Saturday 24th February – Island hopping to Phi Phi

We were awake early so that we could do some re-packing to only need access to one of our big rucksacks. Simon put all our chunky cold-weather gear in his smaller rucksack in the hope that won’t be needed for the next month or so.  We checked out at 11am and our transfer minibus to Phuket harbour arrived on schedule at midday.  We had a couple of other pick-ups on route and by the time we’d done that we were like sardines with everyone’s bags crammed in around us.

Still making time to get great raptor photos now we're in Thailand

A couple of typical Thai-style fishing vessels

We were in plenty of time for the ferry to Koh Phi Phi which was due to depart at 130pm but ended up leaving about 215pm.  We found a couple of seats on the top deck where there was some shade and got comfy for the journey.  The top deck got crowded with mostly young backpackers also on their way to the island.  Luckily, I knew that the hotel we’d booked was way up the north of the island, well away from any loutish behaviour or loud music playing into the night (how old do I sound?!).

We started seeing some of the classic Thai Limestone islands during the crossing

Our second boat trip of the day... 

It was a good two-hour journey to Phi Phi.  I had underestimated the distances around Thailand.  I think it’s the phrase island ‘hopping’.  It makes it sound like an easy little journey!  But when we got to Phi Phi we had to wait for 45 minutes for our final transfer to our hotel, the PP Erawan Palms resort, which took another 45 minutes.  So, all in, the little ‘hop’ from Phuket to Phi Phi took us about 6 hours in total.

The longboats in the main harbour at Phi Phi

We sailed around these high orange cliffs to get to the north end of the island

What an amazing coastline

But we were very happy with our new temporary abode. We were a short stagger away from a golden beach in front of a lovely pool and a row of restaurants along the sand.  We got rid of our baggage in the room and went for some dinner before collapsing for the night.  An easy day of doing very little is called for tomorrow.

The view along the beach at sunset