease.

Valentine’s Day smoothies. There’s something weird about the papaya from anywhere but Bangkok. It somehow tastes terrible everywhere else.

It was the Chinese New Year and our dinner had a surprise performance that lasted for over 30 minutes. It was really weird and really loud and my food got really co