Phi Phi Island, Thailand

"Maya Bayyyyy....... Maya Bayyyyyy......"

Our second island day trip from Phuket felt more like a cattle call as we were herded into groups, labeled with stickers and then hustled along to our waiting speedboat, ready to take us to Phi Phi Island.

Our squawking guide was a stark contrast to the quiet start the day before, a tour to James Bond Island that included sea canoes and cave systems. Today's tour with Phi Phi Eco Excursion felt more like a school trip, with a strict headmistress in charge.


Pi Leh Bay

By the time we were out on the water, however, our worries melted like butter on a baked potato. We sat back and reveled in the clear crystal blue water, soaring cliffs and glorious skies. At Pi Leh Bay we peeled off our T-shirts and jumped into the warm water in our swimmers, drifting about lazily as we floated on our backs.

Phi Phi Leh island

Our next stop was Maya Bay in Phi Phi Leh Island, famous for providing the breathtaking scenery in The Beach with Leonardo Dicaprio.


Just me and two hundred of my closest friends

Of course any tourist attraction in Thailand is over-run with tourists. We made our way up to a beach that was swarming with people, everyone either holding a camera or posing for a photo. We shamelessly joined them.


Tour speed boats


Swimming at Maya Beach


Tsunami warning sign

The tsunami warning sign on the beach a stark reminder of the devastating tsunami that hit the island on Boxing Day 2004. There have been suggestions that the tsunami did help regenerate the dunes that were damaged by producers during filming.


Lo Samah Bay

At Lo Samah Bay we snorkelled alongside schools of fish, darting flashes of colour that disappeared as soon as you got too close.


School of fish in the coral reef of Loh Samah Bay


Feeding a mother with child at Monkey Beach, Yong Kasem Bay

We stayed on board as our boat was guided toward Monkey Beach. The local macaques at Monkey Beach in Yong Kasem Bay were treated to an afternoon snack of rambutans. 


Macaque at Monkey Beach, Phi Phi Don Island


Macaque eating a rambutan at Monkey Beach, Phi Phi Don Island


Buffet lunch

Lunch was an odd mix of Thai green curry, garden salad, fruit and onion rings. We had much more fun that night back at Phuket, bypassing the tourist trap restaurants and collecting our own makeshift dinner from the food stalls on the street.

Barbecue grill street stall

The street lights are few and far between in Phuket, but the street stalls are like beacons of hope, cloaked in plumes of smoke and stacked with all kinds of deliciousness. Eating street food is always a game of chance when you're traveling, but wise choices and some commonsense will usually keep you in good stead.

I wasn't adventurous enough to gamble on the Hainan chicken (sorry Minh!) but we do load up at the barbecue grill, picking up skewers of chicken livers, chicken hearts and chicken giblets that are placed on the charcoal grill to re-heat.


Chicken wing skewers


Chicken livers on the charcoal grill



Moo Yang Nam Tok spicy grilled pork salad and Som Tam green papaya salad

We add on a spicy grilled pork salad and a crunchy green papaya salad, both dressed to order and packed up in plastic bags for takeaway.


Stalking random cute customers waiting for dinner

Pad Thai stall

The next cart along sells Pad Thai. Perfect!

Making Pad Thai

The noodles are tossed through with fried egg, prawns, tofu, bean sprouts and garlic chives. It smells wondrous and when we dig into it back at our hotel, the noodles are perfectly sticky with sauce, with a little crunch from the scattering of crushed peanuts. 


Pad Thai 40 baht (about AU$1.40)

Dessert cart

And we can't end the night without dessert. We pick up two banana and Nutella pancakes, made from freshly stretched roti folded over banana slices and slathered with chocolate hazelnut spread.

Banana and nutella pancake 50 baht (about AU$1.70)

Dinner and dessert is sorted for 430 baht (about AU$14.80) between three - less than AU$5 each. Bargain!




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