S̄wạs̄dī Koh Phi Phi & Koh Lipe

Day 1
I was up picked up early the next morning and taken to the ferry terminal to catch the boat to Koh Phi Phi. The ferry was fairly comfortable and only took just over an hour to reach the island. As soon as I disembarked I headed to my hostel arriving just before 12. I spent half an hour or so in the room looking at what to do on the island. While I was there two new girls checked in, one from Spain and one from Portugal, and we decided to go to the beach. The Spanish girl wanted to snorkel so we walked to the other end of the bay to our hostel as we were told the snorkelling was good there. On the way there’s noticed how clean and pedestrianised the island was, with no cars or bikes in sight in the main town. If I’m honest it also felt quite like being on a resort. Albeit one occupies by backpackers. To our disappointment when we reached the “snorkel spot” we found that the sea bed was this weird mixture between sand and mud, which made the water really cloudy as you walked through it. It also wasn’t very deep, both factors making it less than ideal for snorkelling. We didn’t fancy swimming in it either so decided to head to the other side of the island to the main beach (the party beach at night time). Although the water was much nicer here it was even shallower as the tide was on its way out. Me and the Spanish girl decided to walk out for a bit hoping it would get deeper. After about 10 minutes of walking the water was still barely at knee height so I abandoned the idea of swimming and headed back. The Spanish girl kept going still hoping to snorkel. Back at the beach i chatted to the Portuguese girl (you may have guessed by now I couldn’t remember their names) while we waited for the Spanish girl to return. Half an hour later she came back, telling us that she went right out to the edge of the bay and was still only waist deep. She did manage to see a few fish though so not a completely wasted effort. We headed back to the hostel where the girls left me to go hike to the view point for the sunset. As it was pretty cloudy I didn’t see much point and would do the hike tomorrow. Instead I went and had an early dinner at a vegetarian restaurant where I had a yummy falafel burger. As I wanted to spend the next day hiking around the island i decided to have an early night so returned to the hostel.

Day 2
I was up and out early the next morning so that I could explore as much of the island before my ferry back to Krabi at 3pm. I decided to only stay the one night as the island felt too much like a resort for my liking, plus as it was off season and there was no direct ferry to Koh lipe id have to take the long way by getting the boat back to Krabi the a bus down the mainland and then another ferry closer to the island. I started my day by climbing the hundred odd steps up to the islands main viewpoints. The first view was nice but still fairly close to the town. The second viewpoint was higher up and so you could see the whole island below and also the famous Koh Phi Phi Li island, home to “The Beach” beach (sadly that specific beach is now closed for the next four months in order to let it recover from the mass tourism involved in being one of the main fist famous film sites in south east Asia). I had a drink from the conveniently located cafe and sat looking at the view for a while (taking a short break for the customary jumping picture). I then continued my hike up to viewpoint 3, which was more secluded and gave a nice view of the bay I tried to swim in yesterday. After seeing the three main viewpoints on the island I decided to follow the route to the east of the island to Long Beach. On my way there I found another viewpoint hidden away up an overgrown path (thanks maps.me). The simple viewpoint was just two large rocks looking out to the beach where all the boats dock. Although not mapped as a main view it was actually my favourite on account of it being so quiet and peaceful. I sat in blissful silence for half an hour, thinking how lucky I am to be there right now. I really appreciate every second of my trip. As time was ticking on I continued on to the beach and finally found the nice sandy beach I had been waiting for, complete q water deep enough to swim in and a view the The Beach Island. I spent the next two hours soaking up the sun and swimming before it was time to head back to catch my ferry. I was back in Krabi by 6pm, staying at the same hostel as before. I booked by bus for the next morning and then headed out to weekend night market for dinner. At the market I stumbled across a baked potato stall ad jumped at the chance for some home comforts. Washed down with a nice mango smoothie. With my tummy full I headed back to the hostel to shower and sleep.

Day 3
The next morning I woke up with a slightly unsettled stomach but tried to ignore it as my minivan picked me up to head south to Park Bara port. Unfortunately my stomach continued to feel unsettled until finally four hours into the journey I couldn’t hold it and threw up in to a plastic bag. As I hadn’t eaten anything yet it was mainly just liquid and thankfully didn’t smell up the bus. I felt slightly better and managed to make it through the last hour of the bus ride without being sick again. Unfortunately while waiting for the speedboat to take us to Koh Lipe I was sick again, this time over the edge of the pier. Thankfully I don’t think anyone noticed. With no other option I reluctantly bordered the speedboat and began the final hour of the journey. And as you might have guessed I was indeed sick again, this time having to back my way to the front of the boat before one of the crew gave ne a bag. I stayed there until we got to the island. Finally finished with transport for the day I walked the last 10 minutes across the island to my hostel where I checked in and went straight to bed. I woke up at 7pm having slept for an five hours, bought sone bananas and water in the shop next to the hostel, brushed my teeth and then went back to bed for the night.

Day 4
I spent all next morning in bed, eating a few bananas as keeping hydrated. Finally at about 2pm I felt well enough to get some fresh air and decided to walk to the beach. The island is pretty small so it only took me 5 minutes to reach a nice quiet beach. I spent the next couple of hours reading and cooling off in the water before heading back to the main walking street. I managed to find a nice restaurant that did some western food (I couldn’t stomach fried rice or noodles just yet) and had a veggie sandwich for dinner. Feeling better for having a proper meal inside me I headed back to the hostel for an early night, hoping one more good night sleep would do the trick.

Day 5
I woke up late the next morning feeling so much better. I decided to spend the day at the islands sunset beach, reading swimming and soaking up sone vitamin D. It felt good to be able to finally enjoy the beauty of island life. I had most of the beach to myself until the rest of the islands few tourists turned up to watch the sunset. I finally got to watch a cloud free island sunset. Once the show was finished I headed back to the same restaurant as last night and had the same sandwich for dinner, too nervous to try anything too special before my journey off the island the next day. After dinner it was back to the hostel to pack. Although I spent most of time on the island I’ll I was still able to enjoy enough of what Koh Lipe has to offer, quiet beaches and chilled vibes.

So there you have my few days living the island life. Next stop is Malaysian peninsula.

Lā k̀xn!

PS - in case you were wondering, I’m pretty sure it was the mango shake that gave me the food poising. The risk with ice here.Read more