Koh Pi Pi Don - Koh Pi Pi done!
And it really is done. This island is easily one of the most visually stunning works of nature I've ever seen, but it is also the most touristy. We were stoked to have seen it, and we did have a good time, but we were also relieved to leave. Too many people, too much pollution. We didn't swim here because the river emptying into the ocean is a putrid mix of chemicals and other waste.
Should really be World Heritage, but it's not. So there are collection tins at the main lookout to raise money to feed the introduced CATS and native monkeys. Feed the cats that indiscriminately kill any native wildlife they can, and feed the monkeys to breed dependency and introduce disease.
Speaking of monkeys, they were fun, especially when an entire family of them raided the clothes horse on our verandah and attempted to eat Fani's bikini top! I gave Fanz a self-assured "don't worry babe", strutted onto the verandah, chest puffed, lats flexed, and demanded the bikini back. Turns out I wasn't the alpha male on the verandah that day. Big Papa screeched at me, bared his rabid fangs, TRASHED the clothes horse, and I charitably let him have the bikini :)
From top-bottom: 1. Southside KPP Don 2. Fanz throwin' shakas from the view at the top. 3+4. I taught the local groms ballet... 5... they showed me how to move house.. 6...and the monkeys taught us how to breastfeed on a window sill :)
Koh Pi Pi Leh (Maya Bay) and it's Luminescent Ways -
One of the highlights of our trip. Once again, easily one of the most beautiful islands I've ever seen, and although it is very popular with day-trippers from Pi Pi Don, you can still get it fairly uncrowded if you do the late afternoon trip.
We did such a trip, departing KPP Don for KPP Leh at 3pm, returning around 8pm.
Arriving at Maya Bay (the beach made famous in Leo Dicaprio's epic 1999 travel flick "The Beach") around 3.30pm, we promptly anchored in the centre of the bay, strapped on masks and snorkels and had a bit of a ginder at the sealife below. I found a spoon. There was a little bit of life, nothing spectacular, but it was nice to be in the water again, and with such beautiful surroundings.
After snorkelling we were deposited on the beach in a small tender, where we frolicked and explored for a couple of hours; the island becoming less crowded by the minute as boatloads of happy snappers returned to the hustle and disco of Pi Pi Don.
At 6pm we returned to "The Mothership" (well not that big, but bigger than the tender), still anchored in the bay, where we were served excellent home-cooked food, followed by a delicious serving of bioluminescence! Not to EAT, to swim with! It was fantastic. We motored to a corner of the bay, and then when it got dark enough we all piled overboard and snorkelled with the luminescent plankton. The watery fire flies were abundant and it was an exhilirating experience. I did try to take photos, but it just didn't work, sorry!
Tracking down marine bioluminescence has pretty much become a life mission for Fani ever since she first saw it on the Gili Islands a couple of years ago, so needless to say, if the amazing food hadn't already made her Thailand trip, the luminescence at Maya Bay certainly did!! :D
We motored back to Pi Pi Don on a big high that night. Mission accomplished. We would be checking out the next day and beginning the next leg of our journey: Off to Koh Tao via Phuket. More on that soon...
Enjoy! :D
Photos from top to bottom: 1. Approaching the vertical walls of Koh Pi Pi Leh 2. Entering Maya Bay 3-6. Maya Bay from the beach 7. Back on The Mothership and awaiting sustenance :)
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