The two countries of Thailand are North and South. Part 15
Part 15. In which we go to the island of our dreams, and the universe laughs and breaks all our plans.
December 2, Sunday. Phuket Town - Phi Phi.
December 3-7. Phi Phi.
Plans for December 4th:
It was my husband's birthday, Sharkpoint and Tonsai Fire Show were also planned, but it didn't work out)
There were no plans for other days, I wanted more sea and rest.
We didn't manage to have breakfast.
Breakfast was included in the room rate, but this is a hostel. The concept of "breakfast" in such places means that everything in the kitchen is yours: cook, fry, mix whatever your heart desires. My husband went to the kitchen, turned on the kettle, started looking for a frying pan, but I already suspected that we would not even have time to drink coffee. And indeed, the mini-bass arrived 15 minutes earlier than we agreed. There was no one to give the keys to the room, so I had to leave them on the table behind the counter.
The sun brightly illuminated our quarter and it was magnificent. It was even a pity to leave)
I somehow outsmarted myself in planning. I didn’t see Phuket or Krabi by and large, although I was both there and there)
On the way, we stopped at a couple of places for other tourists, all this did not take very long. In the port they put stickers on us and showed us the boat. We loaded quickly.
Suitcases must be lowered into the hold and folded in the indicated place.
The boat was new, very comfortable. Several small stands with tea, coffee, some snacks, water. Something was free, something was paid, now I can’t say for sure.
Three decks.
On the middle, open deck, there are comfortable chairs, excellent visibility, fresh air, but the seats were already occupied. Since the evening, people have been sitting there, or something. I went up to the upper deck, there was no awning, and the sun was in full swing.
So I had to go down to the very bottom, into the hold. Where the suitcases are)
Small dusty portholes didn't let me enjoy the journey enough.
Sailing past Phi Phi Lei, we went up to the upper deck and soaked up the surrounding beauty for a long time, looking forward to going there by boat on my husband's birthday.
Phi Phi.
We were met at the pier. Two colorful Vikings with signs of different hotels.
They sorted tourists, grouped them and sent them to the right hotels on boats. We were told to walk. Leave your suitcases over there by the railing and walk at your pleasure right up to 12 o'clock. And so that we would not have unnecessary questions, they wrote us the number 12 on the palm of your handand ordered us not to wash our hands.
The first thing we found while walking was McDonald's. The food is bad, I don’t argue, but if you are on the road, there is nothing better than McDonald’s. Hamburger, fries and cola - these are the three components of complete happiness) Well, there is also the sea and the absence of snow) Everything came together here, we realized and completely swam.
The rest has finally begun! ))
Despite the heat, enveloping our bodies with unbearable humidity, we sat outside, greedily inhaling the aromas of the sea and french fries. We were at the resort, everything spoke of this: the faces and clothes of those around us, smells, sounds and a trembling languid foreboding inside of us.
We are on the sea! Here it is - happiness!
We were eager to go somewhere and settle down and swim, finally, so we arrived at the pier fifteen minutes before the appointed time and stood in the sun under the hotel umbrellas that our Vikings had prepared ahead of time. We are not the first to be so frisky, for sure. I fidgeted, asked:
- Well, when already? Well when? ? So when???
We stood for half an hour, as the boat, of course, was late.
A Russian couple went to Viking with us, we met, but we didn’t meet at the hotel anymore.
Viking Hotel
Sail to Viking for a few minutes. We impatiently examined, absorbed everything around: the incredible color of the sea, formidable stones, gentle beaches, overgrown mountains and fantastic greenery.
The landing takes place on the beach, right in the sea. An iron ladder is attached to the side of the boat.
The boat is staggering, the ladder is moving. But fun) Let's jump into the water.
The suitcases were picked up by hotel employees and placed at the reception.
The Viking boats are very interesting. The staff line up smartly to greet, bow, but do not give a welcome drink. Or gives? I forgot already.
We are making out pretty quickly, I ask for a lower room, the mountains are around, there are houses very high. They tell me that the numbers of our category are at the very bottom. Again they carry suitcases to our house.
Before the trip, I read very conflicting reviews about this hotel. Someone is very impressed and delighted, and someone spits, and they are also right.
I said a few words about this place on the first page, but I have something to say beyond that.
Territory
The whole hotel looks like a commune on a desert island.
Smells like weed) So sweet, yes)
Very colorful wooden houses are scattered along the mountainside, among the trees.
This place is so unpretentious! ) I would say - for those who are tired of pathos) For those who love simpler, simpler. And closer to nature.
All together creates an incredible feeling of a lost world!
The terrain is uneven, with several stairs that are washed away by the rains, so walking on the territory is not always safe.
Numbers
Judging by the way the houses are located, the sea should be visible from all the rooms. Maybe from those houses that are higher, the sea can be seen better, we never checked it) Trees blocked the view from our window. Of course, the sea was visible, but through the branches. Opposite the mountains, so there is no view of infinity.
Houses for one or more rooms. Our room was just amazing!
I have never lived in such a colorful room before. The dust there, of course, is rarely cleaned, but the general atmosphere of the hacienda, some touch of colonial luxury and a hammock on the terrace are immediately amazing.
Animals
There are mosquitoes. If in the room we turned on the fumigator and slept peacefully, then on the terrace the mosquitoes stuck to the holes. And in the restaurant in the evenings too. It's amazing that they don't do anything about mosquitoes. They pretty much poison the rest.
There are monkeys, monitor lizards (I saw one), fish. Not far from Long Beach there is an island near which there are sharks. It's called Shark Point. They say sharks don't bite there)
Beaches
Viking has several beaches, I saw two, but there is another one towards the city, maybe it no longer belongs to the hotel, I don’t know.
The beaches are far from perfect in my opinion. These are small coves. Low tides, hard sand, boats mooring on the beach, a stream flowing into the sea on one beach and an abandoned bar on the second. Very close to the beautiful Long Beach.
But you need to go to it through the pass, where off-road begins. You need to climb along roots, bags, stones, clinging to ropes and wires. This is an adventure, not an easy ride. I've had bad luck on this road. More on that later.
Food
Dear (it's an island, it's not cheap here) and not super-duper. Although some dishes were interesting.
But the restaurant itself is very colorful. Sitting there is a pleasure. If mosquitoes didn't bite.
On Long Beach, the nearest hotel has a cafe on the beach, which is obviously cheaper and tastier. At least I thought so.
There is also a shop there, some food is sold, but the choice is small.
We never got out into the city, so apart from McDonald's, I didn't try any food there.
Breakfast
But the breakfasts are beyond praise. There is a lot of food, everything is delicious, and I still dream of mini coconut milk pancakes. With maple syrup))
Staff
Viking's biggest problem is the local staff. The only person who looks sane works at the reception and not every day) The waiters are especially sleepy. They forget orders, move sluggishly, get stuck and freeze. At the same time, the cost of food in a restaurant cannot be called modest.
Laundry
That's where the horror is! Our clothes were washed for three days, as a result, all things were given away in yellow spots. 90 baht per kg.
Transport
You can only get from the city by boat. There are two types of boats:
You can walk. They say the trail is comfortable, not far to go, but we didn't go.
On the first day we went to the beach at Long Beach. First, up the dirt stairs, then down the roots, bags, ropes.
The water is warm! Gentle water, one might say.
I don't swim very boldly, I warm up a little, and then I take a pillow and sail away from the shore, just to lie on the water and look at the mountains. Kind of aching. Look, I can't see. And somehow I did not notice that the clouds had gathered. But I see people leaving the beach in a hurry. Well, while I swam to the shore, while collecting things, such a downpour hit the island!
Remembering the road to our hotel and imagining how to climb it all in the rain, we make the only right decision - to run to the nearest cafe.
It's getting colder. I wrap myself in everything I have - a pareo, two towels and a sun hat. My husband is trying to throw his T-shirt on me, but swimming trunks are not very comfortable in a cafe)
It was raining like a water pipe had burst in heaven! I have long wanted to see a tropical downpour, and every time in the tropics the rain seemed to me not too strong. But this one! This rain was all rain rain! The water fell in a solid wall, foaming at our feet, dousing us with cold spray, and we could not see practically anything five meters away.
We sat in a cafe for a long time, ate all kinds of delicious things) The rain stopped and everything immediately dried up. And we swam until the very evening, and looked forward to the next five days of the same relaxation.
Do you want to make God laugh. . . Well, you understand, right? )
The next day, I burned out in the morning.
It was some kind of eclipse. Going to the beach, I forgot to apply sunscreen. We went to a small home beach, next to our house. There was a low tide, hard sand, a swing, a beach house and an abandoned bar, probably at the very beginning of the renovation, as the building materials were neatly stacked nearby.
I burned out very quickly and spent the rest of the day in an air-conditioned room.
In the evening we went out to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. After supper of delicious food, which was brought to us for an infinitely long time, we enjoyed the surroundings of the same burnt bodies, bought a boat tour of the islands the next day and went to bed. I had an idea to have a foam party to lie in the bathroom, but I was afraid of an extra load on my burnt skin. Such a bathroom in the room was magnificent, but it remained unused)
And the next day, December 4, my husband had a birthday. We had breakfast and sped off to the sea.
The tour cost 3100 baht. It should be borne in mind that you do not take the boat for the whole day, but for 6 hours. But this is more than enough.
We drove quickly to Bamboo Island. And there! It's heaven on earth.
The sand is white, the sea is gentle, the sky is transparent, the trees are luxurious, the clouds are lacy.
And the boats!
Having thrown up their necks decorated with ribbons, the boats huddled in small flocks, like fabulous birds. What colorful boats in Thailand!
Internet photo
Two hours on Bamboo Island flew by like a blink of an eye. We bathed in long-sleeved T-shirts so that the sun would not burn the burnt bodies) But this did not prevent us from feeling the pleasure of this place.
You need to arrive as early as possible, of course. Groups on boats arrive at 10 o'clock in the morning. These are mainly Russian-speaking groups. 
I've always wondered why Russians don't like to meet Russians on vacation. Well, sometimes it’s understandable that there is drunkenness and rudeness, but in general, these are all the same people as we are, many even from our forum) And I realized that Russian speech knocks you out of an exotic mood. As if you are instantly transported from the paradise island of Bounty to dank Podolsk. And personally, I’m generally waiting for some kind of catch, because I have already heard unflattering words addressed to me more than once (the last time in Chiang Mai, at the Loy Krathong holiday, after a short acquaintance, a man, having heard that we were from Kyiv, angrily asked - why you then speak RUSSIAN. In Chiang Mai! Where there are no package tourists at all. Where it is assumed that a person has a brain, since he himself figured out to come to such a distance). Each such case of communication inclines me to cross to the other side of the street, having heard "native speech".
Why do you think Russian-speakers don't like to meet "compatriots" on vacation? )
Bamboo Island relaxed us, exhausted us, it was so pleasant and lazy. Didn't want to leave at all. The sun did not fry too much, like yesterday, for example. It hid behind lacy clouds and only occasionally peeked out to add color to the already aching blue, and ask us slyly:
- Well, people, how do you like it? Sabay?
Sabai!
Now I can say for sure that nothing more beautiful than this island happened to us on a boat trip. And if I had known this then, I would not have rushed anywhere and would have crossed out all the other points from the route. But what is the difference between a traveler and a vacationer? He travels, which means he is on the road)
We get into our boat and sail to Koh Phi Phi Don, to Monkey Beach.
Near the beach, we are dropped off for a snorkel.
In my life there was a snork in different places, so just trust me: there is no snork here) But for us it was completely unpleasant. The corals are dead (which was understandable anyway), there are no fish, the masks fogged up terribly, my husband had a headache. The captain, of course, crumbled the bread to attract minke whales, they shot up in a multi-colored cloud and immediately disappeared in the abyss of the sea as soon as my husband and I plunged into the water. The captain didn’t have more bread) In general, after swimming there for about ten minutes, we headed to the monkey beach itself.
There were no monkeys on the beach)
Some of the most daring or laziest primate slowly flanked the sand, followed by a procession of half-naked paparazzi. It was funny.
Especially after close contact with the monkeys in Phang Nga.
But since we arrived…
Watching monkeys.
At the garbage heap, next to the smoking area, lies a colorful snag. On a snag, a small family is engaged in its important business - combing out fleas, casually looking at annoying tourists and periodically grinning from an excess of feelings. I'm tired of this beach, these palm trees, this sea. . .
My husband joined the crowd, and I go snorkeling.
For some time now, gentle clouds have been filled with a gray heaviness, and now they have shed a fine, but thick rain. Drops hit me on the protruding parts of the body, since I'm wearing a vest.
I swim for a long time, here I like the snork more. Corals are the same lifeless gray, but there are more fish, they are quite large and different. Periodically, I raise my head to see where I am, correcting my direction so as not to sail too far from the shore.
When I come back, the rain subsides and stops completely as soon as we load our boat.
Sail a little more, leaving Phi Phi Don on the left, heading towards Phi Phi Ley.
Here is the biggest ambush - you can't enter Maya Bay. The bay is closed to the public. The famous beach is almost invisible and it is absolutely impossible to feel all the beauty of the magnificent bay.
We stand a little and swim away home. We also have a snorkel at Shark Point, with small sharks, but my husband complains of a headache, he is not up to sharks. I'm already tired too, so we end the day with dinner at the hotel cafe.
There were plans to go to Tonsai, to a fire show, but there was no strength at all. They say that the coolest parties take place on Tonsai Beach, where alcohol is sold in buckets, fire shows go on until the morning, as well as dancing on the sand.
Internet photo
Let's go tomorrow, we thought.
But tomorrow all plans went awry.
In the morning, returning from Long Beach, I sprained my leg quite noticeably. Therefore, the rest of the day I just lay in the room with ice on my ankle.
This incident made us very sad. Immediately, I generally thought that the leg was broken, such a crunch was at the time of the injury. With difficulty descending the stairs, I hobbled to the reception, where I was examined by a local "medic", made sure that there was no blood and gave me ice. When asked where we can get a real doctor, he replied that we need to get to the city by boat. Remembering exactly how to climb a boat, I decided that it would be better to rest my leg and see tomorrow.
And the day after tomorrow, December 7, we will have a departure and in any case we will go to the city.
But neither tomorrow nor the day after tomorrow we did not get to the doctor. Rest went to the benefit of the leg, in the morning it was already possible to step on it. For breakfast, I went by myself and even tried to swim with a pad a couple of times. Most of the time I lay in the room or on the terrace, smoked, looked at the sea, at the rain, which sometimes flooded us briefly, but noticeably. I rested, of course, to the fullest) But I still didn’t care, I saw a girl in a cast on the beach. I'm still lucky.
And a day later, I tightly tied my ankle with the remaining bandage, tightly pulled up all the straps on the sports sandals and, having entered them into the water, with grief in half, helped by my husband, climbed, after all, into the boat. And then she safely departed for Krabi.
The ferry was smaller, it seemed to me that it was worse, there were no free drinks, but I was not particularly walking, maybe it was beautiful upstairs. But there was where to lie down and stretch your legs)
Our adventures ended in Phang Nga, I think. In Krabi, we were waiting for shopping and relaxing in a hotel at hot springs. I regret not renting a car. For some reason they didn't figure it out. And it was very painful for me to walk.
In any case, to be continued. Don't switch! )
