Ko Phi Phi continued....

With Phi Phi Leh island always in full view on the horizon and the white sandy beach never more than 48 paces and 1 minute (Trev counted) away, Its hard not to belive that you are actually in paradise. The only the distraction was our new friend the "When you leave 2 o'clock man" We weren't firm in our plans on the time that we would stay so everyday we had to run the gaunlet past reception. Any attempt to be bright and cheerful or just plain ignorant were always met with "What time you leave?" Not being able to give a straight answer just left him looking even more sour (if that was possible) Try and change the subject to ANYTHING else or ask a question the answer: "2 o'clock" - ask if aliens lived on the beach - "2 o'clock" - "are you always this miserable?fo" - "2o'clock!" this was usually followed by a sniff and then promptly busying himself with something else!

Being on the quiter side of things we journeyed over to the busy Ao Ton Sai village. And thats exactly what it was. From the main pier where there are 3 ferry arrivals a day (and it wasn't high season yet) the place spans out over a few main lanes and several smaller lanes and alleys down the sides. You can get anything you want here; from thai massage to a 4 island tour, a ticket to Kaula Lumpur or a 3 day open water dive course for 100 pounds. Sun hats, buckets spades, hair braids, knock off DVD's and CD's - tailor made suits, cookery classes and an original french bakery. You can even drink all night for free if you survive a round in Thai boxing ring in the middle of a bar. We were amazed at just how overun the place was with every kind of service. It wasn't quite what we expected but provided a pleasant if not energitic distraction. We checked out the beach and took a walk all the way out pat the village and up to a place called viewpoint. From here you can get some great views of the whole island. Soon we were back in town thinking of the budget and the availabilty of cheap accomodation. Now as soon as you show any interest or ask to see a room, they pounce. Owners are quick to sell you the virtues, Comfortable double bed, "can sleep together!" Flushing toilet, fan, hot water or a/c. A long the way we came across the Tara Inn. A beautiful new building all decked out in white stone offering the best service, english speaking owner (Mon) hot water shower (a big draw after the body popping cold water showers in Railay) and a TV! all for just over a tenner! Impressive if only he had a vacancy. We settled for the slightly cheaper but quite nice small hotel a few doors down, but it was not to be the end at the Tara Inn...

We had another night in Paradise so started on our way back for our last night before we moved. On the way one of the many dive shops caught Trev's eye. Advertising as an eco snorkeling tour of some of the reef it promised that sharks could be seen. If not your money back. After an in depth chat with the owner - an English guy living and working here for over 10 years it turns out he knew his stuff and before long Trev was booked on the morning trip leaving at 6am with a longtail boat pick up from our beach. We headed back to ourfavorite night spot on our beach for a fish BBQ before retiring early, but not before sitting on the beach to star gaze again and meet some of Jo's new crab friends

Morning. The beautiful clear skies and brilliant sunrise that Trev wanted were replaced by dark skies and sea that was moaning like Pete when he has NOT been served a french measure of wine (just joking mate!) Walking up and down the beach until 6.45, we thought it was cancelled (or rather Trev did - Jo was still tucked up in bed) Finally they showed up. Time to get on the boat and change into a wet suit gear up and we were in the water. I met up with an older Isreali guy and this was it. Just the 2 of us and guide. Apparently we stiil stood a chance of seeing sharks despite the weather and sea conditions and he wasn't wrong! The black tip reef shark is not much bigger than a small 2 seater sofa, it's harmless as its not carnivorous and it's incredibaly shy if not curious.... It was murky in the water but still with roughly 5 or 6 metres visiblity. We swam around for 10 mins or so before our first encounter. It was brief but not as brief as the moment was not lost on you. Our guide stopped us and then swam off. A few secs later out the depth our first shark came hurtling towards us head on Realising we were there he stopped on a dime, paused for brief look a metre or so in front of us before shooting off again changing direction and swimming a half circle around us. The next sighting we had to wait for another 10 mins and it was almost by accident that another black tip just ambled past without realising, when it suddenly caught sght of us it was away into the dark. Pulses up with swam out a little further to sea over the reef where is surprising clear and we could spot all manner of fish and coral including a clown fish (Finding Nemo) Being very teritorial it tried to stared down our guide while he took a picture!!

It had been a great morning and it was topped off by the weather breakinga nd the sun coming out. The skies cleared and truly glorious afternoon commenced on the beach chillin with shark tales! We'd got the art of the longtail taxi down to a fine art so we had just enough time for a sunset before hot footing it over to our new digs in the tourist town to begin the next part of our stay on the island.