Ko Phi Phi Raises the Wow Factor

I've found that every now and then, while traveling, I come across something I've never seen, something that surpasses my expectations, something that is almost surreal but is, in fact, sitting right in front of me. Maybe I've heard about it - perhaps the guidebook actually provided a useful description or commentary; maybe another tourist enthused "oh mate, you got to have a look at this..."; maybe I saw it in the movies but chalked it up to computer graphics; or maybe even one of the ubiquitous local tourist agencies flooded me with pictures and broken English descriptions. Or maybe not. Sometimes, in the past, I haven't even known it's there, haven't even really expected it. A glacier in Patagonia, a caldera in the middle of Nicaragua.

The beaches of Thailand provided a bit of the above - expectations exceeded and surprises dropped in our laps.

So surely by now you've rolled your eyes, reviewed the definition of cliche (wiktionary.org: a trite saying; a platitude) and decided that, yes, I have in fact fulfilled said definition. Maybe you've even added your own sarcastic inner monologue - Oh, wow, Ian and Amy go to Thailand and see something amazing. Surprising.

Perhaps. Probably. But at least I've put our Thai beach experience in context. Surely this little beach we found is no secret, but while we were there we had it all to ourselves while our longtail boat captain snoozed on the boat in his underwear amongst the lapping waves. We had chartered the boat on Phi Phi Don to take us across the water to Phi Phi Leh. Our driver was dressed sparsely, uncharacteristic for Thai men in public. After getting rocked by a few big waves, we eventually got to Phi Phi Leh and the driver pulled into a lagoon with this little beach.

Throughout the day, we got to snorkel in the beautiful water, watch monkeys swim in the shallows, and walked to another famous beach. But it all seemed to pale in comparison to the little slice of paradise that our scantily-clad captain showed us.

And of course, as we pulled away, a boatload of about twenty Japanese tourists pulled up. We'd left just in time.