23 Hour Journey

I have landed! In Koh Phi Phi that is. I left the Gulf of Thailand on the east coast of the country yesterday at 8:30p.m. and didnt get to my final destination till 7:30pm today! And though it was actually one of my longest journey's, it was by far not the worst. I hopped in a taxi to get to the port on Koh Phangan and then made a very risky entrance across a thin wooden plank (with my billion pound backpack teetering on my back) onto a big sleeper ferry. It was something different, basically matresses strewn all across the floor with pillows and it was each man for themselves to claim a spot. Luckily it wasnt full and we all had lotsa rolling room and by 930 we were pulling out to sea. The waters were sooooooo rough! Thank god it was pretty much open air space cause people were being sick left and right! The boat was an old wooden one and was crashing and banging and tossing people all over the place. Secretly, i loved it! AFter the first hour I was so used to it and with the exception of waking up to a few crashes and bangs- i slept like a baby till sunrise.

From there the journey went something like taxi, bus, bus station, ferry boarding area (FOR HOURS cause we missed the a.m ferry) and then FINALLY a ferrry from Krabi on the West coast to Koh Phi Phi. And here I am. Almost at the last leg of my trip, but I am pretending that is not happening until i am literally on Canadian soil.

So I have only been in Koh Phi Phi a few hours and i love it already. I think it is the beach bum in me coming out again. I am staying in a pretty decent beach bungalow and am a stones throw away from the beach. I arrived at dusk so I wont be able to suss it all out completely until tomorrow. But from what I can see already love it. It looks like the island has almost fully recovered from the tsunami. This was one of the places that was hit the worst and rebuilding has been going since then. But there are resorts all over the place, and just like all the other islands, it looks like a little piece of paradise to me.

Tomorrow looks like it is going to be a ........suprise suprise....BEACH DAY!!! For a change! And possibly a boat ride to Maya Beach, which is where the movie The Beach was filmed (how many times can i say the word beach in one paragraph!) Then my main objective is figuring out how the hell to get back to Bangkok without spending a million hours on taxis/boats/buses/bikes and ferries. Possibly I will cave and just fly, save myself the hassle and also......get in a few more hours at the BEACH, LOL!

Well, since i had to (sniff, sniff) leave my South American posse in Koh Phangan I am now flying solo again. So I am off to catch the last bit of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies and then hopefully make some friends before tomorrow evenings Half Moon Party!

I have heard the weather in Toronto has been a little on the wet side tis summer so i am stockpiling the sun, as every one has requested and I promise to bring it home with me! Until then I am going back to work on my tan :)