Not sticking to the plan

I arrived in Phi Phi relatively early, and relatively hassle-free. The minibus to the ferry picked me up on time, and the ferry itself was very comfortable. I could see that a man boarding the minibus had a guitar on him, but his face was obscured by a window frame. Being a bit of a grump in the morning, the first thing I thought was "oh no, a twat with a guitar. I bet he's got dreadlocks". But as he entered the vehicle his face came in to view and it turned out he actually looked like Mr. Bean, which I found more acceptable. Later, the ferry was playing a number of episodes of Mr. Bean, and for a moment I thought that television was mingling with reality as the guitar-playing Mr. Bean strolled in front of the screen.

So anyway, I got to Phi Phi and checked in to my room at the 'Gypsy Village'. Trust me, I didn't book it based on the name. Nor did I book it based on the colour scheme. I say 'scheme', it was really just 'pink'. The outside walls were pink. So were the inside ones. As was the bedding, including a delightful satin sheet. I've got nothing against pink, but it's definitely one of those colours that requires moderation in it's use.

Happy that I'd got myself another high value place to stay, I stepped out in to Phi Phi to see what it was all about. Being one of Thailand's most beautiful spots, the place was very busy and lined with shops, bars and tourist agencies. However, it has a real laid back tropical feeling to it, and there are no real roads, just dusty walkways meandering around the various establishments. Soon though, the dust turned in to mud as the skies gave it their all, and the heaviest rain I'd seen for weeks hit the island.

While all this had been happening, Debbie, who I'd left previously in Ko Samui, was due to leave for home in a few days and was feeling a bit 'over' all this Thailand stuff. She wanted to go somewhere a bit quieter and less touristy, so it probably sounds a bit mental when I say that she decided to come and join me in Phi Phi. A rough itinerary I'd mentioned, which involved Ko Lanta and the Trang Islands, seemed to take her fancy, so essentially she was joining me for that, but Phi Phi seemed as good a place as any to meet. Besides, she hadn't actually stayed on Phi Phi, she'd merely done a tour around it, so this was a good opportunity to see it properly. Really then, mental it was not, perfect sense it made, and I was very happy to have her with me for a few days. It stopped raining just in time for me to meet her off the boat from Krabi, and after she'd got settled we went for a meal and a few drinks. A highlight was a rooftop bar that served cocktails, and for some reason, probably to look cool, I ordered a classic vodka Martini. It was bloody horrible. Later we went to the beach where they were having what looked like a very rubbish full moon party.

Phi Phi has two main islands, Ko Phi Phi Don, where we were staying, and Ko Phi Phi Leh which is uninhabited and has nowhere to stay unless you do a special camping tour. Ko Phi Phi Leh, then, can really only be viewed through a day trip, so that's exactly what I went to do. I took a long tail boat tour, because I felt it was more 'Thailandy' and met some excellent people from Watford, Germany and Canada. First we chilled out on a very nice beach, then on to 'Monkey Bay', where you can see a bunch of monkeys sitting on the rocks on another very nice beach, and then in to a sort-of lagoon area where we did some snorkelling. I've no idea where these places were, as our guide wasn't much of a guide and usually we had to guess for ourselves. Eventually we reached an area that didn't need his services anyway - Maya Bay, or 'DiCaprio Beach' as some now call it - was instantly recognisable. A bit of me was a tad disappointed that we just sailed right up to it. I think I was expecting to have to climb through jungle and jump off a 10 metre waterfall to reach it. 'The perfect beach' is much smaller than you imagine, and not especially jaw dropping. You wonder at first why the producers of The Beach chose it to feature in the film. But then they probably saw it without it being smothered in tourists and without boats pushed up all along the shore. We rode back to Phi Phi Don as the sun was setting, and I caught up with Debbie who had done her own thing during the day.

It was raining heavily again the next day, and this nearly stopped us from making the most of our last day in Phi Phi. However, we ventured out, got some breakfast and formulated a plan, which was to walk inland and up to reach the viewpoints that give you good places to take photographs of the island. We felt lost for a while, and it was tiring, but once we were there it seemed worth it. From a position high up you can see how Ko Phi Phi Don got so badly effected by the 2004 tsunami - the most built up area sits at the thinnest part of the island, with the beaches on each side just minutes from each other. Instead of going back the way we came, we trekked through jungle on a sort-of a pathway until we came across a new beach, one less busy with tourists, but with a decent little bar and a chilled out atmosphere. We decided we'd made the most of what started out as a miserable looking day.

With Phi Phi done and dusted, it was time to take on a new mission - Debbie's visa was due to run out before her flight from Bangkok, and mine shortly after hers. Luckily, all you need to do to extend your Thai visa is to hop over a border and back again. Simple. So we got a bus down to Hat Yai, the deep south of Thailand, and stayed there for the night. There was something maybe a bit scary, but mostly quite nice, about being in a part of Thailand that has almost no interest to tourists at all, because likewise, they had no real interest in us. We got to see what Thai people really shop for, and how they really speak. The area has a higher number of muslims than the rest of Thailand too, so Debbie had to be careful how she dressed.

Early in the morning we got up and caught a bus down to the border with Malaysia. I felt a bit embarrassed going through the gates to leave, knowing that I'd be back again in a minute. To be honest, we got completely confused and wandered about aimlessly for probably about half an hour. I felt a bit sorry for Malaysia - it seemed impolite not to stick around at least for a cup of tea.We returned to Hat Yai just in time for lunch - the whole thing took about five hours, but went very smoothly. We would now base ourselves in Trang so we could finally go and see the Trang Islands the next day. This turned out to be a real highlight of Thailand. The snorkelling was excellent, even better than the Great Barrier Reef I would say, but the real gem (sorry) was the Emerald Cave. Led through a pitch-black cave in the sea, you eventually come to a small cove containing a beach buffed by stunning green water and surrounded by cliffs.

The tour was a great way to cap mine and Debbie's time together - that evening she caught a train to Bangkok so she could get her flight back to London. I went ahead with the plan and booked a ticket to Ko Lanta. I'm thinking though, perhaps I shouldn't have done. Perhaps Thailand should've stopped for me on that day in the Trang Islands. Not that there's anything wrong with Ko Lanta - it's all right. But it really only offers everything I've already seen. However, I have two whole weeks until my flight to India, and I'm pretty sure that would be too much time in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. So I'm going rogue. Tomorrow I head back to Bangkok, and then I'm going off the itinerary with a little trip to Cambodia.