Location: Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

I made the perfectly reasonable decision to stay up until 5 AM, intermittently writing the blog and researching where to go in a few hours because I still didn’t know. I dragged myself out of bed after a cat nap and finally decided to head to Koh Phi Phi!

I picked this island almost solely because I checked the weather and it looked pretty nice this afternoon. Maybe a little sun might be a good change of pace! I got to sit right at the back of the speed boat I booked, which meant I had a fantastic view of Krabi island getting smaller as we sped away. We made a few stops at different islands to pick up other passengers, and the further we got from Krabi, the taller the new islands became. It got to the point where it looked like jungle covered rock skyscrapers jutting right out of the bright blue green ocean! It was so beautiful it’s hard to believe it’s just a naturally occurring formation. You mean to tell me this just HAPPENED. Ugh.

When we pulled up to Koh Phi Phi I stepped off the boat and was smiling so big. I think this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Palm trees and greenery covered every inch that didn’t have a stepping stone path or a sandy walkway. Buildings poked up through the trees and I could see my hotel from the pier just a block away. I booked a hotel specifically so I could get a view of the bay when I woke up in the morning, and they’re so reasonably priced it’s barely different from a private hostel room in some places. The main centre of the island is made up of 2 parallel streets that take maybe three minutes to walk between, and a beach running along both sides. Little local restaurants and bars line the roads, and it just feels so relaxed and small and easy.

Nobody seems to be in a hurry. Everyone was walking and talking lazily and I happily wandered through the people on my way to Long beach, a few kilometres away. The path turned from concrete, to stone, to stepping stone, to earth and dirt and then, treacherously, to tree trunks and roots.

There’s always a high chance I’m going the wrong way at any given moment and I would have bet my last dollar that I was, except I was following hand-painted signs! Those are never wrong, right? I did make it eventually and was excited to see the bright clear water and sunny beach I’d been hunting for. I hopped right in the water, swam around and laid in the sand, which was so soft it almost felt like flour. I got a little ice cream and kicked my legs on the edge of a rock wall and wandered around the beach, watching the long tail boats in the ocean.

It was perfect.

I eventually made my way to Loh Da Lum Bay on the other side of the island to watch the sunset and grab some dinner. I was walking along and then passed by a restaurant called Cosmic that smelled so good I couldn’t walk by without stopping for a plate of Indian masala curry, which is also extremely common and inexpensive in Thailand.

Another reason I booked a hotel all to myself was to get extra good sleeps, so despite it being not quite 8 pm I am going to happily hit the hay in preparation for a little excursion I booked on a whim for tomorrow morning!

Everything just keeps getting better.

Sav