i have to go phi phi...

haha ...I'm hilarious...!!

anyway..

..so we arrived on Koh Phi Phi....(koh means island...)

we had heard a lot about it from our friend Will.....he said it was the most beautiful island he'd seen so far.....

It is pretty beautiful...but.....like so many beautiful things ....people have found a way to exploit it.....

There are actually two islands that make up Phi Phi.......Phi Don and the (in)famous Phi Lei -the location where they filmed 'the beach' ....

Phi Lei is uninhabited...it's more of a national park....however...apparently 'Hollywood' came in a totally landscpaed the entire beach for the movie....it's kind of upsetting...

So we arrived on Phi Don...a couple square kilometers of beach set between towering limestone cliffs.......the first thing that happened when we arrived at the pier was , we were charged a beach cleanup fee....now mind you, it was minimal......but i thought it strange that we were charged for cleaning up the beach...before....we had made it dirty........but 'when in rome' ...

Phi Phi, like most of the touristy islands, caters to westerners...so there's plenty of bars, and irish pubs, and pizza joints.....we had dinner one night at an indian restaurant....the food was really good but a bit pricier than we were used to....

.....the best food we had were at the more unassuming places...little holes in the wall...one such place was owned my a woman named Song....she made Phad Thai....it's the one Thai dish that most westerners recognize.......THAT'S ALL SHE DOES....just phad thai....some drinks, yes....but as far as food goes....you either get it with chicken, pork, or veggie... Her little 'hole in the wall' is literally that....it has four tables....very close together...allowing for no more than 2 people at each table.....and covering the walls are hundreds of notes attesting to her amazing Phad Thai .....we were intrigued by all of this and decided to try it...........it was in fact the 'Best Phad Thai' we had had in our lives thus far.... the notes were completely warranted....and on top of that....it was super cheap...

I would go back there just for that....:)

We did a tour of Phi Lei....part of the tour involved cliff jumping.......so they take us to this spot along the side of these towering cliffs.......there's a spot where you can climb up a ways and then jump off.....at 8m, 10m, up to 30 m....so we all jump out of the boat and swim to the edge of the rocks....and we start climbing....I was the first one there...and I started to climb up...like so many situations...I assumed that Sairaa was right behind me.....well she wasn't..... I got out safely and I watched as every other person on the tour...( approx. 8 people ) got up as well...........Sairaa had been the last to reach the edge and by the time she got there, boats had gone by, creating waves...pushing her further from the rocks.............long story short...the guide helped her up eventually......

She was not happy with me.....her knee had been scraped....the same knee that she had cut up when I threw us of our motorbike......

*lesson of the day* Don't run ahead, assuming your girlfriend is right behind you....instead make sure you are always behind her, ensuring that you don't get in trouble for leaving her to be bashed against the rocks...;)

So....we get to the top of this cliff....the girls were jumping at the 8m mark.....the guys were jumping at the 10m mark......I jumped at the ...8m mark....but seriously....it's only because I'm terrified of heights and....the 10m required you to jump OUT as well as DOWN....so....yeah....i'm justified...(masculinity still in tact - hopefully) and damn it!! ...I jumped twice....

The one funny thing that I mentioned to Sairaa afterwards ( and she agreed..) ...on my first jump...I kind of landed on my ass.....it was kind of like having an enema......it happened to her too.......needless to say....it was difficult to sit down for a bit after that....:)

Phi Lei is truly amazing...limestone cliffs jut straight up, out of the ocean...like towering giants...it hurts your neck....staring up like that for so long...

The longtail boat we were on took us to a small lagoon, where we got out and swam to this set of stairs...we climbed up them and down another set into another very small lagoon and we proceeded, through a sand pathway through palm trees and other underbrush....and finally we break into this clearing onto 'the beach' .....truly beautiful....