Hi all, here is our update for the four days just spent on Ko Phi Phi island, just off the Western coast of Thailand...

First, i have to describe our mildly terrifying arrival into Ton Sai (the commercial centre/main harbour) - a manic chorus of accommodation touts,each shouting louder than the next in an attempt to cart you off to their digs. Cursing the heat, and my improbaby huge backpack (woolly hats: when will I ever need you?!?), we gave the touts the swerve and ploughed further into Ton Sai tourist village. Eventually, we settled on a bead each in a shared dorm at a budget dive called the Rock. This place had pro's (friendly travellers very willing to point us in the direction of a bar, and hilariously crude wall graffiti) and con's (design which I can only liken to a 16-person prison cell, intense heat especially on a top bunk - which of course, we all were). Anyway, it was 150 baht (3 quid) for the night, so we put up and shut up. That evening we headed to some recommended bars and ended up finishing the night at a very Club 18-30 place called Ibizia Beach bar where we were treated to free buckets of alcohol (whiskey-red bull-coke/only if you had the flyer), and then an array of fire-based entertainement: seriously...fire pois, fire skipping, fire limbo etc etc.

The following morning, we made an executive decision to abandon our jail digs at the Rock, trading in for a pair of cute beach huts at PP Annita resort. Small inside, but with loads of character, our little huts also boasted hammocks on a shaded porch and personal toilets in an adjoining hut out back. Luxury! We ended up staying there for a further two nights, only moving elsewhere for our final night when a) Sarah and Emma ran out of space in their hut, and b) I felt fairly certain that something (large enough to wake me) had run over my face during the night...

The highlight of our time on Phi Phi was a day-long snorkelling trip, which gave us a chance to get off the main island - Phi Phi Don and venture out to the surrounding archipelago. We were particularly keen to see Phi Phi Leh, a practically uninhabited smaller island about 20 minutes away via longtail boat. It didn't disappoint. We shuttled around the exterior of Phi Phi Leh, all sheer cliffs and distorted caves, before being dropped at the waters in the interior, and making our way onto Maya Bay (the beach where they filmed 'The Beach'). It was beautiful, and gladly,not as disturbed by careless tourists as we'd feared it might have been. Other highlights of the snorkelling trip included sea snorkelling at Shark Rock (disappointingly, no sharks), landing for lunch at pretty Bamboo island, and most of all...our fellow passengers!

There was Lize, a hilariously clumsy art teacher from Belgium (flashed a boob when snorkelling, fell off the boat when landing at Monkey beach, fell INTO the boat when re-embarking at the same beach), Petra - a fabulous 32 year old German who had been living in Oz for the last two years, and put her youthful appearance down to a shot of Schnapps (to her, that was anything over 40% in alcohol) after every meal, and also Kani and Marc - two funny, smart Germans who me and Emma shared an interesting conversation re: the merits of the German and English educational systems at a bar later that night! Special mentions go to the fantastically hungover couple from the North of England (purely for surviving the day), and the two Irish girls who never even got off the boat. The. Whole. Day! A group of us shared a meal and drinks when we returned to Phi Phi Don, and it looks as though our paths may cross agin, as Kani, Marc & Lize at least will be on Ko Phag Nan at the same time as us.

Our last day on Phi Phi was also a really good one. Having felt we had confined ourselves a little too much to the tourist centre, we missioned it up the neighbouring hilltop to the Viewpoint where we were rewarded with a scenic overview of one end of the isand, and later along the coast to Hat Yao (or long beach). That evening, we rounded off our stay with a gig at Bora Bora bar, where a Thai reggae band played the most brilliantly bizarre mix of English covers you could ever imagine. We stumbled back to our rooms, intoxicated by their sweet mix of Marley and Oasis (!!!). Well, that and another free bucket we had troughed whilst watching.

Other noteworthy memories from Phi Phi: watching the world go by whilst breakfasting every morning at D's bookshop/cafe, consuming mega portions at Papaya restaurant and marvelling at the cat that was almost always curled up inside their drinks fridge, watching the film 'The Beach' (whose chief message re: travelling in Thailand is to stray from the beaten track for a more authentic experience) in a tourist bar - trust me, the irony didnt escape us. And finally, chilling out in the famous Reggae Bar where tourists, usually Brits, can elect to put themselves forward for a 'friendly' Thai Boxing match in the bar's central boxing ring. The only real moment of interest came when one sweaty English man dislocated a shoulder (efficiently popped back in by the Thai bar staff). I was thinking, not so different from a Friday night out on Union Street after all...