Thailand: Slice of Paradise

In Bangkok, Simon and I had the chance to see Clare and Chris, friend's of Simon's from London. It was a nice little treat seeing some familiar faces. We spent much of our lunch together hearing about their amazing travels amongst the islands in the south of Thailand. Although Si and I had already decided against spending the money and time to travel down, we were swept away with tales of white sandy beaches, clear waters, and unimaginable sunsets. Needless to say, there was little delay in booking our 12-hour bus ride down to the Andaman Coast, where we were dropped in the town of Krabi, a great jumping off point for the beautiful islands nearby.

Immediately upon our arrival, we took a 2-hour boat ride (as if we hadn't spent enough time travelling!) to the island of Koh Lanta. The water was beautiful, the sand lovely, although slightly more shell-covered than we had expected. We spent our first full day lazily on the beach, swimming, tanning, reading, sleeping...tough life, huh!?

The following day we woke early for a 7-hr boat trip that took us to 4 much smaller and primarily uninhabited islands nearby. Most of the islands were large masses of rock and vegetation. Our first stop (my favorite), began at the base of this enormous 'rock island.' We swam 80 meters through a cave to the center of the island where there was a small hidden beach. It was called Emerald cove, because when you spot your first bit of light as you are swimming through the cave, it shines off the water and creates a dazzling emerald color. From there, we had lunch and swam on our second island, where we finally did find the bright green/blue waters and white sand we had been waiting for. We completed our day trip by snorkeling off of 2 more islands. For those of you that know about my intense fear of fish, you'll be impressed to know I not only got in the water but stayed in - with thousands of fish around me - for a full 30 seconds!

Our next and final stop was on the island of Koh Phi Phi. We almost skipped this island as it is rumored to be so touristy that it has lost its 'wow' factor, but im sure glad we didn't. This little piece of heavan was so beautiful. It was exactly what we'd been looking for. The water was crystal clear (i.e. I could spot any fish coming near me from a mile away!), the beaches were covered with beautiful white sand, and the island had no roads, only pedestrian walks, so exploration was simple and enjoyable. We were able to climb 186-metres above sea level to a viewpoint and enjoy an incredible view of the island and the waters that surround it, just as the sun goes down.

We did a lot of lounging and exploring on this island as well, and also enjoyed another boat trip (just the 2 of us), in a wooden long-tail boat. Although I havn't seen it myself, apparently there was a big motion picture called 'The Beach' staring Leonardo DiCaprio that was filmed on Koh Phi Phi Leh, a satellite island which remains uninhabited. Although falling into a slight tourist trap by deciding to go see it, we certainly did not regret it. The little island was home to the MOST beautiful beach, with even clearer water than we had found on Phi Phi Don. It was beyond words. Truly.

We could not be happier we diverted from our original plans and went south. I tell you, these islands were just so beautiful. Swimming together all day, sharing meals with our feet dug deep in sand, and seeing nothing but beauty around us brought Si and I even closer together. As a sorta kinda somewhat not really at all, joke, we kept turning to one another and wishing each other a happy honeymoon. I got to spend a week in paradise with my sweetheart - of course we're going to be corny!!! :)

Although hard to say goodbye, after 6 days and 5 nights of true paradise, Simon and I took another 12-hour bus ride back to Bangkok to begin our hike to the northern most point in Thailand, Chiang Rai, where we will begin our volunteering on the 15th. But of course, we'll be making some fun stops along the way!