Phi Phi and BO

Dear Krabi Province,

It was love at first sight. As soon as we stepped into the taxi driver's 1996 air-conditioned Camry with our new backpacker friends, I knew this was going to be a good relationship. Winding through the mountains on the 20 minute ride from Krabi town to the Ao Nang we danced to some late 90s hip-hop music with our taxi driver and began to feel like this was vacation. After checking into a 500 baht (15 dollars) per night hotel room (including pool and jacuzzi), we dropped off our packs and headed for the beach with our other friends, Chang and Singha.





Keep in mind that we had traveled 14 hours from Kuala Lumpur to Hat Yai and then 5 more hours from Hat Yai to Krabi town. Also. Ian had been wearing the same BK Industry shirt since we got here. That means this shirt spent 24 hours on a plane, 2.5 sweaty days in KL, and 19 hours of overland travel next to Ian's armpits. Thank you Krabi province for being the first place where it was socially acceptable for Ian to wear his man-tanks so he could change out of that sweaty shirt. The ocean water here feels like bath water, so we jumped in and washed away the hours of travel just in time to see our first sunset on the beach.
The next day we hiked over to another beach but mostly spent the day relaxing and swimming. Did I mention that it's cheap here yet? It's cheap. Like $6 for a massage on the beach cheap, which we also did between swimming and relaxing. I'm getting another today. And maybe every day we're here. Food and drink are fresh, cheap, and delicious too. Fresh fruit smoothies cost $1.50 and we've discovered these amazing "coconut doughnuts" which I will also be consuming daily until we leave. We immediately got them both as a snack when we first stepped off of the boat and while we looked for lunch -- $2 pad thai. Ian then got another smoothie and another coconut doughnut after we ate.

Yesterday we left early to head to Ko Phi Phi island, which has some of the most amazing beaches we've ever seen. It's a bit touristy but I guess that's understandable since this place is a paradise. Huge "dramatic" limestone islands dot the turquoise waters around us -- The Beach (with Leo) was filmed on the island we're visiting tomorrow. Today is going to be a low-key day since we spent $5 on a bottle of rum and then danced like rockstars at a European beach party last night.

So, Krabi province, we will be back again someday when we can spend not just days, but months, consuming your delicious food and enjoying your pristine white-sand beaches.

Amy