Thailand 2023, part 37 (Ko Phi Phi Le, Ko Phi Phi Don, Ko Mai Phai, Ko Lanta)
As part of a one-day trip to the Phi Phi Islands, located approximately halfway between the well-known larger island of Ko Phuket and the smaller island of Ko Lanta, where I spent two nights, I first visited Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Le. Then, the entire group returned to the speedboat and continued to explore a few more interesting places on the island.
One of them was Phi Leh Bay or Lagoon, where the colour of the water was incredibly beautiful and impressive.
There was no planned landing or stay here – we just sailed into the lagoon and floated around a bit while everyone took their desired photos and then we sailed out of the lagoon.
Then we briefly continued our journey north along the eastern coast of the island to reach the Viking Cave. The cave, of course, has no connection to Vikings themselves; instead, it is a site where edible bird nests are harvested.
After a very brief slowdown near the cave, we simply continued further north towards the largest island in the archipelago – Ko Phi Phi Don.
The first stop on Ko Phi Phi Don was Monkey Beach, named after the colony of small monkeys that inhabit the area. Of course, this isn’t visible as you approach the cove by speedboat.
Boats with visitors stay at a certain distance from the beach and those interested can swim to the shore and try to find the monkeys. From my previous travel experiences, I know that small monkeys can appear as cute animals, but they are still wild beings. If they were to scratch a person (while attempting to reach for food, not because they are predators), the injured person would need to receive promptly rabies shots, etc.
In other words, I wasn’t interested in the monkeys at all, but the water was tempting and I quickly found myself in it. Fortunately, I managed to arrange with a crew member of our speedboat to take a photo of me while floating there.
After some time, when all the members of the group I embarked on this excursion with had gathered again, we continued with our visits.
We continued to visit different points on Ko Phi Phi Don and the next one was Loh Lana Bay, where we anchored right on the beach.
While waiting for them to set up lunch, because that was precisely the reason we came here, I jumped into the water, enticed by its colour.
Later, I did come out because lunch was ready. After we all enjoyed our meal and took a little more swim in the sea, we boarded the speedboat again.
When I later searched the internet, I saw pictures of this bay that were actually quite unattractive, as they showed low tide and brown rocks which in large numbers cover the bay’s bottom. On the one hand, I realised I was lucky to have come here at high tide, so the bay looked magical. On the other hand, it was only then that I understood what was happening as we slowly moved away from the beach, passing by a section with huts where I saw a couple of people walking through the water, carrying their backpacks on their heads as they headed from the huts towards the beach. Obviously, they had reached the huts when it was low tide and now they couldn’t wait for it to reappear.
We got back again into the open sea as we continued north towards Ko Mai Phai island, also known as Bamboo Island, which is actually a mistake since there is not a single bamboo plant on the island. Apparently, the name of the tree species that grows on this small island was incorrectly translated and it has remained that way. As a professional translator, I know the trick – they didn’t hire a good translator; instead, they wanted to save money.
Bamboo Island is a part of the Phi Phi Islands group and it’s a small piece of land in the middle of the sea. However, this piece of land boasts a beautiful sandy beach and trees in the centre, making it popular among tourists. As one approaches, it becomes quite clear why this is the case.
I had definitely planned to swim here and I did so a bit later, but first I wanted to take a stroll along the beach and see and capture the beauty of it all. And it looked – heavenly!
Then I packed up my camera and I continued taking photos with my mobile phone. One reason for this is that it’s easier for me to send the pictures to my friends who are interested in this. On the other hand, the colour tones turn out a bit different.
Of course, I had to take a selfie as well. As you can see, I’m here in “full gear.” The sun was very strong and I wasn’t willing to take the risk of getting sunburned. I had a towel around my neck because it was easier for me to carry it that way and I took off the wide-brimmed hat while taking the photo. In my “fullest gear,” I probably looked a sight, but that doesn’t bother me in the least.
Then I reached a part of the beach that was quite deserted. There, I found a spot in the shade where I left my belongings and I plunged into the water. It was wonderful!
After I had finished swimming, I retreated to the shade and soon I spotted a beautiful common myna (Acridotheres tristis).
After a while, as we had a scheduled time to return, I headed back with the idea of strolling a bit more along the shore and its vicinity.
Even upon boarding the speedboat, the beauty of the place was in no way diminished.
After this, we returned to the largest island in the Phi Phi group, Ko Phi Phi Don. Now, we went to the populated area where there were restaurants, cafés and numerous souvenir shops. After all those beautiful beaches and bays, I couldn’t help but wonder what we were even looking for here. On the other hand, it’s possible to stay here longer as there are numerous hotels and resorts, and then one can go on local excursions.
The area seen in the next photo is called “Phi Phi Beach,” but it is actually a parking area for traditional boats that are commonly used here (the long-tail boats).
In line with that, I mostly took photos of boats here and even later, when I walked along the main street leading along the coast, I only took a couple of photos because I didn’t have any inspiration at all.
After the one hour we had available in this part of the island, we all returned to the speedboat and the only thing left was for it to take us back to Ko Lanta, where our transport awaited, each of us being dropped off at our respective hotels.
In my case, the return to the hotel was just in time for me to enjoy a nice cocktail at the end of the day.
Later, I went back to my room briefly and then returned to the beachfront restaurant where I enjoyed the sunset, along with another delicious dinner that included grilled fish.
The next day, I planned to move on. As I’ve mentioned earlier, the hotel receptionists sold me a ticket for a direct speedboat connecting Ko Lanta and the town of Ao Nang near Krabi on the mainland. I was especially pleased with this because it significantly facilitated my transfer and onward journey.
However, in the morning, I still spent some time on Ko Lanta. To begin with, I woke up relatively early and enjoyed the peaceful morning in front of my bungalow, where I also noticed an interesting tree.
Judging by its name in English (fragrant screw-pine), one might infer that it is some kind of pine, but the tree is more like a palm. Its Latin name is Pandanus odorifer, although on a sign I saw on Ko Phi Phi Le island, I also came across the name Pandanus odoratissimus L.f., while in the meantime, I have realised that there are several synonyms for the same plant. In any case, the plant has fragrant leaves and flowers, but what caught my interest was the fruit that had not yet reached full maturity when it can turn bright red and has a shape reminiscent of a large conifer cone.
This morning, I was quite lazy and somewhat sluggish and since local transportation was supposed to show up at some point to take me to the port, I wasn’t eager to venture far from the hotel. Therefore, I went for a nice walk along the beach just before breakfast. As the beach is called Long Beach, the stroll was quite enjoyable. Along the way, I even stopped at a restaurant for a coffee to wake up a bit more.
My plan for the next few days was to visit two more places – one on the mainland in the form of a town from which I planned another excursion and the other was a small island in the Gulf of Thailand. Both Ko Lanta and the Phi Phi Islands are located in the Andaman Sea, so I wanted my travels in southern Thailand to cover different parts of this region, including various seasides.
In the end, I was quite disappointed, which I will talk about later. During that time, I also realised that the beach on Ko Lanta was actually fantastic – certainly the best one by which I stayed while in Thailand.