Have we found paradise in Phi Phi?

Phi Phi is made up of two islands Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lei, the latter is uninhibited and so we are staying on the former. Phi Phi Don is a relatively small island that has no vehicles on, so you walk or take the boat everywhere. The island consists of two pieces of hilly land which is connected by a very thin piece of land where the ferries come in, Ton Sai. Despite being a very slight piece of land it's vastly populated and is known as 'tourist village'. We perhaps made the mistake of staying here so our first impressions of Phi Phi weren't great. Mainly due to all the students getting drunk on buckets and an overwhelming feeling this beautiful island has been destroyed by tourism.

Despite this waking up this morning we were determined to make the most of our two nights here. So first thing we hiked up to the viewpoint and marvelled at Ton Sai from afar and really how it was all washed away in the tsunami.

Then we took the compulsory longtail boat tour to Phi Phi Lei the deserted island and the one where the actual 'beach' was filmed. The boat trip was only a fiver each so we weren't expecting much. But first we were delivered onto Monkey Beach, a beach which as you can imagine has monkies swarming everywhere. Then we cruised past Viking Cave, where the local nomads seem to have retreated amongst hammocks and bamboo walls. We stopped for some amazing snorkelling (many different coloured beautiful fish, no nemos though) before landing on the other side of 'the beach'. To get to the famous beach (Maya Bay) you have to crawl over rocks, up a net and along a mossy ridden path but once you arrive it is phenomenal. If you can look past the other people coasting the beach with you, the crystal clear turquoise waters and white sand are out of this world.

When we returned to our part of Phi Phi we decided to have a trek to another beach close by, 'long beach'. After 20mins climbing over roots, sliding down banks and dodging bats we reached it. We found it peaceful, the accommodation there looked lovely and the beach seemed just as nice as 'the beach'. So in hindsight maybe we made a mistake and Phi Phi isn't so tarnished after all. Or maybe we are just getting old and prefer the quiet life to bucket brawls.

Speaking of brawls our day finished by having a spicy Indian. Then we went to watch live Thai boxing. The Thais have it sussed though, they were getting the beer fuelled tourists to fight in their ring for a free bucket (the kind a kids uses at the beach) of alcohol.

Tomorrow we take a boat to Ko Lanta for two nights. We are both looking forward to finding out if we'll find our Thai paradise there.