Days 19 & 20 Phi Phi Island
We sailed off after breakfast with our first stop at a small group of islets for some snorkeling and lunch. There were a lot of tour boats already there when we arrived but we were able to take a mooring ball away from the crowd of them. The water was clearer than some of the previous stops and we saw plenty of colorful fish in the area near the rocks.



Our snorkel stop

Our overnight stop would be a small cove where the movie The Beach was filmed. It is one of the more popular tourist stops and there were loads of tour boats all around. Finding a spot to anchor was tough, made more so by a Sunsail yacht that was on it’s anchor with their stern tied to a mooring ball preventing them from swinging with the group. We have seen more charter yachts in the last couple days, both catamarans and monohulls. One big party boat had a large group of young people on board, and some large speakers; the pop songs they were playing reminded me what you would hear at a beach bar in the summer.
Dinner that night was chicken curry; made in batches which allo0wed the heat to be adjusted for individual tastes. I made some sticky rice with mango for dessert, it came out nice and sweet but a little more loose than I had hoped but every grain was finished in the end. Since it was a beautiful night and we didn’t see any bats, I spent the night sleeping in the cockpit.

The next morning some of the crew took the dingy ashore before the hordes of day trippers arrived. I stayed onboard and made some apple bread (my banana bread recipe with apples substituted for the bananas) and also took a nice shower to feel refreshed.



A little spot off the main town on Phi Phi Island


We headed off for Phi Phi Island, which was nearby; the harbor was full of boats and the town is one of the larger tourist areas we have visited. This was even more touristy than Ao Nang with every shop a dive center, tour agent, bar, restaurant or souvenir shop. The plan was to have a big meal in town and then something lighter on board at night.
Some of the crew decided to hike up a trail to the top of the hill behind the town; I made it as far as the restaurant advertising “All cocktails 100 baht”.



The beach and harbor from the restaurant

I had a few Phi Phi Paradise cocktails, with two types of rum, and some fruit juice, very nice; I also had some garlic fried rice as my garlic intake has been a little low lately. I wandered around the narrow walkways looking at the shops and stopping off for beer and wifi occasionally. As the scheduled pickup time neared I stopped at a restaurant for some panang curry, which has ground peanuts in it, noodles and a spicy squid salad. I piled on a large portion of ground chilis and also some pickled chilis, I’m starting to get my system back in balance now.



Typical of the small walkways between the shop

Once everyone was back on board we motored around to the other side of the island and took a mooring ball off Monkey Beach. There is some good snorkeling there along a ridge where the water turns shallow near the beach; we could see monkeys on the beach by some tourist, probably hoping for a handout.
That night we enjoyed plenty of cocktails on deck and Dan showed the above mentioned movie on Skyelarks entertainment system. As we were sitting around some fishermen came into the bay and set their nets, we were debating whether or not to get out the dictionary and ask if they were selling any fish, but the cocktails were going down too smoothly so no one could be sufficiently motivated to give it a go. It was another beautiful night so after I finish using the internet, which I can now get onboard thanks to a data package I purchased for my local sim (100 baht for 250 MB) and Dans extra wifi hub, I brought my pillow up and enjoyed another comfortable nights sleep on deck.



Skyelark anchored off Monkey Beach

Amazing

Wow. Big hills there.